Presenting Gone South

Summary

Revisionist History: Episode Summary – "Gone South: The Real Buford Pusser Part 1"

Revisionist History by Pushkin Industries, hosted by Malcolm Gladwell, delves into overlooked and misunderstood aspects of history. In the December 26, 2024 episode titled "Gone South: The Real Buford Pusser Part 1," Gladwell introduces listeners to a compelling narrative that re-examines the legacy of Buford Pusser, a legendary Tennessee sheriff whose heroic image is now under scrutiny due to recent investigations.

1. Introduction to "Gone South"

Malcolm Gladwell presents an episode of Gone South, a podcast hosted by Jed Lipinski. Gone South explores intriguing crimes and stories from the Southern United States, often from the perspectives of both perpetrators and investigators.

Malcolm Gladwell (01:34): "Hello, Hello. Malcolm Glabwell here. We'll be back with new Revisionist History episodes in January, but today we're going to bring you something a bit different."

2. Overview of Buford Pusser

Buford Pusser emerges as a near-mythical figure in Tennessee history—a sheriff celebrated for his relentless fight against corruption and crime. His life story inspired numerous books, songs, and films, notably the 2004 remake of Walking Tall starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Jed Lipinski (11:22): "The story of Buford Pusser reads a bit like a fable from the American South."

3. The 1967 Ambush

The episode recounts the tragic events of August 12, 1967, when Buford Pusser and his wife, Pauline, were ambushed. Pauline was fatally shot, and Buford was severely injured. The attack remains unsolved, with suspicions pointing towards the Dixie Mafia, specifically its alleged leader, Kirksey Nix.

Buford Pusser (04:34): "Voice and he couldn't pick me out."

Buford Pusser (04:48): "He was on the take. He was a dirty cop and he was a killer cop."

Authorities never identified the assailants, leaving the case cold for over five decades.

4. Buford Pusser’s Legacy and Cultural Impact

Buford's persona as a fearless lawman captured the American imagination. His efforts to clean up McNary County paralleled the legendary figures of the Wild West, fostering a heroic narrative that has influenced American pop culture.

Buford Pusser (09:33): "There's nobody on the face of the earth that has studied this story and been as involved in it as I have for 60 years."

5. Recent Developments: TBI Reopens the Case

A breakthrough comes when the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) decides to exhume Pauline Pusser's body after discovering that no autopsy was performed at the time of her death. This decision was spurred by a tip from an unidentified source, prompting the TBI to seek answers that could potentially rewrite Buford's legacy.

Jed Lipinski (03:01): "...they intended to answer, quote, critical questions and provide crucial information that could help them identify who was behind Pauline's death."

6. Mike Elam’s Investigative Journey

Mike Elam, a former sheriff's deputy with a passion for Buford's story, becomes intrigued by the TBI's actions. His investigation raises critical questions about the original account of the ambush, suggesting discrepancies that point towards Buford himself.

6.1. Reenacting the Ambush

Elam conducts a reenactment of the ambush, revealing inconsistencies in Buford's narrative. The route taken by Buford to the scene was unnecessarily convoluted, raising suspicions about the assailants' intentions and actions.

Steve Sweat (32:48): "And we actually had a Cadillac beside the church that gave chase. However, by the time that I got to the bridge, they were still about 200, 250 yards behind me."

6.2. Blood Spatter Analysis

Elam collaborates with Steve Sweat, a Buford historian, to analyze blood spatter evidence. The findings contradict Buford's account, suggesting that the attackers fired from outside the vehicle rather than from within.

Steve Sweat (34:17): "He said that he was sitting in the car, that they pulled up close enough that they were right next to him. You would expect the shell casings to have been found in between the cars..."

Steve Sweat (34:45): "He said that someone was actually standing in front of that car when they were shot, not on the inside."

7. Questioning Buford’s Involvement

The absence of an initial autopsy becomes a focal point. Elam suspects that Buford may have colluded with local authorities to bury the truth, potentially implicating himself in his wife's death.

Steve Sweat (35:04): "And all of the blood spatter on the outside of the car leads you to believe that someone was actually standing in front of that car when they were shot, not on the inside."

