A Man to Be Afraid Of

Summary

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Criminal – "A Man to Be Afraid Of"

Podcast: Criminal (Vox Media Podcast Network)
Host: Phoebe Judge
Date: June 5, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, host Phoebe Judge revisits the infamous story of Buford Pusser, the legendary sheriff of McNary County, Tennessee. Once celebrated as a crusading lawman and immortalized by Hollywood’s "Walking Tall," Pusser’s narrative is re-examined in light of new evidence around the murder of his wife, Pauline Pusser, in 1967. The episode explores how myths are made, how legacies endure, and what happens when a community must confront uncomfortable truths about its heroes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Ambush and Pauline Pusser’s Death

• Ambush Setup

  • On August 12, 1967, Buford Pusser, responding to a mysterious call, was ambushed while driving with his wife, Pauline. Both were shot; Pauline died at the scene ([01:01–02:52]).

  • Buford was severely injured but survived.

    “His wife, Pauline was very concerned and decided that she was gonna ride along... about halfway there, a car out of nowhere comes out and begin shooting at them.”
    — Mike Elam (01:22)

• Immediate Aftermath and Investigation

  • Pusser, hospitalized, gave statements to authorities and received protection.

  • Despite state efforts, leads dried up; it became a cold case ([03:07–13:59]).

    “They investigated for about 10 years...eventually it became a cold case. No one was ever charged. No murder weapon was ever found.”
    — Mike Elam (13:59)

2. Buford Pusser: The Man & Myth

• Rising Legend

  • Younger than most sheriffs, Pusser promoted himself as a tough, uncompromising lawman ([04:15–08:00]).

  • Led raids against moonshine stills and illegal bars, targeting the so-called "Stateline Mob."

    “If you were friends with him, he was a best friend. If you weren’t, he was your greatest enemy.”
    — Mike Elam (04:35)

• Violent Encounters & Controversial Killings

  • Law enforcement, self-promotion, and violence intertwined—Pusser killed Louise Hathcock during a disputed confrontation; exonerated, but her autopsy would later raise questions ([08:35–10:12], [34:08]).

3. Walking Tall: From Reality to Hollywood

• Media Glorification

  • Pusser’s exploits became a media sensation, inspiring songs and the hit film "Walking Tall" (17:18).

  • The movie—starring Joe Don Baker as Pusser—helped perpetuate the legend ([17:18–18:30]).

    "Ads for the movie said it was, quote, the powerful and true story of Sheriff Buford Pusser, who couldn't be bought and couldn't be killed."
    — Phoebe Judge (17:38)

• Public Perception vs. Local Sentiment

  • While beloved by many, some locals, like journalist Cami Wilson, felt the truth was far less heroic ([20:03–21:32], [22:50]).

    "He was brutal, he would attack people, and he was known as a violent person. What was shocking was how much he was glorified in the movie."
    — Cami Wilson (20:15)

4. The Other Side: Corruption, Violence, and Doubt

• Abuse of Power Allegations

  • Wilson and others documented bribes, brutal tactics, and possible criminal activity by Pusser ([23:13], [25:17]), challenging the movie’s narrative.

  • Stepdaughter Diane told Wilson she believed Pusser killed her mother, Pauline ([26:02–26:40]).

    "His stepdaughter told me that she thought he had killed her mother. And she even supplied what she thought was a motive..."
    — Cami Wilson (26:09)

• Unanswered Questions & Local Fear

  • Wilson’s investigation highlighted community fear of crossing Pusser ([21:58–22:50]).

    “If your son had to be arrested, would you want it to be done by me or by Pusser?”
    — Sheriff Clifford Coleman (21:58, paraphrased)

5. The Tipping Point: New Evidence & Reopened Case

• Exhumation & Modern Autopsy

  • In 2024, 57 years after Pauline’s death, her body was exhumed and autopsied by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation ([32:01–37:45]).

  • Autopsy revealed she had been shot in the back of the head and had signs of domestic abuse—contradicting Buford’s account ([37:51–38:28]).

    “That autopsy reveals that her gunshot wound is in the back of her head, which completely just throws away Buford's statement that he's looking right at her when she's shot in the forehead.”
    — Mike Elam (37:51)

  • Evidence suggested both the crime scene and Buford’s injuries were staged.

    "There is probable cause to believe that Pauline's death was not an accident, but an act of intimate, deliberate violence."
    — District Attorney Mark Davidson (40:18)

• Impact on Buford’s Legacy

  • Despite new evidence, town symbols, the Pusser museum, and the myth largely remained ([41:23–44:02]).

