TBI, DA discuss shocking new discoveries in Pauline Pusser cold case

Nearly 60 years after her death, investigators say there is now probable cause that former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser murdered his wife, Pauline Mullins Pusser.

Pauline Pusser was killed Aug. 12, 1967, in what her husband, McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, claimed was an ambush on a rural road near the Tennessee-Mississippi line.

According to previous reports in The Tennessean and Associated Press, the couple was found in their patrol car after Pusser radioed for help. He was shot in the jaw, while his wife was discovered lying across the seat with her head in his lap. Investigators recovered 14 spent rifle cartridges and noted the car had been hit 11 times, leading one official to suggest the couple had driven into a trap.

At the time, the case was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Criminal Identification, a predecessor to the TBI. The investigation into Pauline’s death has remained open for nearly six decades.

According to the Associated Press, Buford Pusser, who served as sheriff from 1964 to 1970, gained national fame for his campaign against organized crime and later inspired the film "Walking Tall." He died in a car crash in 1974, the same day he agreed to appear in the movie’s sequel.

Findings were announced Friday, after Pauline’s body was exhumed last year to be re-examined by the TBI. Investigators say that forensic evidence, autopsy results, and inconsistencies in Pusser’s account indicate that Pauline was shot outside the car and then placed inside, contradicting Pusser’s claim of an ambush.

Among the evidence cited were more inconsistencies in Pusser’s statements, ballistic and forensic analysis that did not match his version of events, a healing nasal fracture consistent with domestic violence, and bloodstain patterns showing someone was wounded both outside and inside the vehicle.

TBI investigators also noted Pusser’s own gunshot wound appeared to be from close range, raising questions about whether it was staged.

District Attorney Mark Davidson said the case is not about “tearing down a legend” but about giving Pauline “truth and justice” decades later.

Davidson also encouraged the public to review the more than 1,000-page case file, now on public record and housed at the University of Tennessee at Martin, which contains all files and evidence.

https://fox17.com/news/local/new-tbi-...

_______________
Follow! Like! Share! Subscribe!

WZTV on Facebook:   / foxnashville  
WZTV on X:   / foxnashville  

https://fox17.com

Email us: news@fox17.com
Call the Newsroom: 615.369.1717

Fox 17 provides local news, weather, sports, traffic and entertainment for Nashville and nearby towns and communities in Middle Tennessee, including Forest Hills, Brentwood, Franklin, Fairview, Dickson, Clarksville, White House, Greenbrier, Springfield, Gallatin, Hartsville, Lebanon, Mt Juliet, Smyrna, College Grove, Thompson’s Station, Centerville, Murfreesboro, Columbia, Lewisburg, Shelbyville, Manchester, McMinnville, Smithville, Sparta, Cookeville, Hohenwald, Waverly, Camden, Paris, Lafayette, Portland, and in Kentucky, Russelville, Bowling Green, Franklin, Alvaton, Scottsville, Hopkinsville, Glasgow.

#WZTV #fox17news #foxnashville #nashville #tennessee #tn #middletn #localnews #breakingnews #trending