The Life of McNairy County, Tennessee Sheriff, Buford Pusser

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Sheriff Buford Pusser checks on the jail section of the McNairy County Courthouse in Selmer, Tenn., on Sept. 26, 1968. His battles with organized crime in his county cost him his wife, Pauline, who was killed riding along with him while checking out a tip. The couple were ambushed.

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Buford Hayse Pusser (December 12, 1937 – August 21, 1974) was an American police officer and politician who served as the sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee from 1964 to 1970 and constable of Adamsville from 1970 to 1972. His time in office inspired several books, songs, and movies, most notably Walking Tall. He was also a wrestler known as "Buford the Bull" in the Mid-South.

In August 2025, following a three-year investigation conducted together with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the local district attorney's office concluded that Pusser killed his wife, Pauline Mullins Pusser, in 1967.

Life and career ~

Buford Pusser was born in Adamsville, McNairy County, Tennessee, on December 12, 1937. He was the son of Helen (née Harris) and Carl Pusser. His father was the police chief of Adamsville, Tennessee. Buford Pusser was a high-school football and basketball player and was 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps when he graduated from high school, but his service ended in boot camp when he was given a medical discharge for asthma.

Buford's parents, Carl and Helen Pusser. / Buford Pusser while playing football in high school.

In 1957, he moved to Chicago, where he was a local wrestler known as "Buford the Bull". He married Pauline Mullins on December 5, 1959. Pusser returned home in 1962 and in September he was elected Adamsville's police chief and constable. In 1964, Pusser ran against incumbent Democratic sheriff James Dickey as the Republican Party's nominee. After Dickey was killed in an auto accident, Pusser was elected sheriff. He was the youngest sheriff in Tennessee's history. Pusser promptly began trying to eliminate the Dixie Mafia and the State Line Mob.

Wedding photo of Buford and Pauline Pusser.

Pusser survived several alleged assassination attempts. According to events as told by Pusser, on February 1, 1966, Louise Hathcock attempted to kill Pusser during an on-site investigation of a robbery complaint at the Shamrock Motel. Hathcock allegedly fired on Pusser with a concealed .38 pistol. Pusser returned fire and killed Hathcock. On January 2, 1967, Pusser was shot three times by an unidentified gunman.

Louise Hathcock.

Murder of Pauline Pusser ~

According to Pusser, his phone rang before dawn on the morning of August 12, 1967, informing him of a disturbance on New Hope Road in McNairy County; Pusser responded, and his wife, Pauline, rode along. Shortly after they passed the New Hope Methodist Church, Pusser said, a fast-moving car came alongside theirs and the occupants opened fire, killing his wife and leaving Pusser for dead. Doctors said he was struck on the left side of his jaw by at least two, or possibly three, rounds from a .30-caliber carbine. He spent 18 days in the hospital before returning home, and he required several more surgeries to restore his appearance.

Buford after ambush.

Despite vowing to bring his wife's murderers to justice, Pusser never did have Kirksey Nix or any of the accused prosecuted. Nix was sentenced to the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola for the 1971 Easter Saturday murder of New Orleans grocer Frank J. Corso. While imprisoned, Nix ordered the 1987 murder-for-hire of Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, in Biloxi, Mississippi. His co-conspirator, Biloxi Mayor Pete Halat, had, in his capacity as Nix's attorney, stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars that Nix had amassed in a massive lonely hearts scam, blaming it on his law partner, Judge Sherry. Nix was later sentenced to isolation for the rest of his life. According to a 1990 AP story in The Town Talk, a newspaper in Alexandria, Louisiana, Nix denied being involved in the ambush of the Pussers.

On January 5, 2024, more than 56 years after Pauline Pusser's death, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced that the criminal investigation remained an active case, and requested information from the public. Following several tips, the TBI confirmed that an autopsy had never been performed on Pauline Pusser's remains during the course of the original investigation in 1967. In a written statement, the TBI said, "With the support of Pauline’s family and in consultation with 25th Judicial District Attorney General Mark Davidson, TBI requested the exhumation [of Pauline Pusser's remains] in an attempt to answer critical questions and provide crucial information that may assist in identifying the person or persons responsible for Pauline Pusser’s death." Her remains were exhumed on February 8, 2024 and reinterred on or around April 7, 2024.

The burial vault containing Pauline's casket is brought up.

The TBI and the district attorney general for Tennessee's 25th Judicial District announced on August 29, 2025 that, were Buford Pusser alive, there would be probable cause to charge him with the death of his wife. Investigators announced that Pauline Pusser's wounds were not consistent with Pusser's story, but rather were consistent with having been shot at close range, that Pauline's nose had been broken shortly before her death, and that the blood on Buford Pusser's car also contradicted his narrative. They also found that Pusser's own wound was likely self-inflicted.