Elam posits that Buford's influence over local officials—the District Attorney and the medical examiner—could have facilitated the suppression of critical evidence.

Steve Sweat (37:34): "You know, it is possible that Buford absolutely did not want an autopsy done and convinced the two men not to have one. It makes absolutely no sense otherwise."

8. Impact on Buford Pusser’s Heroic Image

The emerging evidence threatens to dismantle Buford's revered image. As a figure previously celebrated for his integrity and bravery, the possibility of his involvement in his wife's murder introduces a complex, darker layer to his legacy.

Steve Sweat (29:47): "I was a huge fan. I admired the man and everything he did. The 12th of August had me convinced. Then the movie came out, and I saw the movie. I thought it was incredible."

9. Emotional and Cultural Repercussions

For historians and admirers like Steve Sweat, these revelations are deeply unsettling. The potential tarnishing of Buford's legacy challenges the narratives that have been built around him for decades.

Steve Sweat (24:21): "Of course, the perception that America has is that Buford was a real hero, that he cleaned up the state line and that he sought revenge for his wife's death. But you know, there's a whole other story that needs to be told."

10. Conclusion and Teaser for Part 2

The episode concludes with the realization that Buford Pusser's story is far more intricate than previously understood. Mike Elam's relentless investigation promises to uncover deeper truths, setting the stage for the next installment of Gone South.

Jed Lipinski (37:07): "At this point, I just started to gather up all the information that I possibly could."

Listeners are left anticipating the continuation of this investigative journey, eager to discover whether Buford Pusser's legacy can withstand the emerging evidence.

Notable Quotes

• Buford Pusser (04:48): "He was a dirty cop and he was a killer cop."
• Steve Sweat (34:17): "He said that he was sitting in the car, that they pulled up close enough that they were right next to him."
• Steve Sweat (37:34): "You know, it is possible that Buford absolutely did not want an autopsy done and convinced the two men not to have one."

Final Thoughts

This episode of Gone South masterfully intertwines historical narrative with investigative journalism, challenging long-held perceptions of a Southern icon. By scrutinizing Buford Pusser's actions and the circumstances surrounding his wife's death, the podcast invites listeners to reconsider what they know about heroism and legacy in American history.

For those intrigued by this complex tale, the next installment promises to delve even deeper into the shadows of Buford Pusser's life, seeking to uncover the truth that has remained obscured for over half a century.

Transcript

[Malcolm Gladwell]

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[Steve Sweat]

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[Jed Lipinski]

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[Malcolm Gladwell]

Hello, Hello. Malcolm Glabwell here. We'll be back with new Revisionist History episodes in January, but today we're going to bring you something a bit different. It's an episode of the podcast Gone South. Each week, writer and host Jed Lipinski shares a different story about a fascinating crime that took place below the Mason Dixon Line. Often told from the perspective of the perpetrator, the investigator, or both, Gone south explores not only the criminal mind, but also the distinctive culture and rich characters of the South. This episode is called the Real Buford Pusser Part 1. It chronicles the life of the iconic Tennessee sheriff who inspired several books, songs and half a dozen movies, including the 2004 remake Walking Tall, starring Dwayne the Rock Johnson. But recent findings suggesting Pusser played a role in his wife Pauline's death have called his legacy into question. Here's the episode.

[Jed Lipinski]

Earlier this year, a listener sent us a link to an article in the Tennessean newspaper. The article was about the decision to exhume the body of a woman named Pauline Pusser.

[Mike Elam]

New information tonight nearly 60 years after a sheriff's wife was shot and killed, the TBI exhumed her body and A deeper investigation into her death begins.

