March 20, 2024 • 39 mins
Pauline Pusser was shot and killed in an ambush believed to be meant for her husband, Sheriff Buford Pusser, in August of 1967 in McNairy County. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, an autopsy was never performed on Pauline's body.
Mike Elam is an author, former law enforcement officer, and historian with a focus on Sheriff Buford Pusser's life and the unsolved murder of Pauline Pusser. His book, "Buford Pusser: The Other Story," dives into the complexities of the Pusser legend and presents evidence that questions the accepted narrative.
Listeners can learn more about Mike's work on Pauline’s case at his YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@bufordpusser1122/videos
Resources:
BUFORD PUSSER: The Other Story
In this episode of "Zone 7," Crime Scene Investigator Sheryl McCollum discusses the unsolved murder of Pauline Pusser with Former Officer, Mike Elam. Mike shares his extensive research into the 1967 ambush and murder of Pauline Pusser, wife of legendary Sheriff Buford Pusser.
Elam's findings directly contradict the official story portrayed in Walking Tall. Most recently, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) has exhumed Pauline's body in a renewed effort to bring her justice over 50 years later.
Show Notes:
- [0:00] Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum.
- [1:00] Sheryl recounts her childhood memory of seeing the movie, Walking Tall (1973)
- [5:00] Sheryl introduces guest, Mike Elam to the listeners
- [7:00] Mike Elam's Background
- [10:00] Discrepancies in the ambush story
- [14:30] The role of the TBI in reopening the case
- [18:00] Potential new evidence leading to TBI's involvement
- [22:00] Pusser's aggressive style of policing
- [26:30] New TBI actions and exhuming Pauline's body
- [30:00] Insights on Pauline and Buford’s relationship
- [34:00] BUFORD PUSSER: The Other Story
- [36:00] ‘Tearing down the legend’ of Sheriff Buford Pusser
- [36:30] Reflections on the importance of seeking the truth
- [39:00] “It's just too bad that it takes such a tragic event to make folks willing to take a stand.” -S.B.P
- Thanks for listening to another episode! If you love the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to iTunes and leave a rating and review!
---
Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award-winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, a Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.
You can connect and learn more about Sheryl’s work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
It was in nineteen seventy three. I was eight years
old when I sat in a dark movie theater with
my good friend and his mama, who had taken us
to the movies because she knew I loved police work
and thought, oh, this will be a fun movie to
take the children to. I had only seen movies like
(00:32):
one hundred and one Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, or Swiss
Family Robinson, So when Joe Don Baker came on that
screen as walking Doll, I was teleported to another place.
I had never seen such action Sodom and Gomora in
(00:56):
my life, and I loved every minute of it. This
movie had hookers, hell billy gangsters, killers. I mean, there
was so much coming at me. People getting stabbed, people
getting ambushed, moonshiners back in the woods with steals. I mean,
I just couldn't even hardly comprehend everything that I was seeing,
(01:19):
but I soaked it up. I memorized lines in that movie.
This movie also filled in some gaps I didn't know
until this movie there was such a thing called a madam.
So now I learned that these hookers they had a
safe place to come and have their dates, so to speak.
(01:40):
And this lady provided a place in protection, and she
got to cut then bootleggers. I didn't know how things
got from the steal in the woods out into the
public well. I learned about bootlegger. I learned that criminals
didn't drink at a bar or a tavern. They drank
(02:00):
at a roadhouse. And then there was the ambush where
the sheriff and his wife were going down the road
and some people pulled up beside him and opened fire,
killing his wife Pauline, and leaving him for dead. But
he survived. But he goes back and he gets him
a four foot long stick and tries to clean that
(02:23):
town up, basically virtually by himself. Now, want y'all to
imagine me at school the next day, I held court.
I'm telling you, I quoted Walkin Tall. I quoted Sheriff Pusser.
I told everybody this crowd was around me. Told him
all about Madams, the Dixie Mafia, everything I could think
(02:45):
about to tell him. I told one of my favorite
quotes from the movie I told on the pee Field
when the madam asked the sheriff tried to come into
her place of business, you got a warrant, Sheriff Pusser says, yeah,
I keep it in my boot, and then of course
I had to mimic him kicking the door completely down.