Later career ~

Pusser shot and killed an intoxicated Charles Russell Hamilton on December 25, 1968, after responding to a complaint that Hamilton had threatened his landlord with a gun.

Pusser was ineligible for re-election in 1970 due to term limits then in effect. He was defeated in his bid for sheriff in 1972. Pusser blamed his loss to incumbent Sheriff Clifford Coleman in part on the controversy surrounding the making of the semibiographical movie Walking Tall. Pusser was nonetheless re-elected as constable of Adamsville by a majority of voters, who wrote in his name on their ballots. He served as constable for two more years (1970–1972).

Death ~

Buford Pusser died on August 21, 1974, of injuries sustained in a one-car automobile accident 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Adamsville. Earlier that day, he had contracted with Bing Crosby Productions in Memphis to portray himself in the sequel to Walking Tall. Returning home alone that evening from the McNairy County Fair in his specially modified Corvette, Pusser struck an embankment at high speed and was ejected from the vehicle. The car caught fire and burned.

Buford's Corvette after the accident and fire.

Local speculation regarding the cause of the accident included rumors of sabotage to the steering mechanism and the tie rods. The Tennessee state trooper who responded to the accident, Paul Ervin, later became the sheriff of McNairy County. Ervin claimed that Pusser's death was caused by drunk driving without a seat belt. Buford’s daughter, Dwana Pusser, a passenger in another car, came upon the scene of the accident minutes later. No autopsy of Pusser's body was performed. As sheriff, Pusser was credited with surviving seven stabbings and eight shootings. Pusser's memorial service was held at the Adamsville Church of Christ.

More than 1,000 people gathered in Adamsville, Tenn., on Aug. 24, 1974, to pay their last respects to legendary former Sheriff Buford Pusser.

Popular culture ~

Pusser was the subject of three biographical books written by W.R. Morris: The Twelfth of August: The Story of Buford Pusser (1971), Buford: True Story of "Walking Tall" Sheriff Buford Pusser (1984), and The State Line Mob: A True Story of Murder and Intrigue (1990). In addition, Morris also created a pictorial history book of Buford called The Legacy of Buford Pusser: A Pictorial History of the "Walking Tall" Sheriff (1997). Pusser's daughter Dwana released a book in 2009 entitled Walking On, which is also an account of his life.

The 1973 movie Walking Tall was based on Pusser's story. It was followed by two sequels in 1975 and 1977, a TV movie in 1978, and a brief TV series in 1981.

A remake by the same title was released in 2004 starring Dwayne Johnson as the main character, renamed Chris Vaughn. After the success of the 2004 film, Walking Tall: The Payback was released in 2007 direct-to-video. The name of the main character, who was portrayed by Kevin Sorbo, was changed to Nick Prescott, and the movie was set in the Dallas area. Later that year, on September 25, 2007, Sorbo returned in Walking Tall: Lone Justice.

The Buford Pusser Museum was established at the home he lived in at the time of his death in 1974. A Buford Pusser Festival is held each May in his hometown of Adamsville, Tennessee.

Buford Pusser Home and Museum in Adamsville.

In music ~

Singer Eddie Bond wrote and recorded several songs honoring Pusser, beginning with "Buford Pusser" in 1968. Many of them were collected on a 1973 LP album, Eddie Bond Sings the Legend of Buford Pusser. Pusser himself was also a recording artist, with "It Happened In Tennessee", released in October 1973 on Stax Records subsidiary Respect. Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers told the story of Pusser's battle with organized crime in the songs "The Boys from Alabama", "Cottonseed", and "The Buford Stick" from their 2004 album The Dirty South. In the songs "The Buford Stick" and "The Boys From Alabama", they speculated on how criminals might have viewed Pusser.

Jimmy Buffett refers to an altercation between Pusser and himself in the songs "Presents To Send You" and "Semi-True Stories" (from the albums A1A and Beach House on the Moon, respectively). According to Buffett, Pusser and he were staying in the same Nashville motel when Buffett decided to go out for some food and bring it back to the motel. Buffett, who had been drinking, could not find his rental car and decided to climb up on a Cadillac for a better view. That Cadillac turned out to belong to Pusser, who was not at all pleased to find this stranger atop his car. There is also a line in the Buffett song "Close Calls" on the album "Equal Strain on All Parts" that references the altercation with Buford Pusser.

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FROM:

Buford Pusser was once his hero. Now, this ex-sheriff has a new view of the famed lawman

By Keith Sharon, Nashville Tennessean, Feb. 23, 2024

He drove the murder route.