[Jed Lipinski]

Pauline was the wife of Buford Pusser, the legendary Tennessee sheriff whose life story became the basis for a best selling book and a handful of Hollywood movies, most notably walking tall. In August 1967, Pauline was fatally shot in an ambush that left Buford seriously injured. She was 33 years old and a mother of three. Authorities never figured out who was behind the ambush. Her death has remained unsolved for over 56 years. But according to the article, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, or tbi, had recently gotten a tip that caused them to reopen the case. To their surprise, they discovered that an autopsy had never been performed on Pauline. By exhuming her body, the TBI said in a statement, they intended to answer, quote, critical questions and provide crucial information that could help them identify who was behind Pauline's death. I was familiar with the story of Buford Pusser and the ambush that killed his wife. We'd mentioned it in season two about the Dixie Mafia. Buford had publicly blamed Kirksey Nix, the Dixie Mafia's supposed leader, for orchestrating the attack. When I asked Kirksey about it, he'd vehemently denied being involved. In fact, he said officials had brought Buford to an Oklahoma prison to try and identify him. But Buford couldn't do it.

[Buford Pusser]

I have the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation reports where they brought him out to.

[Jed Lipinski]

Oklahoma and he couldn't pick me out. They arranged for him to hear my.

[Buford Pusser]

Voice and he couldn't pick me out.

[Jed Lipinski]

As Kirksey put it, Buford was a criminal himself. He said the sheriff had taken bribes from a gangster associate of his in Mississippi. Carl gave him $12,000 when he ran for office.

[Buford Pusser]

He gave him $3,000 for every month he was in office. He was on the take. He was a dirty cop and he was a killer cop. Let him sue me for that.

[Jed Lipinski]

Kirksey was never charged with Pauline's murder, and neither was anyone else. It was a 56 year old mystery, one of the most famous cold cases in Tennessee history. And it looked like the TBI was on the verge of a breakthrough. But they weren't talking, and the article left a lot of questions unanswered, like why had an autopsy never been performed on Pauline Pusser and why had the TBI only just discovered this fact? Also, what was the tip that caused them to reopen the case and who was the tipster? As I looked deeper into the story, though, I realized that this wasn't really an investigation into the death of Pauline Pusser. It was an investigation into the life of Buford Pusser. Buford was a hero to a generation of Americans, a larger than life figure who inspired people to stand up to injustice. But now the TBI was raising questions that would threaten that legacy. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South. The story of Buford Pusser reads a bit like a fable from the American South. To tell it, we're going to start with Dwayne Johnson, otherwise known as the Rock, the star of the Fast and Furious franchise. The voice of Maui and Moana, one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. But in the early 2000s, the Rock's film career was still uncertain. He was already a global wrestling sensation, but Hollywood had a long standing stigma against pro wrestlers who tried to cross over. Hulk Hogan tried to do it in the 80s and 90s, but most of his films flopped. His 1996 film Santa with Muscles has been called one of the worst movies ever made. The Rock's film career began with fantasy roles in the Mummy Returns and the Scorpion King. But it was his leading role in the 2004 film Walking Tall that solidified his status as an action star. I was justified in what I did, and if you acquit me of these charges, then I'm gonna run for sheriff, Mr. Vaughn. And if elected, I'm gonna fix this town.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Order.

[Jed Lipinski]

In the film, the Rock plays a retired Special Forces agent who returns to his hometown to find it awash in corruption. He decides to run for sheriff and launches a one man crusade to clean up the town. The movie poster shows him striding down a country road armed only with a 2x4. Younger viewers may not have realized Walking Tall was a remake of the 1973 hit movie of the same name. Both were based on the real life story of Buford Pusser. If you're under 40 and live outside Tennessee, you've probably never heard of Buford. But in the 60s and 70s he was a big deal. Pusser was an almost mythical figure in the South. He died in a fiery car crash in 1974 at 36. But in just over a decade in law enforcement, he managed to inspire a legend akin to that of Wild west lawmen like Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickok. The folklore surrounding Buford Pusser can make it hard to separate fact from fiction. So here are some facts. Pusser was born on a sharecroppers farm in Adamsville, Tennessee. He was 6'six and 250 by high school and got a scholarship to play college football. He enlisted in the Marines instead, but was given a medical discharge for Asthma. From there, he bounced around. He got a job as a die cutter for a paper bag company in Chicago. He went to mortuary school at night for extra money. He wrestled professionally on weekends under the name Buford the Bull. It was after a match that he met his future wife, Pauline Mullins. Pauline was a petite blonde from Virginia. Divorced with two young kids. They married soon after and moved back to Buford's hometown of Adamsville. It was here that Buford found his calling in law enforcement. Buford became Adamsville's chief of police at age 25. Two years later, he ran for sheriff of McNary county, promising to clean up the violence and corruption that plagued the state line between Tennessee and Mississippi. For decades, the sale of hard liquor was prohibited in McNary County. The area became a hub for bootlegging and moonshining. Illegal gambling and prostitution flourished. Criminal groups like the State Line Mob and the Dixie Mafia terrorized residents and tourists alike. Buford, the imposing former wrestler, seemed like the man for the job. He became the youngest sheriff in the history of Tennessee. He immediately developed a reputation as a fearless crusader.