There were some awful bad people along the Tennessee Mississippi
(03:08):
line in the nineteen sixties. The Dixie Mafia ran their game,
lots of notorious votes. Sheriff Fever Pusser became famous for
his style of law and order with that big stick.
Sheriff Pusser stood about six foot six. He was the
chief of police in Adamsville, Tennessee, from nineteen sixty two
(03:32):
to nineteen sixty four. Then he was elected sheriff in
McNairy County, Tennessee, becoming the youngest sheriff in Tennessee history.
And he went after the Dixie Mafia and the State
Line mob from day one. He was at the Shamrock
Motel on February the first, nineteen sixty six, investigating a robbery.
(03:53):
When Louise Hathcock attempted to kill him, she had to
concealed thirty eight. The Pusser returned fire, killing her. January second,
nineteen sixty seven, Husser was shot three times by unidentified gunmen.
Then on August twelfth, nineteen sixty seven, Pusser and his wife,
(04:14):
Pauline were ambushed. Pusser was shot in the face and
Pauline was killed. Sheriff Pusser named Curtsey Nicks as the
gun for hire, but no one was ever charged with
Pauline's murder and the aggravated assault against the sheriff. Now,
tonight we're going to talk about the ambush. We're going
(04:35):
to talk about some of the evidence that may or
may not exist. We're going to talk about some of
the folks that may or may not have been suspects
at the time. And we are so fortunate to have
with us somebody that has researched this case, somebody that
knows this case backwards and forwards, understands the history of
(04:56):
Sheriff Pusser, and he's written a book on the subject.
But more than someone who's written a book, our guest
tonight gave information to the TBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation,
that is prompted the reason we're talking tonight. The ambush
(05:16):
where Pauline Pusser was murdered is cold. Nobody was ever arrested,
nobody was ever brought to trial. Well, some information has
come forward information solid enough the TBI has taken some action.
So I want to welcome to Zonne seven Mike Elam,
(05:36):
who has a background in law enforcement, a background in
the private sector, and is an author and researcher and
historian when it comes to Sheriff Bufford Pusser.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Cheryl, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Well, I got to tell you, I've already talked to
you a little bit, and talked to you has only
peaked my interest even more to what is going on
own with the TBI and what their foundation is on
this case, the new evidence and where this may lead.
Because again, for somebody that is known about Sheriff Pussers
(06:14):
as I was eight years old, I understood and always
believed that the Dixie Mafield was involved, and now that
may not be the case. So I'm just so thankful
that you are here to share with us some of
the things that you have found and where you see
this case right now with TBI.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
First, let me say that you know, I've basically gathered
a lot of information and I've kind of been a
clearing house of information. It's one of those things where
recently they were given information about a firearm that possibly
could have been used. That is what prompted the current
(06:54):
happenings with the excavation of Pauline's body. And I think
that well on the road, you know, establishing if exactly
where or what happened as best we can with so
many people gone at this point.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Now you grew up, you got into law enforcement. Were
you a fan of Sheriff Puessers? Did you know about him?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I was a fan, absolutely a fan. I was attending
the University of Arkansas and I was kind of prompted
to get into law enforcement by some events that happened there.
And like most people, I started out as a dispatcher
and a jailor, and you know, eventually kind of worked
my way up. I worked for two different sheriffs, and
(07:41):
when I was there with Benton County here in Arkansas,
I was a huge fan of Youpord Pesser and history.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
You know, I've worked for two sheriffs as well. And
when you go from working for a sheriff to a
police department, it's a different world. The sheriff has got
so much and you can learn so much more if
you're a jailer and you know who is absolutely in
your county. To me there's nothing better than being in
(08:12):
that jail and seeing who's coming through there, why they're
coming through there, because it'll give you rock solid information
about what's truly going on in your caump.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Oh yeah, unlike especially back in the sixties, they didn't
have the protocols we have today. But you know, the
sheriff was like king of the county. He had a
lot of responsibility, but he also had a great deal
of authority.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So you're at the sheriff's department and then you move
into the private sector, so you've got kind of a
double way of looking at something. You could look at
it as a lawman, but you could also look at
it as a businessman slash private citizen.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Oh yeah, And you know, having worked in both, it
gave me a different perspective than what most people have,
I guess. I mean, I saw everything from the law
enforcement side, and you know, you learned things in just
about every profession that you're in. But there were so
many similarities with what I did at the sheriff's office
(09:18):
and what I did in the private sector because I
was director of lost prevention for a large retail company,
and of course you're always investigating employee thefts, all kinds
of big shoplifting, rings, insurance fraud, product shrinkage, I mean,
lots of theft, and everything goes on in a retail facility.