Mike Elam scanned the bushes along the sides of the road where killers could have laid in wait.

Something didn't seem right to him.

It's about 20 miles from former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser's house to the spot, or spots, where his wife, Pauline was shot in rural West Tennessee. Past the New Hope United Methodist Church. Under the bridge. Elam zipped along New Hope Road, which hasn't changed much since 1967. Elam took the same route at the same speed and stopped in the same places Pusser, the iconic Southern lawman, took on the night he and his wife were reportedly ambushed.

Mike Elam.

After his reenactment, Elam, 72, himself a former Southern lawman, had so many questions. Elam thought Pusser's account of the ambush was full of discrepancies. The blood splatter on the hood of the car didn't make sense. And, how did four assailants (as Pusser described) know where to set up for an ambush on a random rural road?

"I just want justice for Pauline," Elam said in a recent interview.

For almost three decades, checking the narrative about Buford Pusser has become an obsession for Elam.

He's self-published a book ("Buford Pusser: The Other Story"), operates a Facebook group for more than 17,000 Pusser skeptics and enthusiasts and even leads an occasional bus tour of the McNairy County sites made famous by two "Walking Tall" movies (1973 and 2004). Elam was a Benton County, Arkansas, sheriff for six years in the 1970s, and he said the 6-foot-6 Buford Pusser was a hero because his story inspired so many people to pursue law enforcement careers.

Then, in 1995, he saw a few internet articles suggesting Pusser may not have been the upstanding lawman he had been portrayed to be.

He was hooked.

"He did good things, but that doesn't outweigh the bad things he did," Elam said.

And there was this: Elam discovered Pusser didn't regularly carry a big stick, like the movies depicted.

"Hollywood myth," is the way Elam described the Buford Pusser story many people think they know.

What to know: Buford Pusser and the exhumation of Pauline Pusser's body. What to know

'He Walked Tall'

In the late 1990s, Elam began recording interviews, collecting evidence and, over the years, offering tips to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

On Feb. 8, 2024, the TBI took the extraordinary step of exhuming Pauline Pusser's body from the burial plot she shares with Buford, with a headstone chiseled with both their names and the words, "He Walked Tall."

exhumation of Pauline Pusser's grave. Feb. 8, 2024.

"Pauline was fatally shot on August 12, 1967, in McNairy County, and the Tennessee Bureau of Criminal Identification was called in to investigate," a TBI statement read. "As we have evolved to become the independent agency that we are today, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, this case has remained an active investigation. As with any unresolved case, agents have continued to reexamine files and follow any and all leads.

Pauline Pusser.

"A recent tip prompted a new review of the case file and the discovery was made that an autopsy was never performed on Mrs. Pusser’s body. With the support of Pauline’s family and in consultation with 25th Judicial District Attorney General Mark Davidson, TBI requested the exhumation in an attempt to answer critical questions and provide crucial information that may assist in identifying the person or persons responsible for Pauline Pusser’s death."

Elam said he doesn't know if he was the person who made the tip that led to the exhumation, but he said he has made lots of tips to the TBI over the years. In his book, Elam theorizes Pusser was secretly part of the same illegal moonshine black market that he famously (chronicled in newspapers, books and movies) tried to stop. Elam said he believes Pauline Pusser knew of her husband's corruption.

Elam said he believes Buford Pusser killed her to prevent her from speaking to authorities.

"If he (Buford Pusser) took someone's life to keep his secret, what kind of hero was he?" Elam said.

Elam's theories have not been embraced by all his Facebook followers.

Ronald Pusser, who said he is Buford Pusser's fourth cousin, called Elam's theories "a joke." Pusser said his nickname during his school days was "Buford" after the legendary sheriff.

"He (Elam) is an (expletive) in my book," said Ronald Pusser, 60. "I don't understand his motivation."

Ronald Pusser said Elam is the reason for the renewed interest in the case.

"This (the exhumation) is a witch hunt started by Mike Elam's tip," he said. "I was flabbergasted. Let her (Pauline) rest in peace."

War on moonshiners

Buford Pusser was a basketball star at Adamsville High School in the mid-1950s. At 6-foot-6, he played center, and averaged a tick under 20 points per game. He left McNairy County for the U.S. Marine Corps, but recurring asthma eruptions in basic training ended his military career.

He moved to Chicago, became a professional wrestler (known as Buford The Bull) and married Pauline Mullins. Pusser and his new wife moved to Adamsville in 1962, and he got his first job in law enforcement as a constable in his hometown, serving for two years. In 1964, he decided to run for McNairy County Sheriff, and his opponent, James Dickey, died in a car accident just before the election.