[Buford Pusser]

I tell people there's nobody on the face of the earth that has studied this story and been as involved in it as I have for 60 years. And everybody in Magnet county knows that.

[Jed Lipinski]

This is Steve Sweat. He owns a body shop in McNary county called Steve Sweat Body Shop. He's also considered the unofficial Buford Pusser historian.

[Buford Pusser]

Then, you know, people got to call me the Pusser historian. And of course, that's how it's been described in the newspapers for probably 20 years.

[Jed Lipinski]

Steve first heard about Buford Pusser as a young boy. He watched a lot of westerns and police procedurals on tv, like Gunsmoke and Highway Patrol. Pusser reminded him of the men in those shows. Steve studied Buford. He read the articles about him in the newspaper. Stories of Pusser arresting bootleggers, dynamiting moonshine stills, punching out drunks at the roadhouse down the street. Once, in 1966, Buford killed the owner of a seedy State Line motel after she fired at him with a concealed.38. Another time, a speeding motorist he'd pulled over shot him in the face before fleeing the scene. Buford got stitched up and went back to work. Steve could hardly believe it. Buford was like a real life Matt Dillon, the star of Gunsmoke. In the show, Dillon is the marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, tasked with bringing law and order to the lawless frontier town.

[Buford Pusser]

You know, Buford, he was just like Matt Dillon. When he got on the scene, there was no arguing back and forth and this and that. In a matter of seconds, you know the situation was under control.

[Jed Lipinski]

Pro but what happened next would raise Buford Pusser from a local legend to a national folk hero.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

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[Jed Lipinski]

Early in the morning of August 12, 1967, a call came into Buford Pusser's home. The caller said a few drunks were threatening to kill each other at Hollis Jordan's Beer Hall, a rowdy spot near the state line.

[Buford Pusser]

The story goes that someone had called a jail. And of course, Buford's dad was the jailer, Carl and dispatcher. And he felt like this call, you know, want somebody to come to state line was a bogus call. He never did even bother Buford with it. But then at some point, they called Buford's home, you know, in the early morning hours and told him there was trouble, you know, there on the state line, that he needed to come down there.

[Jed Lipinski]

According to Buford's biographer, W.R. morris, Buford and Pauline were scheduled to attend a family gathering in Virginia later that day. So Pauline decided to join him.

[Buford Pusser]

And supposedly she told him, she said, I'm going to go with you so you'll get back. And that's what put her in the car with him that morning.

[Jed Lipinski]

So responding to an anonymous complaint, Buford and Pauline jumped into his Plymouth Fury and raced down New Hope Road to Hollis Jordan's Beer Hall. En route, they passed the New Hope Methodist Church. Moments later, A sleek black Cadillac pulled up beside them. It sprayed Buford's Plymouth with a.30 caliber carbine.

[Buford Pusser]

Their lights were off. It was just breaking day and he didn't realize they were on him before the shots came through the car.

[Jed Lipinski]

The shots shattered the driver's side window, missing Buford but striking Pauline in the head. As Buford later told his biographer, he had an automatic shotgun beneath the seat and a.41 Magnum pistol on his hip, but he didn't have time to grab them. Pauline slumped onto the floorboard. Pusser gunned it. He drove another two miles until he thought he'd lost the attackers and pulled over to check on Pauline.

[Buford Pusser]

He gunned it. He gunned at Plymouth that he was in and drove approximately two miles. And it was two miles just right on the money and pulled over to see about Pauline.