    “The town decided that they weren’t going to change anything and they were still going to celebrate Buford Pusser.”
    — Mike Elam (43:49)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Buford’s Persona:
  "I think he wanted to have a Persona that was as big as him physically. So what better way to get famous but to break up the most notorious things that were going on in his backyard?"
  — Mike Elam (07:18)

• On Local Reputation vs. Legend:
  “A lot of people did. Now, that doesn't mean that everybody did but that was the common knowledge.”
  — Cami Wilson, on rumors Buford killed Pauline (26:40)

• Facing Inconvenient Truths:
  "Everything in Adamsville is about Buford Pusser. … There were certainly people in town who once the DA had their press conference, had a very knee jerk reaction. Take Pusser off the signs… But there are certainly people that love the man there."
  — Mike Elam (41:23)

• Community Response to New Evidence:
  "I believe in America people are innocent until proven guilty."
  — Community member at the Adamsville town meeting (43:26)

• On the Power of Story:
  “It was a complete fabrication, but they loved the story.”
  — Cami Wilson, on Pusser’s myth (28:37)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:01–02:52] – Ambush and immediate aftermath
• [04:15–08:00] – Introduction to Pusser’s persona and rise to power
• [10:12–13:59] – Louise Hathcock shooting and Pauline’s murder becomes cold case
• [17:18–18:30] – "Walking Tall" and the making of the Pusser legend
• [20:03–26:48] – Reporter Cami Wilson’s investigations and alternate accounts
• [32:01–37:45] – Exhumation, autopsy, and DA’s press conference
• [41:23–44:02] – Community reckoning and the endurance of Pusser’s legend

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Conclusion

The episode masterfully unpacks the construction and endurance of a local hero’s myth, scrutinizing how stories can overshadow troubling realities. Through journalistic rigor, new forensic evidence, and the voices of those long skeptical, "A Man to Be Afraid Of" asks: What happens when the truth challenges the stories a town—and a country—wants to tell about itself?

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Transcript

[Phoebe Judge]

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[Daredevil Voice]

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[Phoebe Judge]

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[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

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[Phoebe Judge]

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[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

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[Phoebe Judge]

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[Phoebe Judge]

early in the morning on August 12, 1967, the sheriff of McNary County, Tennessee, Buford Pusser, said he got a strange phone call related

[Mike Elam]

to something that was happening around the Tennessee Mississippi line.

[Phoebe Judge]

He said the caller told him that he'd, quote, find something interesting out on New Hope Road.

[Mike Elam]

And his wife, Pauline was very concerned and decided that she was gonna ride along with Buford. To this call writer Jason Gracio so they get in the car and drive while it's still dark out down this windy, gravelly road, and about halfway there, a car out of nowhere comes out and begin shooting at them.

[Phoebe Judge]

Buford Pusser later said it sounded like a bunch of machine guns had opened up. His wife, Pauline was shot. Buford Pusser said he quickly sped away with his wife laying in his lap.

[Mike Elam]

Buford drives for a little farther, pulls to the side, checks his wife, see what kind of injury she has, and then the car reappears and completely just shoots up the entire car.

[Phoebe Judge]

Pauline was shot again and Buford was also hit. Buford later told investigators that he was looking at Pauline when she was shot in the forehead. He was shot in the chin. Buford radioed for help and drove for several miles down the road. Police from a nearby town soon arrived. Pauline Pusser died at the scene. She was 36. Buford Pusser, who was 29, was seriously injured.

[Mike Elam]

When police showed up, they saw him completely bloodied, barely able to talk, just trying to kind of hold his jaw together. And then he was rushed to the hospital.

[Phoebe Judge]

Beaufort Pusser had surgery in Memphis during His stay in the hospital. He was put in a secret room with two sheriff's deputies and two police officers assigned to protect him. The governor of Tennessee offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest while he was still in the hospital recovering. Pauline Pusser's funeral was held in Adamsville, where the couple lived. A newspaper reported that the church was full. More than 200 people came. They wrote, quote, every wall was banked with flowers. Less than a month after the attack, Sheriff Buford Pusser was back at work. When reporters interviewed him about the ambush that had killed his wife. He told them, I'm pretty sure about who did it, and I'm pretty sure about where he is. I'm Phoebe Judge.

[Cami Wilson]

This is criminal.

[Phoebe Judge]

Buford Pusser was elected sheriff of McNary county in 1964. He ran against the incumbent sheriff, who died in a car accident just a week before the election. Buford won by a few hundred votes. He was the youngest sheriff to be elected in Tennessee history. He was 26.

