A late sheriff in Tennessee who inspired a Hollywood film about a law enforcement officer who took on organized crime, killed his wife in 1967 and led people to believe she was killed by his enemies, the authorities said Friday.
Authorities acknowledged that the finding will probably shock many who grew up like Buford Pusser -fans and looked at 'Walking Tall' from 1973, who immortalized him as a tough but honest sheriff with zero tolerance for crime. The film was re -made in 2004 and many officers came to the police because of his story, according to Mark Davidson, the public prosecutor for the 25th judicial district of Tennessee.
There is sufficient evidence that if Pusser, the Sheriff of McNiry County who died seven years after the death of his wife, still lived today, would present a complaint to a large jury for the murder of Pauline Mullins Pusser, Davidson said. Researchers have also discovered signs that they suffer from domestic violence.
Public Prosecutors worked together with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which began to re -examine decades of old files about the death of Pauline in 2022 as part of the regular assessment of cold cases, said director David Rausch of the agency. Agents found inconsistencies between Buford Pusser's version of events and physical evidence, received a tip about a potential murder weapon and stopped Pauline's body for an autopsy.
“This case is not about downing a legend. It's about giving dignity and closing Pauline and her family and ensuring that the truth is not buried with time,” Davidson said in a news conference that was streamed online. “The truth is important. Justice is for it. Even 58 years later, Pauline both earns.”
Proof makes no back -up of Sheriff's story
The case dates from 12 August 1967. Buford Pusser received a phone call in the early morning hours about a malfunction. He reported that his wife signed up to ride with him while he responded. Buford Pusser said that shortly after they had passed the New Hope methodist Church, a car stopped and several times the vehicle in lap, killed Pauline and injured the sheriff. Buford Pusser spent 18 days in the hospital and needed various operations to recover. The case was largely built on his own statement and was closed quickly, Rausch said.
During the re -investigation of the case, Dr. studied Michael Revelle, a physical and medical researcher of the emergency medicine, post -mortem photos, photos of the crime scene, notes taken by the medical researcher at that time and the statements of Buford Pusser. He concluded that Pauline was more likely than not shot outside the car and was then placed in it.
He discovered that Cranial trauma did not suffer from Pauline suffering with the photos of the crime scene of the interior of the car. Blood splash on the hood outside the car spoke against the statements of Buford Pusser. The shot wound on his cheek was in fact a wound with close by and not one fired from long distance, as Buford Pusser described and was probably inflicted, Revelle concluded.
Pauline's autopsy revealed that she had a broken nose that was healed before her death. Davidson said that explanations of people who were in the neighborhood when she died support the conclusion that she was the victim of domestic violence.
Broeder says that research has closed him
Pauline's younger brother, Griffon Mullins, said the investigation gave him closing. He said in a recorded video that was played at the news conference that their other sister died without knowing what happened to Pauline and he is grateful that he will die knowing.
“You would fall in love with her because she was a people person. And of course my family would always go to Pauline if they had a problem if they needed some advice and she was always there for them,” he said. “She was just a sweet person. I loved her with all my heart.”
Mullins said he knew there were some problems in the marriage of Pauline, but she was not someone who talked about her problems. For that reason Mullins said that he was “not completely shocked.”
When asked about the murder weapon and whether it corresponded to autopsy findings, Rausch advised to read the file for details.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is planning to make the entire file, which exceeds more than 1,000 pages, available to the public by transferring it to the University of Tennessee in Martin as soon as it ends with editors. The school makes an online, searchable database for the case. Until that time, members of the public can make agreements to assess it personally or can they buy a copy, said university Chancellor Yancy Freeman Sr.