[Jed Lipinski]

Buford later said he laid Pauline's head on his lap and saw a gaping wound. He prayed, oh God, please don't let her die. As he did so, the black Cadillac reappeared. A gunman opened fire again, this time at point blank range. Buford took two shots to the lower jaw. His chin held in place only by a flap of skin, he slumped forward as another bullet ripped through the driver's side door. It shattered Pauline's skull, killing her instantly. Buford managed to drive another seven miles to the hospital.

[Buford Pusser]

He drove seven miles further with his chin gone and gum lower gum and teeth gone.

[Jed Lipinski]

At the hospital, Pauline was pronounced dead. Buford was taken to Memphis to get his jaw reconstructed. Sheriff's deputies stood guard outside his room around the clock, fearing the assassins might return to finish the job. Steve Sweat was 12 years old at the time of the ambush. He remembers the moment he heard about it.

[Buford Pusser]

We didn't have social media and cell phones, but you can't imagine how fast words spread of things like that in this area back then.

[Jed Lipinski]

Based on Buford's statement to the cops, they concluded the ambush was motivated by his quest to combat corruption on the State Line. A full scale search for the murderers ensued. The Governor of Tennessee offered a $5,000 reward for info leading to an arrest and conviction. But months passed and the money was never collected. The black Cadillac and the assassins had vanished without a trace. Still, Buford, now recovered, said he had a good idea of who they were. He named several men with ties to the State Line mob and the Dixie Mafia. Kirksey Nix was one of them. Over the next few years, four of those men died under suspicious circumstances. One, a notorious gangster named Carl Towhead White, was ambushed and killed in his car outside a motel in Corinth, Mississippi.

[Buford Pusser]

And a lot of people speculate about that being an arranged hit, you know, to get rid of him.

[Jed Lipinski]

Another was reportedly found floating in the Boston harbor, his body riddled with bullets. Two more were shot to death in Texas. Kirksey Nick supposedly survived only because he was locked up at the time. No evidence tied Buford to those murders, but legend has it Buford had a hand in all of them.

[Buford Pusser]

That's just speculation and just kind of the way it seemed.

[Jed Lipinski]

Whatever the truth was, Buford's style of law enforcement suited residents of McNary County. After the ambush, he was re elected twice more. Then in 1974, at 36 years old, he died. He was speeding down a country road in his Corvette when he spun out of control, hit an embankment and broke his neck.

[Buford Pusser]

No, there was no foul play. It was just mainly speed, you know. He was 36 years old and had a big engine 74 Corvette. And he loved to go fast. And that's pretty well it, you know, that's pretty well what happened.

[Jed Lipinski]

The story of the ambush and Buford's vigilante quest to kill the men who'd murdered his wife struck a deep and primal chord in American culture. It inspired a best selling book in 1971 called 12 August by W.R. morris. From there, the legend took on a life of its own. 12 August was adapted into the hit 1973 movie Walking Tall starring Joe Don Baker as Buford Pusser.

[Mike Elam]

Audiences across America are standing up applauding and cheering A film called Walking Tall.

[Jed Lipinski]

Based on the true story of a young man who wouldn't surrender to the system and the girl who always stood beside him. Walking Tall was lightly fictionalized. For example, Joe Don Baker carries a hickory stick instead of a gun while cleaning up the state line. In truth, Buford never carried a stick on patrol. But since the film was based on a true story, most people naturally thought it was true. And so the legend grew. The film spawned two sequels. The country and rockabilly singer Eddie Bond released an entire album of songs inspired by the sheriff. Listening to the lyrics, you could be mistaken for thinking Buford Pussert was a figure out of American folklore, like John Henry or Paul Bunyan. Actor Joe Don Baker, who played Buford in the original Walking Tall, later compared him to a character from Greek mythology.

[Buford Pusser]

It astounds me that people still remember it. I mean, I can understand it because Buford was such a wonderful person. He was a hell of a character character. In real life he was like Hercules or Zeus or something. He was incredible.

[Jed Lipinski]

Then in 2004, the remake of Walking Tall came out. Shortly after the premiere, the Rock came to McNary county to see where Buford lived. Steve Sweat and his wife escorted him around, accompanied by a group of impatient MGM execs.