(09:41):
So that gave me an insight as well.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
When you started to look into this case, what is
the first thing you found that made you go, wait
a minute.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Probably two things that hit almost at the same time.
One where I began to really doubt the Pusser legend
was I found or was shared with Louise Hathcock's autopsy report. Now,
she was a club owner, a bar owner there at
(10:15):
the state line. She had a restaurant that sat on
the Mississippi side of the line, and about fifty feet
away on the north side of the line in Tennessee,
she had a motel. And of course she was one
of the people that was kind of featured in the movie.
Her name there was Calie Hacker, and she was shot
(10:36):
and killed by Buford. And when I saw that autopsy report,
it showed some things that were just absolutely mind boggling
to me as how that they could have made the
movie the way that they did. And that was the
first thing that hit me. The second thing that hit
me that I got copies of it, almost the identical
(10:58):
time were photos of Bufford's Plymouth Fury that he and
Pauline were in when they were allegedly ambushed.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
What stuck out the most about the car.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
For me, it was the blood spatter inside and out.
Gaufford's story was that they never exited the vehicle. He
said that they had been attacked at a little bridge,
A couple of shots were fired, Pauline was hit. She
allegedly kind of leaned over on him, was gasping for air,
(11:35):
you know, for breath. Beaufort said he drove two miles
on down the road, it was about two point one miles,
stopped the car, started to get out to go around
and check on Pauline, and you know, he said he
had one foot on the ground and one foot still
in the car when they pulled up alongside of him
and started to fire again. But the problem I had
(11:59):
was that, you know, by that time he was back
in the car, but there was blood spatter all over
the outside of the vehicle, on the hood, the front bumper,
the outside of the windshield, and that did not go
with his story. And of course, you know, usually when
there is blood spatter, you look for how it tails,
(12:22):
and the tail points the direction that the projectile was
handling or heading, And it seems to me that somebody
was shot standing in front of the car.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
The story that I always knew was he was driving
down New Hoe Road when they pulled alongside of him.
He's still moving when they shoot, and then there's the
secondary place just as you described. So I'm kind of
baffled when you talk about blood splatter on the hood
of the car too.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It makes entirely no sense. It doesn't compared to the
story that he would tell people. You know, he said
the first shots were fired there at the bridge and
the cars were moving. You know. When I got into
this and I started looking at everything, the problem that
I had was that they theorized that there was a
car park behind that church that's on New Hope Road,
(13:18):
and that they chased him down and fired the first
two shots at that bridge. The bridge is only seven
tenths of a mile from the church, and some friends
and I tried to reconstruct that and we couldn't make
it work because, for instance, I'd set my cruise control
on about forty five miles an hour when I passed
the church, and they were in a Cadillac gave chase
(13:39):
and by the time I reached the bridge, they were
still two hundred to two hundred and fifty yards behind me.
They hadn't caught me. Cameraman that was in the car
said that they reached speeds over ninety miles an hour
trying to catch me, and I thought that at one
point they were going to leave the road, but at
any rate. From there, he said, he hit the gas.
(14:00):
He thought he had lost him, and that's the reason
why I stopped two miles later at an intersection two
county road intersections where Yancy Davis Road intersected with New Hope.
He stopped just ten yards shy of that intersection, and
that's where he said he started to get out of
(14:20):
the car. They pulled up alongside of him. A rifle
came back out the window. He said. He grabbed the
barrel of the rifle, and at that point there was
anywhere from fourteen to seventeen shots that could have been fired.