Pusser served as the McNairy County Sheriff from 1964-69. As sheriff, Pusser declared war against moonshiners (McNairy County was dry), prostitution and the "State Line Mob," a criminal group that owned bars, restaurants and hotels on the border of Tennessee and Mississippi.

Buford standing at an illegal still that he broke up.

Elam said Pusser may have used a hickory stick to break up backyard stills in a few instances, but he did not carry one with him constantly like he did in the movies.

Pusser survived several assassination attempts as he took aim at the State Line Mob. His life story was chronicled in the book "The Twelfth of August" by W.R. Morris. The book got its name from the date of the reported ambush on Pusser and his wife. Pusser, himself, was shot in the chin during that incident. The book and several newspaper articles speculated that the ambush was carried out by a team of assassins led by a Dixie Mafia member named Kirksey Nix, who was never charged.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward Humes, who wrote "Mississippi Mud" (the Simon and Schuster published book is about the assassination of a judge and his wife), touched on the Pusser case through his research of Nix.

"There was a great deal of circumstantial evidence suggesting Kirksey Nix was in the right place at the right time to have been involved," Humes said in a Facebook direct message. "Pusser later claimed Nix had been hired to make the hit as revenge for the killing of a close Dixie Mafia friend’s wife, who had been shot by Pusser during a bust.

"Jailhouse snitches over the years have claimed Nix boasted of his involvement, but the career criminal and convicted killer was never charged in the case. Nix adamantly denied involvement when I interviewed him."

Pauline Pusser's case has never been solved.

"The Twelfth of August" was the inspiration for the first "Walking Tall" movie in 1973. The film starred Joe Don Baker as an aggressive sheriff who would bash people with a stick if he thought they were running moonshine. The second film starred Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a military veteran who tried to clean up his hometown. The second movie strayed even further from Pusser's real-life story.

Actor Joe Don Baker playing the role of Buford Pusser in the first "Walking Tall" movie.

Buford Pusser died in a single car accident at age 36 in 1974. His Corvette hit an embankment on Highway 64 at a high-rate of speed.

Questions about blood splatter ~

Elam knows his theories about the case aren't always popular.

A few times, he has hired a bus to take Pusser enthusiasts to see the McNairy County sites made famous by the Pusser story. Once, he was met with resistance in front of the Buford Pusser Museum, located at 342 Pusser St. in Adamsville.

"We were greeted by the police department," Elam said.

Elam said he talked his way out of any trouble, and his guests got to tour the museum.

The Tennessean talked to the person who answered the phone at the museum. The person declined to give their name. He said he is not allowed to comment because the case is under investigation and hung up on a reporter.

Oakley Dean Baldwin, who wrote the self-published book "The Murder of Mrs. Buford Pusser," said he is a cousin of Pauline. He is a former crime scene investigator in North Carolina and an intelligence officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Baldwin said he and Elam are mostly in agreement about their theories of the Pusser ambush.

"I had a lot of concerns about the blood splatter on the vehicle," Baldwin said. "I also had concerns about a sheriff receiving a disturbance call at 2 a.m. and taking his wife.

"A lot of red flags were popping up for me."

Dennis Hathcock was one of the witnesses at the crime scene just more than an hour after Pauline Pusser was killed. He said he saw part of Pauline's skull in a nearby ditch. He said he has been questioned over the years by the TBI.

Hathcock, now 74, was 16 at the time. He raced to the scene on his motorcycle after hearing about an ambush. Hathcock had followed Pusser's life closely because he believed the sheriff had shot his aunt, Louise Hathcock, in the back. Louise had a reputation as being a member of the State Line Mob.

Louise Hathcock's death (the official report said she shot at Pusser and he returned fire) is popular among the anti-Pusser crowd because they claim her shooting was not in self-defense.

Dennis Hathcock said he's happy with Elam's work.

"Thank God that somebody had enough sense to not fall for the B.S. about Pusser," he said.

A 30 caliber clue?

The most important piece of evidence Elam has found is now in possession of the TBI.

An anonymous follower of Elam's Facebook page contacted him in July of 2023. The follower said he had a 30 caliber carbine that once belonged to Buford Pusser.

Elam met the follower, called the TBI and the gun was put into evidence.

Elam doesn't know what TBI has done with the gun.

"I've been told Pauline was shot with a 30 caliber gun," Elam said. "I think it was the gun that may have been used to kill Pauline Pusser."

So far the TBI has said nothing about the gun, the results of tests on Pauline Pusser's corpse or how they may handle information changes the narrative about Buford Pusser.