[Buford Pusser]

And he came here out of respect for Beaufort. He wanted to see where Buford walked and worked. He said. He said, I want to see where he actually worked.

[Jed Lipinski]

Steve took the Rock to Buford's house, his office and the local courthouse. He regaled him with stories as the Rock sat hunched in the backseat.

[Buford Pusser]

And we had the sheriff in chief in front of me and five marked units behind us and with lights and sirens. We didn't stop at any red lights, any intersection, and we ran like 80 miles an hour down the highway. He rode in my backseat with his elbows on the front seat and, you know, just like a five year old kid, you know, trying to absorb these stories.

[Jed Lipinski]

As they drove, the Rock told Steve that starring in Walking Tall had been a dream come true. The Rock's father, Rocky Johnson, had also been a pro wrestler. The two of them had watched the original Walking Tall over and over when the Rock was young. It was their favorite movie. According to Steve, it inspired the Rock to be a better man.

[Buford Pusser]

And he told us, he said, that was my dad and my favorite movie when I was a little fella. And he said, and in my life, he said, all the times I had opportunity to take the wrong path, he said, I would think of those Walking Tall movies and I wanted to walk tall.

[Jed Lipinski]

That's what the Rock said.

[Buford Pusser]

That's what he said.

[Jed Lipinski]

Like the Rock, Steve Sweat was emotionally invested in the legend of Buford Pusser as a righteous hero. And so when Steve learned that Pauline's body was being exhumed earlier this year, he was appalled. The suggestion that Buford played a role in Pauline's death threatened to destroy his legacy. What made matters worse was that the decision to exhume her could be traced to an outsider, a former security consultant from Arkansas named Mike Elam.

[Steve Sweat]

Of course, the perception that America has is that Buford was a real hero, that he cleaned up the state line and that he sought revenge for his wife's death. But you know, there's a whole other story that needs to be told.

[Jed Lipinski]

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[Mike Elam]

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[Mike Elam]

The 2024 Subaru Share the Love event runs through January 2nd. To learn more, go to subaru.com/subaru More than a car company Picture this.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

You're in the garage, your favorite room in the house, and you're tuning up your engine with parts you found on ebay. Every piece is locking perfectly into place. You step back to admire your work, hands covered in grease. And because you're committed to driving that thing further than the odometer can even handle, you start thinking to yourself, you know what? I could probably also use some new brakes, some shocks and struts. This baby deserves a new air filter. So you head right back to ebay. You can find any part you need there. It's unreal. From wipers and headlights to cold air intakes, exhaust systems, and even that turbo you've had on your mind. Ebay is the stocked garage of your dreams. And you've got ebay guaranteed fit. Because eBay knows DIY fixes can be major and mods are always intense. So you need to know those parts are guaranteed to fit every time before you dive in. Wrench first and in the off gents, you order a part and it doesn't fit, send it back. Simple as that. You know what you love more than your car itself is driving it. You're serious when it comes to engine maintenance and locked in when you're headed into a build. And that's exactly why you start with ebay. Minor fix or complete? Complete overhaul. You want to get your ride back on the road, and you've got ebay guaranteed fit. So ebay created my garage, where all you have to do is add your ride's info to get the exact parts that fit. When you see that green check, you're a click away from that part, clicking perfectly into place. So now that you know all that, imagine standing at that open garage door looking at that car you love more than anything, knowing that anything is possible, whether it's keeping it on the road forever or turning it into something that's never been on the road before. Because with ebay, your garage just got a whole lot bigger. Get all the parts you need at prices you'll love. Guaranteed to fit every time. Ebay Things people love.

[Steve Sweat]

Like everybody else. When I first heard the story of Buford Pusser, I was a huge fan. I don't think they made fans any bigger than me. I admired the man and everything he did. The 12th of August had me convinced. Then the movie came out, and I saw the movie. I thought it was incredible. It told a really entertaining story, and, you know, I was Just filled with admiration for Buford.