When I got to looking into that, the next problem
I had was where they found the shellcasings.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
What was up with the showcases?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
You know, if you've got two cars that are close
enough together that and they're stopped and the gun comes
out the window and Beuford can reach and grab it.
They've got to be in close proximity. Well, when you
fire a a rifle or a car being in this case,
you know the shell casings are going to be ejected.
(15:07):
You would expect, or I did, to think that you
would have found them in between the two vehicles, some
possibly being ejected inside the Cadillac, and some the couple
could have possibly been ejected over there in the into
Buford's car after the windows shot out. However, they found
the majority of the shellcasings on the opposite side of
(15:30):
the ambush vehicle, on the shoulder of the road, And
it's kind of like, how on earth did that happen?
How did those shellcasings get all the way on the
opposite side of where everything was happening. And that gave
me the idea that somebody was probably on foot shooting.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
So even if you have Car A and Car B
and they're both face of the same direction and Car
A speeds off, the shell casings, if some of them
are under the tire, could have gotten thrown backwards or
a little to the side, but there's no way to
get on the opposite side of.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Car B correct. I just couldn't make it work anyway.
I looked at it, and you know, witnesses said that
they were the shellcasings were all in such close proximity
to each other, and that's just something you rarely see
as a weapon ejects the shellcasings from the port. You know,
(16:25):
they're just kind of scattered generally, So why are they
all in certain places? From there? Just brought on more questions,
you know, I got to thinking about the time and
motion between the sites. Buford was hitting the chin. Most
people the movie showed it as being showed it as
(16:46):
being struck in the jaw and having his jaw blown
away and having to wear casts. That didn't happen. You know,
that brown that he took was to the chin.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
So your research, when you went back and talked to
folks and read articles about that August twelfth, nineteen sixty
seven night or an early morning four o'clock in the morning,
did you find that Pauline normally would go with him
or was this unusual for her to have been in
the car that time of day.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Well, of course, some of Buford's closest friend and such
would come out with this story that she often went
with him on calls down especially toward the state line,
because she didn't want Beefford to be down there by himself. However,
you know, his own chief deputy contradicted that, saying that
(17:41):
was only twice that he could remember that Buford would
go on calls as such, and that both times that
he was not there with Buford were two occasions where
Bufford got shot. But they said that Pauline did not
go on calls with Beauford. And as a former officer yourself,
(18:04):
you know that it's highly unusual that you would take
a spouse on any type of disturbance call, well.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Especially at four o'clock in the morning, when you've got
two children at home.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Well, actually there were three kids at home. Pauline's oldest daughter, Diane,
had been staying in Memphis, and Pauline had called her
and told her that she needed to come home because
she was having a lot of problems with Buford. So
Diane was there as well as Mike and Dewana.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Now Sheriff Pusser named somebody the ambush leader part of
it did the shooting. I mean, he flat out said
Curtsey Nicks. Did it, but was never able to bring
into justice. Has your research brought his name up at all.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Well, certainly that's somebody that you would look at since
he made the statement, but you've never really found a
solid connection that placed him there or anywhere in the
area at that time. Nicks later went to prison for
the murder of grocer in New Orleans, Frank Corso, and
(19:13):
then Paula was in prison. You know, he contracted the
murders of Judge Sherry and his wife in Biloxi. So
with Youuford going to prison for these murders, what better
prison cred can you have than to say, hey, I
was responsible for the ambush in which Buford was shot
(19:35):
and Pauline was killed. I mean other inmates you know
kind of idolized a guy like that quite often.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well, especially after the movie, for sure, everybody knew who
he was.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Right, so that came to Kirksey's benefit that he could
claim that he was involved and yet not really be
prosecuted for it.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Well, the other thing about Curtsey Nates and the Dixie Mafia.