Mike Elam, and everybody else, has to wait.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Buford Pusser case: Ex-sheriff has new views, sends tips to TBI

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I'm sorry, but I don't believe that Mike Elam's account adds up. First of all, blood spatter is important in many murder cases, but it doesn't work in all. How would Buford have killed his wife? Did he stand outside the car to shoot through it? And how would a man use a .30 caliber rifle to shoot himself in the face? This would be very hard to do. In such a case, the killer would shoot himself in an arm, leg or another non-lethal area of the body, not in the face unless he was trying to actually kill himself.

And, as far as Buford owning a .30 caliber rifle, so what? Does that rifle match up with the bullets fired into Pauline? Many people have owned .30 caliber rifles. For that matter, I own one. But no, I was nowhere near that area that night.

I simply do not believe, at this point, that Buford Pusser had anything to do with his wife's killing.

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FROM:

Unsolved murder: Body of folk hero 'Walking Tall' Sheriff Buford Pusser's wife exhumed

A famous cold case is drawing nationwide attention once again after the body of a woman murdered more than 50 years ago was exhumed this week.

Posted 1:04 p.m. Feb 9, 2024 - Updated 7:31 a.m. Mar 10, 2024

A famous cold case is drawing nationwide attention once again after the body of a woman murdered more than 50 years ago was exhumed this week.

Pauline Pusser was killed by incoming gunfire while in a car driven by her husband, McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, a figure whose legend was captured in multiple Hollywood films, including the 1973 film 'Walking Tall' and a 2004 remake starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

Oakley Dean Baldwin, a North Carolina author, historian and retired law enforcement officer, has been following Pauline Pusser's case for decades. In fact, she was a relative.

"There was never an autopsy performed on Pauline," said Baldwin, who examined the cold case in his book Murder of Mrs. Buford Pusser.

Decades later, he believes this autopsy could provide answers to questions he personally has about what happened that fateful day.

What happened the night Sheriff Buford Pusser's wife died?

Pauline Pusser was killed in McNairy County, Tennessee on Aug. 12, 1967.

Pauline and her husband Sheriff Buford Pusser were reportedly together in a car on a "lonely country road" when gunshots rang out.

Pauline Pusser was killed, and her husband was “seriously wounded in the jaw when Pusser’s prowl car was fired on at dawn," according to a local newspaper article published the next day.

The Selmer police chief then heard a call on the radio from Sheriff Pusser. He and his wife were found just north of the Tennessee-Mississippi state line on U.S. 54. The sheriff was behind the wheel, and his wife was lying on the seat with her head in his lap.

The Tennessean reported the Pussers had been heading to investigate a complaint.

Investigators found 14 spent 30-caliber cartridges on the road where Pusser said the shooting occurred. The Pusser car was hit 11 times.

In the archived news article, The Tennessean quoted an investigator who said they believed the couple had driven into a trap.

Does the story of the unsolved murder add up?

Baldwin says he feels some of Sheriff Pusser's story doesn't totally add up.

"The story that was told is that they were en route to a disturbance call, and she was riding with him. They left the house around 2 o' clock, and it should have been a 20 minute drive. But the actual ambush happened around 4:30, so there's some time there that doesn't make any sense," he said.

He feels it's strange they never did an autopsy back in the 1960s after her murder. However, he feels confident this autopsy will help clear up some unanswered questions.

"Pauline was shot in the head with a high powered rifle, and it killed her pretty much instantly, and the Sheriff was wounded on his cheek. If they only find the actual damage to her skull from the shot to her head, and the rest of her body looks okay, they can rule him out as a suspect," said Baldwin.

He says investigators will look for any additional cuts or bruising on her body, as well as broken bones.

"Anything that shows she fought back," he said.

Because if she was shot in the head and died instantly, she couldn't have fought back.

He thinks they'll also search for traces of drugs to rule out that she'd been drugged before getting in the car – and they'll check to ensure there are no signs of strangulation.

If they don't find any traces of other injuries, he says they can rule out Sheriff Pusser as a suspect.

"In the heat of the battle, the stories that he told, I can see where some of them would be confusing. Your wife being murdered, and being shot yourself, by several assailants with rifles, would be very traumatic," said Baldwin.

Folk hero: Sheriff Buford Pusser and the 'Walking Tall' legend

Buford Pusser spent six years as McNairy County sheriff beginning in 1964. He aimed to rid McNairy County of organized crime – from moonshiners to gamblers.

Over the course of his life, he was allegedly shot eight times, stabbed seven times and killed two people in self-defense.