[Jed Lipinski]

This is Mike Elam in the early 1970s, when the first walking tall came out. Mike was a young sheriff's deputy in Benton County, Arkansas, 465 miles west of McNary County. He loved the job. He imagined being elected sheriff one day and cleaning up the county just like Buford had. But the pay was lousy. To support his family, he reluctantly took a job as the head of loss prevention for a regional grocery retailer. And yet his interest in police work never went away. He watched every episode of Dragnet. He got hooked on the JFK assassination and later, the O.J. simpson case. In the mid-90s, he turned his attention to Buford Pusser. Mike still held the man in high regard, but certain elements of the story had always bothered him. For one, the idea that Pauline had joined Buford on a disturbance call in the middle of the night.

[Steve Sweat]

I think I can speak for just about anyone who has been in law enforcement. They will tell you that one thing you never do is take your spouse to a disturbance call. A disturbance call can go sideways so quickly, and it's just dangerous for everyone.

[Jed Lipinski]

Then there was the route Buford took that night. As a Buford Pusser fan, Mike had visited McNary county to check out the Buford Pusser Museum and see a few of the sights. And he realized Buford could have taken a much simpler route to Hollis Jordan's Beer hall, where the alleged disturbance took place.

[Steve Sweat]

It was a very convoluted system of back roads to get to the state line. That didn't make sense to me because he was just two blocks from Highway 64, and he could have got on Highway 64, then on 45, been to the same location in a very short time. Whereas this convoluted system of roads, several of them, were unimproved at that time. And so it would have been a much slower route.

[Jed Lipinski]

That led Mike to another question. According to Buford, the ambushers were lying in wait behind a church on a deserted country road. But how would they have known that Buford would take that road instead of the more direct route to Hollis Jordan's?

[Steve Sweat]

Wouldn't they be waiting on either 64, 45, or possibly even there at the site where he was supposed to be responding to? So that didn't make sense.

[Jed Lipinski]

And so when he got some time off work, Mike decided to reenact the ambush. He recruited some friends to pose as the assassins. A police chief from Ohio, a retired cameraman from Mississippi, and a McNary county local who knew the story we set.

[Steve Sweat]

Up a scenario where I would pass by representing Buford's car passing by the church. And we actually had a Cadillac beside the church that gave chase. However, by the time that I got to the bridge, they were still about 200, 250 yards behind me. And you know, that really started to ring true, that if they couldn't catch me in broad daylight, how could that have happened in the pre dawn hours with no headlights?

[Jed Lipinski]

How fast were they traveling when they were trying to chase you?

[Steve Sweat]

Well, I was going 45, and at one time they reached 92 miles an hour in that 7/10 of a mile stretch trying to catch me, me. And like I say, they were still over 200 yards behind me by the time I reached the ambush point. And that just convinced me that there was no way it happened the way that Buford said. At this point, I just started to gather up all the information that I possibly could.

[Jed Lipinski]

Mike began making public records requests. He read the police reports and studied the crime scene photographs from the ambush. Two things immediately stood out. One was the blood spatter. He knew that blood spatter often tells a story about how a crime occurred.

[Steve Sweat]

Blood spatter tells you several different things. It can tell you the direction that a shot came from, the height that it came from, the distance the firearm was away from a person. And none of it matched Buford's stories.

[Jed Lipinski]

Buford had claimed that he and Pauline were inside the car when the ambushers opened fire, wounding Buford and killing Pauline. As such, you'd expect the blood spatter to be all over the car's interior. But that's not the only place the blood spatter was.

[Steve Sweat]

You had blood on the front bumper, the hood of the car, the top of the car, the sides of the car, all over the outside of the windshield. So you knew that something was, was not correct with his story.

[Jed Lipinski]

What specifically did that suggest about where the victim may have been at the time or the shooter?

[Steve Sweat]

So all of the blood spatter on the outside of the car leads you to believe that someone was actually standing in front of that car when they were shot, not on the inside.

[Jed Lipinski]

The second thing that stood out to Mike was the position of the shell casings.

[Steve Sweat]

He said that he was sitting in the car, that they pulled up close enough that they were right next to him. You would expect the shell casings to have been found in between the cars, possibly some being ejected inside the Cadillac and some even going over into Buford's car after the window was blown out.