[Mike Elam]

The way it was told to me by many was that if you were friends with him, he was a best friend. If you weren't, he was your greatest enemy.

[Phoebe Judge]

Buford Pusser grew up in Adamsville in McNary County, a rural area about 100 miles east of Memphis. His father was the local police chief. Buford was tall and athletic. He played football and basketball in school. When he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the marines, but quickly was discharged due to asthma. Eventually, Buford left Tennessee and went to Chicago, where he attended mortuary school, worked at a factory, and started a professional wrestling career.

[Mike Elam]

He was known as Buford the Bull. I mean, this is a guy that, you know, once he grew up, was 6 foot 6, 250 plus pounds, a very imposing figure. So he was perfect for the wrestling ring. And that's where he met Pauline.

[Phoebe Judge]

Pauline Mullins was a divorced mother of three. She was six years older than Buford. They got married in Chicago in December of 1959 and moved back to Adamsville. A few years later, Buford Pusser was elected police chief of Adamsville after his father stepped down. And then Buford was elected sheriff of McNary County.

[Mike Elam]

McNary County, Tennessee, back then, even now, is a beautiful region, but a very poor region of the country. And if you weren't working at a factory or farming, even if you were doing that, you more than likely had a moonshine still in your backyard. And for most in that time, you just looked away. It was something just to pass the time or make some extra money. Once Buford became sheriff, he really, that was his goal was to break up all these illegal moonshine stills.

[Phoebe Judge]

Tennessee enacted the nation's first Prohibition law in 1838, making it a misdemeanor to sell alcohol in bars and stores. Even after the national ban on alcohol ended in 1933, Tennessee stayed completely dry for several more years. The state eventually allowed individual counties and cities to vote on whether they wanted to allow sales of alcohol. By the mid-1960s, more than half of the population of Tennessee still lived in dry areas, including McNary County.

[Mike Elam]

You know, Buford, going back to his wrestling days, knew how to self promote. I think he wanted more than what his father had, what his friends had. He had ambitions to be someone that if you saw him out on the street, you would go, wow, hey, that's Beaufort Pusser. So I think he wanted to have a Persona that was as big as him physically. So what better way to get famous but to break up the the most notorious things that were going on in his backyard.

[Phoebe Judge]

Buford Pusser quickly gained a reputation for going after bootleggers, moonshine stills and illegal alcohol sales. In a raid In December of 1964, he seized almost 3,000 bottles of Kentucky whiskey, which the help of state agents, he told reporters that it was the largest amount of whiskey ever seized in the county. He also raided bars and motels near the Mississippi Tennessee state line known for gambling and illegal alcohol sales, including one called the Shamrock Motel and Restaurant.

[Mike Elam]

It was a rough place. Everybody will tell you, you know, there were definitely fights there, there was a lot of heavy drinking.

[Phoebe Judge]

The Shamrock Motel and Restaurant was owned by Louise Hathcock, who had shot and killed her ex husband. She claims self defense. She was known to be part of a loosely organized crime syndicate known as the Stateline Mob.

[Mike Elam]

Depending on what stories you believe, it could trace all the way back to the mafia up east. But their main thing was doing moonshine and prostitution. Stateline Mob definitely were Buford's main enemies.

[Phoebe Judge]

In 1966, tourists staying at the Shamrock Motel filed a police report after they said a purse containing $125 had gone missing.

[Mike Elam]

Sheriff Pusser showed up at the establishment because the couple had made a complaint. And he had already had interactions in the past with Louise and he went there, he had a conversation with Louise in a back room, just the two of them. And according to Buford, Louise pulled out a gun, shot at him, missed. Buford pivoted, turned and shot her and killed her.

[Phoebe Judge]

Buford said that Louise's bullet had, quote, whizzed by my ear. He said he dropped to the floor and fired three shots, hitting her in the chest, face and neck. Did he face any charges?

[Mike Elam]

He was found not guilty by a grand jury. They came to an agreement that it was in self defense.