In the 1974 vesion of 'Walking Tall,' Sheriff Pusser is depicted as a man who "single-handedly cleaned up his small town," but at great personal cost: Losing his wife and nearly his own life.

Pauline Pusser's body exhumed for autopsy after 5 decades

A TBI statement said the agency received a new tip that led agents to find that there was never an autopsy performed on Pauline Pusser's body.

“With the support of Pauline’s family and in consultation with 25th Judicial District Attorney General Mark Davidson, TBI requested the exhumation in an attempt to answer critical questions and provide crucial information that may assist in identifying the person or persons responsible for Pauline Pusser’s death,” TBI spokesperson Keli McAlister said.

Baldwin examines the life, death and cold case of Pauline Pusser in his book Murder of Mrs. Buford Pusser.

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Sheriff Buford Pusser relaxes in his office at the McNairy County Courthouse in Selmer, Tenn., on Sept. 26, 1968. His stories of violence and gun battles seemed out of place in the small West Tennessee county that borders Mississippi and the Tennessee River.

The face of McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, here on Sept. 26, 1968, shows the results of his battles with organized crime in his county. The crease on his side of his face, which he refers to as his “dimple,” was caused by two 25-caliber bullet wounds, and his chin has been reconstructed after it was ripped off a year ago in the ambush that killed his wife.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser talks about his life on Aug. 1, 1973, ahead of the six-year anniversary of having his jaw shot off and his wife killed in a dawn ambush on Aug. 12. His face bears the scars of many such battles. But not long after that, people stopped shooting at him and started singing about him, writing books about him and making movies about him, and now he is on his way to becoming a folk hero.

Carl and Helen Pusser, Buford's parents.

Relaxing on the porch of Buford Pusser's home in Adamsville, Tenn., on Aug. 1, 1973, are his daughter Dawana, 12, his mother, Helen, and father, Carl.

Carl Pusser was a deputy sheriff.

Pauline Pusser, Buford's wife.

Pauline, Buford and Mike, Pauline's son.

Pauline and Buford.

Buford and Pauline's wedding picture.

Pauline relaxing at home.

Pauline with an injured Buford.

Buford's mother, Helen Pusser.

John Howard Pusser. Buford's brother.

Pauline's son, Mike Vance.

Mike Vance, Pauline's son.

Diane and Mike.

A young Pauline.

Surrounded by his stepson Michael, 14, stepdaughter Diane, 18, and daughter Dwana, 7, at his Adamsville, Tenn., home on Sept. 26, 1968, McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser seems far from the gun battles he has fought with gangsters for the past four years. The new song “Bufford Pusser,” written and recorded by Eddie Bond, is circulating like wildfire in West Tennessee and Mississippi.

McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, left, stepdaughter Diane, 18, daughter Dwana, 7, and stepson Michael, 14, share a moment with the family dog at his Adamsville, Tenn., home on Sept. 26, 1968.

Buford's daughter, Dwana Pusser as an adult.

Dwana Pusser Garrison was born Jan. 9, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of the late legendary McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser and Pauline Mullins Pusser. She was united in marriage to Jamie Garrison on March 7, 1998.

Dwana was an advocate of tourism and actively promoted Adamsville and the legacy of her father through the Buford Pusser Home and Museum. She was a crusader for law enforcement and annually honored an officer of the year and officers fallen in the line of duty at the Buford Pusser Festival held on Memorial Day weekend each year. Dwana served three terms on the Adamsville City Commission and was a member of Adamsville First Baptist Church.

She departed this life on Wednesday, March 7, in Adamsville the age of 57 years, 1 month, 26 days.

She is survived by her husband Jamie Garrison of Adamsville; two daughters, Atoyia Barnes of Adamsville, Madison Garrison of Houston, Texas; a stepdaughter, Tara Garrison of Jackson, Tennessee; four grandchildren, Abby Moffett, Hayse Barnes, Dani Beth Moffett, Jack Houston Barnes; a half-brother, Mike Vance of St. Louis, Missouri; a host of extended family and friends.

In addition to her parents, Dwana was preceded in death by a half-sister, Diane Vance Mullins.

Memorials may be made to Buford Pusser Museum, 342 Pusser St., Adamsville, Tenn. 38310.

Celebration of Life Services were held on Tuesday, March 13, at 1 p.m., at Adamsville First Baptist Church in Adamsville with Bro. Phil Mitchell and Bro. Chad Ball officiating. Burial followed in Adamsville Cemetery with Shackelford Funeral Directors of Selmer in charge of arrangements. Shackelford Funeral Directors of Selmer.