After the murders of Judge Sherry and his wife, Margaret,
we knew absolutely he'd kill a woman I mean, there's
some folks in the Italian mafia that wouldn't do that,
or other criminals that may leave your wife alone. But
in this situation, we know he would do that.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Nix was a pretty ruthless guy. But you know, you
also have to ask yourself what was his connection to
the state line or the state liners that he would
come down and do that for anyone. Now, something that
people don't understand is that when Sheriff Pusser took office
(20:42):
in September of nineteen sixty four, all of this would
be over at the state line. It was gone shortly
after Louise was killed on February first of nineteen sixty six.
So then eighteen months later here you have the ambush.
You know, you have to wonder why anyone would go
(21:02):
after Beauford because the state line pretty much closed down
with the death of Lui's Hathcock on February first, nineteen
sixty six, So whyse and who is waiting for eighteen
months to plan the ambush? That didn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
And you know, it just seems like Cheff Pusser over
and over and over was involved in some type of
gunfight because it wasn't over even after the ambush, his
wife has been murdered in front of him. And then
on December twenty fifth, nineteen sixty eight, what happens.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Gefford was supposed to be inside the sheriff's office and
received a call that a individual named Russ Hamilton, who
was a known killer, and that is very true, was
intoxicated threatening to kill this neighbors all this and that.
So allegedly people called the police department there in Selmer,
(22:05):
and the legend goes that they were so afraid of
Russ Hamilton that they refused to go out on the call.
So Beauford went, walked up, knocked on the door, Hamilton
said come in. As soon as Beauford stepped in, well,
Hamilton started shooting at him with a little handgun, and
(22:28):
allegedly Bufford was wounded, had the handle blown off of
his gun and one round hit the door facing and
Beaufort allegedly dropped to his knee, fired one shot and
got Hamilton almost directly between the eyes. You know, it's
one of those things where there's lots of questions even
in that shooting.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
His style of sheriff and you know, with the big stick,
with all the guns swinging with the bust and his
he even told his own deputies. But two rules we
dish out just as evenly. And if anybody takes a bribe,
I'll take your head off myself. I mean, that's who
he was reported to be.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Yeah, but in reality, he never carried a stick. That
is a huge misconception. And of course in the movie,
those were just scripted lines from Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Now, Mike, the eight year old me, you're just breaking
my heart because again, you know, you grow up and
you want these things to be true. You want this
hero to be true, this guy that can come into
this town with all of this corruption and basically straighten
it out single handedly. But you're doing something and you're
(23:45):
taking on something that I think is brave. And when
you are trying to say, Pauline deserves justice and we're
going to look at this thing objectively, and we're going
to do the research, and we're going to realize, hey,
we she never had an autopsy. That right there should
blow your mind. That the sit and sheriff is ambushed
(24:09):
and his wife is murdered and he doesn't do every
single investigative tool he can do to avenge her.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I as the state medical examiner at that time. I
got ahold of him years later and I asked him
why that one was never done, and he said, the
protocol back in the sixties was that the local medical
examiner and the district attorney had to concur on the
need for one, and he said clearly either one or
(24:38):
both of them did not want an autopsy done on Pauline.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Mike, tell us where we are now and what TBI
has recently just done.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Well. To be honest, I don't know what the tbi's doing.
All I can tell you is that I have a
Facebook page and for the past seven years I've used
that kind of as a fishing hole to we talk
about Beauford, Pusser, the state Line, everyone that was involved.
And it's always been my hope that I would get
(25:11):
clues to this story. And sure enough I did, and
of course, like I say, several of them have come through,
the biggest one probably being the individual with the gun.
I'd posted about all this on my Facebook page and
you know, so, yeah, I would like to think that
(25:31):
I've contributed a lot to what is happening, but I
don't know. They asked me a lot of questions. I
give them whatever I can to help out in the investigation.
They share nothing with me. It's against their protocols, and
I understand that there's a state law in place where
the TBI just does not share information from their files.
(25:55):
So all I've got are my own insights about what
they're doing based upon my experience.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Well, they did something huge. They exhumed Pauline Pusser's body.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yes, and I would assume that there's something that I
passed along, and I know along the way that they
have probably talked to individuals and possibly learned even more
than what I passed on. But at some point, I
don't know if it was the gun that was located.