[Phoebe Judge]

The year after Buford Pusser shot and killed Louise Hathcock, Buford's wife Pauline was murdered. We'll be right back to listen without Ads Join Criminal plus. Support for Criminal comes from Bombas if your sock drawer could use an upgrade, Bombus has a range of well designed socks like their sport socks, which are made with a cushioned sweat wicking design that also stops them from sliding down your foot while you're in motion. And Bombas has more than socks. They also make soft and breathable basics including underwear and T shirts. This spring I look forward to going on longer runs wearing my new Bombas run socks. They're soft and lightweight, made with a mesh knit that makes them breathable and they're designed with cushioning in the heel and toe to protect your feet. Bombus also has a mission. For every item you purchase, they say they donate an item of clothing to someone facing housing insecurity. They say they've made over 150 million donations and counting. You can go to bombas.com criminal and use code criminal for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O M B-A-S.com criminal code criminal at checkout. Support for criminal comes from ZocDoc. Finding a doctor who's right for you can be challenging and it's a great feeling when you finally find someone that understands you and knows how to make you feel comfortable. Zocdoc is a free app and website that helps you find and book high quality in network doctors so you can find someone you love. Book in network appointments with more than 150,000 providers from more than 200 specialties across all 50 states. View Patient reviews to get a real sense of who your doctor is and whether they sound right for you. You can see their real time availability and book instantly. No phone tag and no waiting around. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and build a care team that's right for you. Go to zocdoc.com criminal to find and instantly book a doctor you love today. That's Zocdoc.com criminal Zocdoc.com criminal thanks to Zocdoc for sponsoring this message. Sheriff Buford Pusser said he believed that the early morning attack that killed his wife was, quote, linked to his crackdown on criminal activity at the Tennessee Mississippi border. He told reporters that he was sure the shooters were after him, not his wife.

[Mike Elam]

His assumption was that it was someone involved with the State Line mob. He never really gave any specific names. It was more just they finally got me.

[Phoebe Judge]

The local district attorney who was leading the investigation said he believed that hired assassins were behind the shooting. The chief of the Tennessee Bureau of Criminal Identification told reporters were not overlooking anything. A ballistics expert who examined the car that Buford and Pauline had been riding in said that the bullets that killed Pauline and wounded buford were from a.30 caliber rifle. The investigation went on for years.

[Mike Elam]

Buford even took part in some points of the investigation. Strangely enough, there. There were a few specific people in the State Line mob. One individual named Towhead White, who was in jail at the time of the AMB that they went and questioned. They questioned his girlfriend. And there are transcripts now that show the girlfriend calling up Towhead, going why are the police trying to interview me about this ambush? So there were specific people that Buford wanted investigated. But those things all led to dead ends. They investigated for about 10 years, even going as far as reaching out to J. Edgar Hoover in the offices of the FBI to run ballistic tests on bullets that they had found. But eventually it became a cold case. No one was ever charged. No murder weapon was ever found.

[Phoebe Judge]

In September of 1967, a month after Pauline's death, the New York Daily News featured Buford Pusser in a two page spread. They wrote that during his time as sheriff he was responsible for destroying more than 30 stills, seizing more than 15,000 gallons of whiskey and bringing three dozen moonshiners and bootleggers to justice. The article also talked about the many times that criminals had tried to kill him. They wrote that he had been shot, stabbed and dragged down the road by a car. One deputy said Buford Pusser was jumped by six men while he was unarmed, adding, the sheriff took three of them to the hospital and and three of them to jail. The article said Buford was becoming a legend in West Tennessee. A Tennessee singer named Eddie Bond recorded a song about Buford. Eddie Bond went on to write a whole album of songs about him, including one called Buford Pusser Goes Bear Hunting with a Switch. That same year, Buford Pusser shot and killed a man after he was called to a disturbance at his home on Christmas Day. He said the man shot at him first. One headline after the shooting read, Sheriff Buford Pusser adds to legend. CBS News correspondent Roger Mudd came to McNary county to interview Buford. And then in 1971, a writer named W.R. morse published a biography of him called 12 August.

[Mike Elam]

And then eventually that led to Hollywood getting hold of the story. Of all people, it's Bing Crosby and his production company who catches wind of the Pusser story and decides to bring it to the big screen. And this is a film that, you know, a little small drama not made for a lot of money. And at its peak, when it came out in theaters, it was making more money in theaters, especially in the south, than the Godfather was, which at the time was still a sensation and had just won the Oscar for best picture.

[Phoebe Judge]

The movie was called Walking Tall. Buford Pusser was played by actor Joe Don Baker.

[Buford Pusser (movie clip)]

I was elected sheriff on one issue that I'd bust every joint in the whole county. We're going to start tomorrow. First off, I don't want any car, truck or driver that even looks like a moonshiner to move on our roads. You handle how we.

[Phoebe Judge]

Ads for the movie said it was, quote, the powerful and true story of Sheriff Buford Pusser, who couldn't be bought and couldn't be killed. Buford said the movie was about 80% true. In the movie, Buford Pusser carries a big stick, which he uses to break up moonshine stills and beat people. During press appearances, he would autograph sticks for fans. One newspaper said the film was one of the most violent, yet most moving films of the season. One review of the movie said walking Tall deserves credit for creating mostly believable characters who are bigger than life. Comic book big. The movie cost $500,000 to produce and made more than $40 million worldwide.