Serving as pallbearers were Jack Coffman, Steve Sweat, Dustin Jaco, Ronald Hardin, Hayse Barnes, Jerry Woods.

Dwana Pusser Garrison.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser talks about his past in front of his home in Adamsville, Tenn., on Aug. 1, 1973.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser pets the family dogs in front of his home in Adamsville, Tenn., on Aug. 1, 1973

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, right, autographs a book about him for an out-of-towner passing through at the Old Home Restaurant and Motel in Adamsville, his hometown, on Aug. 1, 1973. Hardback books about Pusser, "The Twelfth of August" by W.R. Morris, are on sale beside the cash register.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, right, autographs a book about him for a couple of out-of-towners passing through at the Old Home Restaurant and Motel in Adamsville, his hometown, on Aug. 1, 1973.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, right, talks with a couple of customers at the Old Home Restaurant and Motel in Adamsville, Tenn., his hometown, on Aug. 1, 1973.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, center, relaxes at the Old Home Restaurant and Motel in Adamsville, Tenn., his hometown, on Aug. 1, 1973, as he is interviewed by Kathy Sawyer, a reporter for The Tennessean.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, right, answers questions and charms his fans, well, most of them, at a promotion on Aug. 4, 1973, at E.B. Smith Chevrolet in Nashville. An autographed stick was given away every hour. Despite appearances, Pusser insists he isn't running for office.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, left, answers questions and signs autographs for his fans at a promotion on Aug. 4, 1973, at E.B. Smith Chevrolet in Nashville. An autographed stick was given away every hour. Despite appearances, Pusser insists he isn't running for office.

Towering over a young fan, Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, right, autographs a copy of his biography during a promotion on Aug. 4, 1973, at E.B. Smith Chevrolet in Nashville. An autographed stick was given away every hour.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, left, puts his autograph on one of his walking sticks for a fan during a promotion on Aug. 4, 1973, at E.B. Smith Chevrolet in Nashville. An autographed stick was given away every hour.

Buford Pusser shows off his 1973 Thunderbird at his home in Adamsville, Tenn., on Aug. 1, 1973. The former sheriff has already put 35,000 miles on his car.

1970 Chevy Impala.

1970 Ford Custom.

The '68 Toronado was seen in an earlier photo.

Ambush site today.

The ambush site then. Police look over the car that the Pussers were ambushed in.

Pauline's blood all over the passenger door of the car.

1967 Plymouth Fury I. This car was shot up in the August 12, 1967, ambush.

A policeman looks over the ambush car.

Police investigate the '67 Plymouth ambush car.

Buford Pusser moments after being removed from the car.

1967 Plymouth ambush car today.

The report sent to the FBI about the ambush of Sheriff and Mrs. Pusser.

The graveyard behind the New Hope Methodist Church in McNairy County is shown here on Aug. 1, 1973. Police believe that gunmen waited here to ambush Pusser in his patrol car. The sheriff was wounded and his wife, Pauline, was killed.

At this spot on New Hope Road in McNairy County, shown here Aug. 1, 1973, gunmen attacked Sheriff Buford Busser, shooting him through the jaw at point blank range and also killing his wife, Pauline.

Actor Joe Don Baker starring as Buford Pusser in Walking Tall. The first of the movies.

Elizabeth Hartman played the role of Pauline Pusser in the first film.

Actor Bo Svenson played the part of Buford Pusser in the second movie of the anthology.

Walking Tall (1973 film).

Buford Pusser, left, the legendary former McNairy County sheriff, discusses plans on Oct. 5, 1973, for Buford Pusser Day on Oct. 21 in Adamsville, Tenn., with Glenn Sutton, whose wife, Lynn Anderson, will entertain at the festivities. Other featured on the program to raise funds for a park in Adamsville are George Jones, Tammy Wynette and Johnny Paycheck.

The conversation had to be lively when these distinguished guests gathered at the home of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash on Old Hickory Lake for dinner on Oct. 26, 1973. They are Buford Pusser, Dr. Billy Graham, Johnny Cash, John Rollins, Dr. Nat Winston and James F. Neal.

Buford Pusser, George Jones, and Tammy Wynette.

Dolly Parton & Buford Pusser.

Metro Trustee Glenn Ferguson, left, and former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser listen to Johnny Duncan pick the guitar as Columbia Records vice president Billy Sherrill watches on May 18, 1973. Pusser, who is the subject of the recent movie “Walking Tall,” visited Music Row to hear the Nashville Sound firsthand.

Tennessee’s legendary crime fighter Buford Pusser, left, holds a copy of the new RCA release “The Ballad of Buford Pusser,” which Dave Hall, right, wrote and recorded. The song made its debut at the press reception in RCA’s Studio A on July 17, 1973.