[Jed Lipinski]

But the shell casings weren't in the middle of the road or inside Buford's Plymouth. They were on the shoulder of the road, on the opposite side of where Buford's car would have been. Pauline was said to have died from two gunshot wounds to the head. But Mike wanted to see what the autopsy report said. He called the McNary County Medical examiner, but they didn't have it. So he called the medical examiner for the state of Tennessee in Nashville. They didn't have it either. When Mike asked why the response shocked him.

[Steve Sweat]

I learned that one was never performed.

[Jed Lipinski]

Mike couldn't believe it. Pauline was the sheriff's wife who had, according to Buford, been killed in a dramatic Hollywood style ambush with no other witnesses and no viable suspects. Even a cursory look at the evidence suggested Buford's version of events was highly dubious. And yet no autopsy. The state and local medical examiners from 1967 had long since passed away. So Mike reached out to the current state medical examiner. He asked what could have prevented the autopsy of a murder victim back in 1967.

[Steve Sweat]

And he told me that the prosecutor and the local medical examiner had to concur on the need for one. So for some reason, they could not concur. And you have to wonder about the reasoning for that because that autopsy would have told so much about her death that, that they just passed up the opportunity to get trajectories, the angles, the distance, so much there that needed to be told.

[Jed Lipinski]

Mike knew that Buford, as the sheriff of McNary county, was friendly with both the local DA and the medical examiner. They must have felt sorry for Buford. Mike could easily imagine him persuading both men to bury his wife without an autopsy.

[Steve Sweat]

You know, it is possible that Buford absolutely did not want an autopsy done and convinced the two men not to have one. It makes absolutely no sense otherwise.

[Jed Lipinski]

Mike was hooked. He would spend a good part of the next 10 years investigating Buford and the events leading up to Pauline's death. Along the way, he would uncover details no one knew about one of the South's most famous unsolved murders. Details that suggested the prime suspect in Pauline's death was her husband, Buford Pusser. That's next time on Gone South. If you have information, story tips or feedback you'd like to share with the Gone south team, please email [e-mail] that's gonesouthpodcastmail.com we're on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram onsouthpodcast. You can also sign up for our newsletter on substack at Gone south with Jed Lipinski Gone south is an Odyssey original podcast. It's created, written and narrated by me, Jed Lipinski. Our executive producers are Jenna Weiss Berman, Maddy Sprung Keyser, Tom Lipinski, Lloyd Lockridge, and me. Our story editors are Tom Lipinski, Maddy Sprung Keyser, and Joel Lovell. Gone south is edited, mixed and mastered by Chris Basel and Andy Jaskowicz. Production support from Ian Mont and Sean Cherry. Special thanks to J.D. crowley, Leah Reese, Dennis, Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Kurt Courtney and Hilary Schuff. If you want to hear more of Gone south, please take a few seconds to rate and review the show. It really helps.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Search for Gone south wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mike Elam]

The holiday season is back, which means it's a time for giving. Subaru and its retailers believe in giving back to those who need it most. For the past 17 years, Subaru has made the act of buying a Subaru during the holiday season an act of love. When you purchase or lease a new Subaru during the Subaru Share the Love event, Subaru and its retailers donate a minimum of $300 to charity. By the end of this year's event, Subaru and its retailers will have donated nearly $320 million to national and hometown charities. To learn More, go to subaru.com/subaru More than a car company this podcast is supported by BetterHelp, offering licensed therapists you can connect with via video phone or chat. Here's BetterHelp head of clinical Operations Hes Yu Jo discussing who can benefit from therapy. I think a lot of people think that you're supposed to be going to therapy once you're like having panic attacks every day. But before you get to that point, I think once you start even noticing that you feel a little bit off and you can't maintain this harmony that you once had in relationships, that could be a sign that maybe you want to go talk to somebody. There's always a benefit in talking to someone because we can all benefit from improved insight about ourselves and who we are and how we behave with other people. So if you're human, that's like a good indicator that you could benefit from talking to somebody. Find out if therapy is right for you. Visit betterhelp.com today. That's betterhelp.com ch ch ch. Chumba looking for excitement?

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