[Mike Elam]

You know, generations since people joined law enforcement because of what they saw on screen.

[Phoebe Judge]

By the time the movie came out in 1973, Buford was no longer the sheriff of McNary County. He lost when he tried to run for a fourth term in 1972. In August of 1974, it was announced that Buford would play himself in a sequel to the Walking Tall movie. He told a reporter at a press conference in Memphis, the idea scares me some.

[Mike Elam]

He drove back home and was at a fair and got in his car, his Corvette that he had just bought, and he sped down the highway and he got into a fiery wreck and died.

[Phoebe Judge]

Some people speculated that Buford's enemies had tampered with his car, but police investigating said they could find no evidence of foul play. One newspaper wrote, seven times while he was sheriff, attempts were made on his life. He died a victim of his love for speed. After his death in 1974, what did you hear from people in McNary county about his death?

[Cami Wilson]

I would say a certain amount of relief.

[Phoebe Judge]

Cami Wilson is a former investigative reporter who grew up in Mississippi, across the state line from McNary County.

[Cami Wilson]

Everybody knew about Pusser. He was brutal, he would attack people, and he was known as a violent person. What was shocking was how much he was glorified in the movie.

[Phoebe Judge]

In 1973, the year before Buford Pusser died, Cami Wilson was working at a newspaper in Dayton, Ohio. Walking Tall was playing in the local

[Cami Wilson]

theaters at that time. That was in. In the county in Ohio where I was working. That was the most watched movie that they had ever had. So one day my editor came back from lunch and came over to my desk and said, are you from the county near McNary County, Tennessee? And I said, yes, I'm from Alcorn county, which is just over the line. And he said, well, I just watched Walking Tall. What do you think of that movie? And I said, well, I think it's a fraud. And he said, well, I thought it was, too. So I'm going to send you down there and I want you to do a story for us.

[Phoebe Judge]

Cami Wilson went down to McNary county to talk with people about what they knew. She talked with the mayor of Selmer, the county seat, who had previously said that the plot of Walking Tall quote, has little if any resemblance to the truth. She also talked with the sheriff of McNary county at that time, Clifford Coleman, who Buford lost to in 1972.

[Cami Wilson]

Sheriff Coleman ran on the slogan, if your son had to be arrested, would you want it to be done by me or by Pusser? And he won the election. So, anyway, he was sheriff at the time, and he had told me that Pusser would pull off the road at a fast food restaurant and wait to see if I drove by. And at that time, it was well known that civil rights workers, anybody that you disliked had a certain danger of getting run off the road if somebody didn't like your stories or your activities. So I was trying to avoid that, so I always went a different route.

[Phoebe Judge]

So you thought that Paser himself might hurt you potentially.

[Cami Wilson]

You know, at the time, people would go down there and they would interview him and they would just swallow whatever he said. So he knew that I was looking for the real story.

[Phoebe Judge]

Cammie Wilson said she talked with local club owners, one of whom told her they had regularly paid Buford Pusser bribes. People also told her that Louise Hathcock had also paid bribes to the county before being shot. And Killed. In the movie version of his story, Buford Pusser gets robbed and beaten up at a State Line club before becoming sheriff, and then goes back to the club and gets revenge, beating people up with his stick and getting his money back. He's put on trial and tells the courtroom he stood up for himself to show, quote, there's still little law and order left. He's found not guilty by the jury. Cammie Wilson learned that in reality, something different had happened. In 1960, while he was still living in Chicago, Buford had gone to a Stateline club seeking revenge for an earlier incident. He beat up a man named W.O. hathcock, a relative of Louise Hathcock, who was so badly injured that he was in the hospital for two weeks. Buford was charged with armed robbery, but when he was put on trial, he said he wasn't there that night. Pauline testified that he was in Illinois at the time, and Buford produced a punch time card from his factory job in Chicago. He was found not guilty. He later said he'd lied.

[Cami Wilson]

He readily admitted that he and his friends had gone to the club and they had beaten up Hathcock and they had taken the money that he had lost. He quibbled about the amount of the money. He said that he didn't take as much as they said he took.

[Phoebe Judge]

Kami Wilson also talked with one of Buford Pusser's former deputies about the many times Buford had reported being attacked or hurt on the job.

[Cami Wilson]

He said that he was just beaten up in a lot of drunken brawls and that he was often carved up in some of those drunken brawls, that it didn't have anything to do with his activities as sheriff.