Former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser checks out his pistol in front of his home in Adamsville, Tenn., on Aug. 1, 1973.

Buford poses with his car and his M-16 rifle.

Buford with his M-16.

Buford's M-16 is displayed at his home and museum.

Guns that Buford took from criminals.

M1 carbine, .30 caliber like the ones used in the ambush of the Pussers.

Buford Pusser Festival 2023.

Buford Pusser Memorial Park.

Buford Pusser wields a couple of autographed sticks on Aug. 1, 1963, like the one actor Jon Don Baker used to play him in "Walking Tall" to crack the heads of state-line gang members. Some car dealers are using the autographed sticks as promotions for selling their cars.

Buford presenting a stick to actor Joe Don Baker.

Signed stick from the museum's giftshop.

Dwayne"The Rock"Johnson and Dwana Pusser during The Rock Visits Sheriff Buford Pusser's Hometown at McNairy County Courthouse in Adamsville, TN.

Dwana Pusser Garrison.

Buford's sticks at the giftshop.

A few of Buford's original sticks on display at the museum.

Buford is handed the keys to his new Corvette.

Buford with his Corvette as he is leaving the Old Home Restaurant and Motel in Adamsville.

Buford with his Corvette.

Buford's Corvette right after the accident that killed him and the fire.

Tennessee State Trooper Paul Ervin, center, of Selmer, peers on Aug. 21, 1974, into the charred wreckage of the 1974 Corvette in Adamsville, Tenn., where former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser lost his final battle against death. Pusser, whose career had become legend through books, ballads and the hit film “Walking Tall," was killed when the sports car left the road 11:55 p.m. Aug. 20 and crashed into a slight embankment.

The Corvette's ID tag.

The Corvette death car is on display at the Pusser home and museum.

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August 27, 1974 ~

Dwana Pusser, left, 13, the grief-stricken daughter of the legendary Buford Pusser, opens the front door of her home on Aug. 21, 1974, in Adamsville, Tenn., to her father’s sister, Mrs. Gailya Davis of Collierville, and his mother, Mrs. Carl Pusser of Adamsville.

Actor Joe Don Baker, left, who portrayed McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser in the movie “Walking Tall,” recalls happier days he spent with the late Pusser while visiting Nashville on Aug. 23, 1974. With Baker are Metro Trustee Glenn Ferguson and Baker’s wife, Maria Dolores Rivero-Torres.

Dwana Pusser, age13, Buford's daughter, poses with Pusser in his casket at the funeral service.

A steady flow of visitors file through the Adamsville, Tenn., Church of Christ on Aug. 23, 1974, where the body of the legendary Buford Pusser lies in state in an open coffin below a bank of flowers at the alter.

Carl Pusser, center, the father of the legendary ex-sheriff Buford Pusser, leaves the Adamsville, Tenn., Church of Christ after his son's funeral services on Aug. 24, 1974.

More than 1,000 people gathered in Adamsville, Tenn., on Aug. 24, 1974, to pay their last respects to legendary former Sheriff Buford Pusser as the funeral passes by the Old Home Restaurant and Motel.

Actor Joe Don Baker, center, who portrayed Buford Pusser in the film "Walking Tall," walks across the lawn of the Adamsville, Tenn., Cemetery on Aug. 24, 1974, where Pusser was laid to rest beside his slain wife Pauline.

Buford Pusser's distraught daughter Dwana, 13, center, looks on as around 200 gathered for the graveside services of her father at the Adamsville, Tenn., Cemetery on Aug. 24, 1974. Holding on to her granddaughter is Buford's mother, Mrs. Helen Pusser, center right.

A young girl, left, examines one of the wreaths that covered the grave of Buford Pusser after his funeral at the Adamsville, Tenn., Cemetery on Aug. 24, 1974.

Pauline at her funeral in 1967.

The Grave of Pauline Pusser is opened Feb. 8, 2024.

The Buford Pusser Home and Museum at Adamsville, McNairy County, Tennessee, USA.

One of Buford's cars is displayed in the garage.

The Corvette death car is also in the garage.

A reelected sticker of McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser has been placed on a road sign, here on Sept. 26, 1968.

An ad was placed in the Dec. 16, 1973, issue of The Tennessean to promote Buford Pusser, "A Legend In His Own Time!" Pusser, whose life was made into the movie "Walking Tall," will be on the stage of War Memorial Auditorium on Jan. 12.

The old White Iris, owned by Towhead White was one of former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser's favorite State Line Mob targets. It's shown here on Aug. 1, 1973.