I don't know if it was someone that they talked
(26:28):
to in reference to all this, but there's something that
has triggered them to go to the extent, you know,
exhuming her body. That's just rare, especially in a case
that's old. But you know, they're trying to do the
right thing. You never let a case die. And I've
(26:49):
got hand it to the TBI. They have stepped up.
They're going after this. You know, they understand I've always
called this justice for Pauline, and that's exactly what they're
doing it, maybe six years old, but you know they're
willing to do what it takes to close the case.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
There's going to be folks out there that say, well,
they did this without the family knowledge, They're just on
a fishing expedition, this is a witch hunt. Whatever. But
the bottom line for me is, for over fifty years,
she has had no justice. Nobody has been brought to trial,
(27:31):
nobody has legitimately been named. So if they have gone
to the links to exule her body, that ain't a
ficient expedition, that ain't a witch hunt. That's based on
some bona fide information.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
I would think so. And I would say also that
years ago I interviewed some of Pauline's siblings and at
that time, of course, this was before the internet was
really a big thing where you could find a lot
of information. There's a lot of things that have occurred
early on in this story, but her siblings never knew
(28:11):
that there was any question that Rufford might have been
involved in Pauline's death. And I think that they there
apparently is a family member that or more that have
agreed to have Pauline's body exhumed, And I would like
(28:32):
to think that when you know, I was telling the
family about what I was finding, and they were so shocked.
I'm sure that they've wondered ever since how Pauline really died.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
So, Mike, let me ask you this. When you've got
an agency like TBI, a solid investigative body, one of
the best there is. They got the body farm in Knoxville,
they educate all law enforcement. What do you think they're
looking for right now?
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Out Well, of course, all I can give is my
personal opinion, but I would think they're going to be
looking at several things, how many times she was shot,
what the trajectory of the projectiles were. They're going to
be looking at entrance wounds, exit wounds. They're going to
be looking for any other possible injuries that have never
(29:22):
been mentioned to anybody. There may be some, there may
not be. But everything in an autopsy tells you a story,
and they're looking for the entire story. I would assume.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
I don't think there's any question that you are absolutely
right about that. I think for me, the entry and
exit those wounds are so critical to match with the
story that was told, and the trajectory will bring it home.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I believe. So, I mean it only makes sense that
you would compare the statements that made and tried to
determine if the trajectories agree with the story. But again,
you know, the night that all this happened, she had
(30:12):
been at home, she had Pauline. Most people don't know
that Pauline and Vieufort had separated at one point, and
that the oldest daughter, Diane, was actually away from home,
staying in Memphis, and that Pauline had told her to
come home, that she and Viefort were having problems. And
(30:34):
I'm guessing, but I'm saying that Pauline was indeed going
to leave Vieuford, and that she was gathering all her
kids under one roof so that she could leave Adamsville
and take the kids with her. Levon Plunk when I
interviewed her, Leavonn was Pauline's best friend. She took Pauline
(30:57):
home that night. She was afraid of Youd. She after
Pauline invited her to come in, she refused because she
was scared of Youford. She told him, Pauline, I'll park
the car down the street. You get ready to leave,
you flash your porch, laud On, I'll come down there
pick you and the kids up and we'll be gone. Allegedly,
(31:18):
she was going to take them to the airport so
that they could return to HAYSI. Virginia Bufford came home
about that time. Levaughn saw him pass He walked in
the car and she told me, said, I heard one
gun shot and I panicked. I left. I didn't know
what to do. Said, I couldn't call the Sheriff's office
(31:39):
because Carl Pusser Peubt's dad was the dispatcher, and said
she couldn't call her husband because he was one of
Buford's deputies and he would try to cover from Beauford.
And she said, you know, I had a family to raise.
I you know, didn't know what to do, and I
didn't know who I could trust, so I did nothing
(32:00):
immediately and said then a short time later her husband
called her and said, well, Pauline was killing the ambush
meant for Beauford. And ironically, what gets me is that Diane,
the Gufford's stepdaughter, would also tell her friends that she
(32:20):
heard a disturbance out in the living room. She never
did identify that I know of exactly what the disturbance
was that woke her, but said, it wasn't long before
she heard the front door open. She looked out a
window and saw Befford car carrying half dragging Pauline toward
a car. He placed her in the front seat and said,
(32:44):
then he turned around and started walking back toward the house.