[Phoebe Judge]

So he was drinking himself?

[Cami Wilson]

Oh, very much so. And in fact, I interviewed his stepdaughter, who talked about how he would bring home cases of liquor and put them under the bed and, you know, if he was supposed to be sheriff, why was he keeping so much of the illegal liquor for himself?

[Phoebe Judge]

Buford Pusser's stepdaughter, Diane, also talked with Cami Wilson about her mother's death.

[Cami Wilson]

His stepdaughter told me that she thought he had killed her mother. And she even supplied what she thought was a motive that she was planning to leave Pusser.

[Phoebe Judge]

The stepdaughter told me Diane told Cami Wilson that Buford Pusser was, quote, a man to be afraid of. Kami says Diane was not the only person who told her they thought Buford had killed his wife.

[Cami Wilson]

A lot of people did. Now, that doesn't mean that everybody did but that was the common knowledge.

[Phoebe Judge]

When she got back to Ohio, Cami Wilson called up Buford Pusser for an interview.

[Cami Wilson]

I asked him about all the rumors that he had shot his wife. And I asked him if he had been having affairs. And he of course denied it. And I asked him about taking bribes. And I told him that I had an affidavit from a club owner and I asked him about his killing of Louise Hathcock.

[Phoebe Judge]

How did he react when you asked him those questions?

[Cami Wilson]

With anger. But he was not surprised. You know, it wasn't like it was a call out of the blue. He knew that I had been asking people questions and that I had been gathering affidavits and interviewing a number of people.

[Phoebe Judge]

He denied everything.

[Cami Wilson]

Yes.

[Phoebe Judge]

The headline of Kami's article was the Sheriff walked tall and violently. A year after Cami Wilson published her first article, she published another one shortly after Buford Pusser's death. One thing is sure, she wrote, Most citizens of McNary are not grieving. She also quoted a former sheriff from across the state line in Mississippi who told her, before Buford Pusser's death, as far as I'm concerned, Pusser is just a thug. Did you think that maybe something might change in the investigation into Pauline's death after you wrote those articles?

[Cami Wilson]

I would have hoped so, but it was a matter of money. I mean, once the movie came out, people would come to the county to see what had been going on there. And then when he was killed, then people began to really make money from the fact that people would come, they would stay in the local motels. People started giving them tours. They even created a Buford Pusser museum. So people loved the story. It was a complete fabrication, but they loved the story.

[Phoebe Judge]

We'll be right back. Support for Criminal comes from Shopify. Before starting a business, lots of people experience self doubt. At some point, every business owner has thought, what if I fail? Or what if no one listens to what I have to say or cares about what I sell? Shopify is here to help you take that leap of faith. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Allbirds and Magic Spoon to brands just getting started. Their design studio lets you build a beautiful online store that matches your brand style. They offer a host of helpful AI tools plus built in marketing tools. And if you ever get stuck, their award winning 24. 7 customer support has your back. It's time to turn those what ifs into a thriving business with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com criminal go to shopify.com criminal that's shopify.com criminal. Support for Criminal comes from Wayfair. You want your home to be inviting and comfortable, not just for you, but for anyone who comes to visit, and that includes your outdoor space. If yours is lacking seating, lighting, decorations, or even a grill, Wayfair is here to help. I'm in need of an outdoor umbrella this year and luckily Wayfair has a big selection of umbrellas in different sizes and colors and with different kinds of tilt functions, making it easy to find just the kind I want. Wayfair can also help with installation and assembly if you need it. No need to carry a heavy couch or navigate assembly instructions all on your own and Wayfair Verified is like a shortcut to the best stuff. Everything has been vetted by Wayfair's team of product specialists for functionality. Patio season is here and these deals won't last. You can head to Wayfair.com right now to get your outdoor space ready for way less. That's W A Y f a I r.com Wayfair Every Style Every Home On Thursday, February 8, 2024, 50 years after Buford Pusser's death, a team from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was went to the cemetery at Adamsville, Tennessee. They were there to exhume the body of Pauline Pusser.

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

I knew that there was going to be something there that was going to tell the true story. It was going to give Pauline a voice from the grave.

[Phoebe Judge]

Oakley Dean Baldwin is a former sheriff's deputy from Wake County, North Carolina. He's also a distant relative of Pauline Posser.

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

I never met Pauline, of course. I was only 12 years old when she was murdered. But my uncle Johnny, who was our family historian, I want to say in about the time the movies came out, maybe 73, he was telling me at a family reunion that we had a distant cousin who was murdered while she was riding with her husband.

