Famed sheriff who inspired "Walking Tall" killed his wife in 1967, investigators say
A late Tennessee sheriff who inspired a Hollywood movie about a law enforcement officer who took on organized crime killed his wife in 1967 and led people to believe she was murdered by his enemies, authorities said Friday.
Authorities acknowledged that the finding will likely shock many who grew up as fans of Buford Pusser and watched 1973's "Walking Tall," which immortalized him as a tough but fair sheriff with zero tolerance for crime. The movie was remade in 2004, and many officers joined law enforcement because of his story, according to Mark Davidson, the district attorney for Tennessee's 25th judicial district.
There is enough evidence that if Pusser, the McNairy County sheriff who died in a car crash seven years after his wife's death, were alive today, prosecutors would present an indictment to a grand jury for the killing of Pauline Mullins Pusser, Davidson said. Investigators also uncovered signs that she suffered from domestic violence.
Prosecutors worked with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which began reexamining decades-old files on Pauline's death in 2022 as part of its regular review of cold cases, agency director David Rausch said. Agents found inconsistencies between Buford Pusser's version of events and the physical evidence, received a tip about a potential murder weapon and exhumed Pauline's body for an autopsy.
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