[Phoebe Judge]

Oakley Dean Baldwin started looking into Pauline's story in 2014. He'd retired and was interested in learning more about his family tree.

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

At the start, I had no clue other than what I had heard from the law enforcement circles what Buford Pusra had told the tbi. That's the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. So at the start I was, you know, I believed that, you know, they were ambushed.

[Phoebe Judge]

Oakley Dean Baldwin read the 1960s case files, which detailed what Buford had said happened on the night of Pauline's murder. And he started gathering other pieces of evidence.

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

Photographs of the crime scene, witness statements from people. Things were not matching up.

[Phoebe Judge]

At the same time, another person states away in Arkansas was also looking into the case. A former deputy sheriff named Mike Elam.

[Mike Elam]

Mike was someone who loved Buford Pusser, loved the movie, loved the book.

[Phoebe Judge]

Writer Jason Garacio interviewed Mike Elam, who told him that as he started looking into Buford Pusser's story more, he got interested in the death of club owner Louise Hathcock, who Buford shot and killed in 1966.

[Mike Elam]

But then he started doing some digging and he found Louise Hathcock's autopsy. And inside that autopsy, it showed that her wounds were not to the front of her, they were to the back. Two shots in the back, one shot in the back of the head. That is very different than what Buford said happened in that room when supposedly she pulled a gun on him.

[Phoebe Judge]

Mike Elam also found that Louise Hathcock's autopsy report was never shown to the grand jury that acquitted Buford Pusser of murder. When Pauline was murdered the year after Louise Hathcock's death, there was no autopsy performed at all.

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

You had this high profile Sheriff with a 36 year old wife who's murdered from an ambush that he's saying was from the mob. And it didn't make any sense that they didn't do an autopsy on her.

[Phoebe Judge]

There were other things about Pauline's murder that didn't make sense to Mike Elam or Oakley, Dean Baldwin either.

[Mike Elam]

What they both found out independently, that was a major red flag to both of these people who had careers in law enforcement, was that there was too much blood on the outside of the car.

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

That showed me that there was somebody violently injured on the outside of the car. And Buford Pusser's statement was that Pauline and hisself were they were both shot inside the car only either someone was hit with a club or shot in front of that car on the outside.

[Mike Elam]

Then there was also Buford's statement about how fast they were going on New Hope Road, how far away the other car was, how far away he went the second time he pulled over to check on Pauline. All these things. When Mike Elam actually went and drove the whole route, he did exactly what Buford said he did that night. None of it added up. None of it made sense.

[Phoebe Judge]

Mike Elam and Oakley Dean Baldwin both published books about their findings. And then in 2022, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation decided to reopen the investigation into Pauline's Murder.

[Mike Elam]

And the first thing they have to do, because it wasn't done 50 so years before, was to give Pauline an autopsy.

[Mark Davidson]

Good morning. Thank you all for being here. I'm Mark Davidson. I'm the District Attorney General for the 25th Judicial District.

[Phoebe Judge]

In August 2025, a press conference was held about Pauline's murder.

[Mark Davidson]

Justice for Pauline has been a long time coming, and thanks to all the hard work put in by so many, we're finally able to announce to Pauline's surviving family and to the public that we believe we are as close as possible to justice.

[Phoebe Judge]

District Attorney Mark Davidson said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation believed there were inconsistencies in what Buford Pusser had told law enforcement about Pauline's death, including physical, medical,

[Mark Davidson]

forensic, ballistic, and reenactment evidence that contradicts his version of events.

[Phoebe Judge]

One of those pieces of evidence was Pauline Pusser's autopsy, conducted in 2024.

[Mike Elam]

That autopsy reveals that her gunshot wound is in the back of her head, which completely just throws away Buford's statement that he's looking right at her when she's shot in the forehead. The autopsy also reveals that Pauline had bruising in her nasal passage, which was thought to be that she had suffered domestic violence before her death.

[Phoebe Judge]

The TBI's investigative report about Pauline's murder, which was more than a thousand pages long, also included statements from Buford Pusser's chief deputy that he had made almost a decade after Pauline died.

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

He knew that Buford Pusser had beaten Pauline up just days before she was murdered, and another lady, she worked with Pauline, and she saw Pauline with black eyes and bruises on her arms where she had been beaten up.

[Phoebe Judge]

His former deputy also said that shortly before her death, Pauline had gone to the local district attorney for help with getting a divorce. Investigators from the TBI spoke with two witnesses who said they heard Pauline and Buford arguing the night before Pauline's death about his involvement with a woman named Pearl Wade. Pauline allegedly shouted that she would ruin Buford and would turn him in for taking bribes from businesses. Later that night, Buford was also seen trying to talk with a woman named Ann Henderson, who later confirmed that she'd also been having an affair with him.

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

He was in a rage, trying to get in the door, and Beaufort was yelling, let me in. I'm going to die tonight. You'll be putting flowers on my grave. So Buford, she runs out of the house, and they get into a big scuffle, and he grabs her by the arm, but she manages to get away and goes Back in the house and he leaves and he's spinning his tires and two hours later or maybe an hour later, we're not exactly sure, but that window of opportunity, Pauline's murdered.

[Phoebe Judge]

A medical examiner also looked at photos of Buford Pusser's facial wounds and concluded that he was shot at close range rather than from a distance as he had claimed. They concluded that his wound was likely self inflicted. At the press conference, District Attorney Mark Davidson said that they now believed that Pauline had most likely been shot outside of the car and then placed inside the car. They believed the crime scene had been staged. He said, quote, there is probable cause to believe that Pauline's death was not an accident, but an act of intimate, deliberate violence.

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

If Buford Pusser was alive today, they felt they had enough probable cause to charge him or indict him with the murder of Pauline.

[Phoebe Judge]

When this all came out in, in Adamsville, you went there, you talked to people in town. What was the reaction? Was this a big deal in town?

[Mike Elam]

So when, when you go to Adamsville, Tennessee, which is in McNary county, which is where Buford lived and where he patrolled, the. The legend of Buford Pusser is everywhere. When you drive up to the town line, there's a giant sign that says welcome to Adamsville, home of view for Pusser, with a silhouette of the man holding his trusty stick that he supposedly fought crime with. There's a giant water tower with that silhouette figure on it. His home has turned into a museum. Everything in Adamsville is about Buford Pusser. And so there were certainly people in town who once the DA had their press conference, had a very knee jerk reaction. Take Pusser off the signs that welcome you into the town. Take them off the water tower. You know, what are we going to do with the museum now? But there are certainly people that love the man there.

[Phoebe Judge]

After the report came out, people in Adamsville had a town hall meeting to talk about what to do next. Buford Pusser's granddaughter, Madison Bush said, this isn't over yet. One man who said he became a law enforcement officer because of Buford Pusser said that closing the Buford Pusser Museum would be letting this new day and age of the Internet win. A man named Steve Sweat spoke and

[Oakley Dean Baldwin]

I think it's terribly sad that they

[Phoebe Judge]

did this to a man who couldn't defend himself.

[Cami Wilson]

Amen. It's not a human.

[Phoebe Judge]

One person said. I believe in America people are innocent until proven guilty. The Buford Pusser Museum remains open. The top of their website reads what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. It doesn't matter who you are. It's a quote attributed to Buford Pusser.

[Mike Elam]

The town decided that they weren't going to change anything and and they were still going to celebrate Buford Pusser.

[Phoebe Judge]

So the legend lives on.

[Mike Elam]

The legend absolutely still lives on.

[Phoebe Judge]

The annual Buford Pusser Festival was held last month in Adamsville.

[Narrator/Guest Speaker]

The legend of Wyatt Earp.

[Mike Elam]

You heard?

[Narrator/Guest Speaker]

No doubt. Matt Dillon cleaned the west out. It's a fact. There's a legend now for the world to see. And he's walking tall right here in Tennessee.

[Phoebe Judge]

Criminal is created by Lauren Spore and me. Nadia Wilson is our senior producer. Katie Bishop is our supervising producer. Our producers are Susanna Roberson, Jackie Sajiko, Lily Clark and Lena Sillison. This episode was fact checked by Katie Cederborg. Our show is mixed and engineered by Veronica Simonetti. Julian Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see [e-mail] and you can sign up for our [e-mail] Newsletter we hope you'll consider supporting our work by joining our membership program Criminal. Plus, you can listen to Criminal, this is Love and Phoebe reads a mystery without any ads. Plus you'll get bonus episodes. These are special episodes with me and Criminal co creator Lauren Spore talking about everything from how we make our episodes to the crime stories that caught our attention that week, to things we've been enjoying lately. To learn more, go to patreon.com criminal we're on Facebook at thisisCriminal and Instagram and TikTok at Criminal underscore podcast. We're also on YouTube at YouTube.com criminalpodcast Criminal is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Discover more great [e-mail] I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal.

[Narrator/Guest Speaker]

Or the county that he loved give his life but it's a dirty rotten world that took its place.

[Cami Wilson]

What.