And Diane would tell her friends that she thought that
Efford might be coming back to the house to get
rid of both her and Mike, and said, he got
about half there. He reached down, picked up Pauline's shoes,
placed them in the front floorboard of the car. And
(33:08):
you know, you look at the photo there they are
so neatly placed, just like you pick a pair of
shoes up with one hand. To me, it was totally
unlike a photo that you would see of where a
lady kicked her shoes off for a drive. They're not
usually placed so neatly in one spot and at the
proper angle for somebody to have just set the shoes
(33:30):
in there. There's all kinds of little clues when you
look at these things.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Tell everybody about your book, be Youford Pusser. The other
story is the legend real? How did this come about?
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Actually? I'd been working on this little project of trying
to piece together evidence. And on my Facebook page, you
know how you get into questions and answers and so
on and so forth, and the story on the page
age had become a little disjointed, it, you know, because
one night we might be talking about something that happened
(34:08):
at a state Line club. The next thing, you know,
we might be talking about something that happened elsewhere in
the county. Well, in September of twenty nineteen, I found
out that I had colon cancer. So I was going
through chemo and radiation, had to have surgery, which occurred
(34:28):
on January fifteenth of twenty twenty, and I got out
of the hospital only to have to go back for
an infection. So I was, you know, out of the
away from everything for about a month. And that was
about the time COVID hit, and you know, I was
(34:50):
still having to go through more radiation and more chemo,
and of course I was bored out of my head,
you know, and on my folks on Facebook saying you
ought to take this time to write the book, you know,
because they had always asked me to write the book.
So you know, I did, and it was therapy for
(35:12):
me to put all this down and I have to
tell you that when I wrote it, I made a
lot of spelling and grammar errors because they couldn't find
anybody right then because of COVID that could really do
a job of editing like we needed to. I had
(35:34):
a good friend that I was doing her best to
edit it, but every time she'd send me something back,
I would make changes. Yet, but the facts are straight,
and it was mental therapy for me to write the
book and to get the word out about just how
Pauline had no justice. And the other odd part of
(35:56):
it is Beuford was my hero, and I realized while
I was doing this, I was tearing down the legend
of somebody that I'd always admired. It was kind of
a tough time in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Mike, I'm kind of torn like you are. I've never
had anything but respect for Sheriff Pusser and the legend
that I knew and accepted as truth, So I can
imagine that you are torn. But I think it's also
important for us to hear from you, and you just
tell us how you're leading your investigation.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Let me say that I do know that there's a
lot of people that don't agree with what I've done.
A lot of people that just absolutely hate the very
ground I walk on because I am tearing down legend.
But to me, Pauline deserves justice. It's that important that
each of us should have that opportunity to have somebody
(36:52):
review everything and the things come out the way that
they should. I tend to look at the evidence rather
than go along with the legend because the two absolutely
do not agree. And I would like to say apparently
the TBI feels the same way, because this is a
(37:13):
case that I imagine that they could have avoided. There
was plenty of reason for to avoid it. It was
an old case. Nothing's going to change except justice for
Pauline would take place. But they didn't ignore it. They
did what they are supposed to do. They went with
their duty. They looked into all this. I wish I
(37:35):
knew more about what was going on, but I don't.
I don't have any more end than anybody else. I
do have the ability to look at what they've asked for,
what that they have tried to analyze. I do know
of a lot of the people they talked to because
and interviewed, because a lot of them came to me
(37:57):
saying Hey, I've got this little piece of information, but
I feel like it could be important, so I passed
everything along that I could verify that might be important.
Apparently from that it's helped, at the very least build
a case up. And I think what the TBI is
doing is absolutely commendable. The state ought to be proud
(38:20):
of the agency.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
I can't agree more. Hauline Pusser deserves it. I have
a mantra every test, on every case, every time, and
I have.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
A mantra the truth has no agenda.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
I cannot thank you enough for being with us. I
appreciate it, and I will be on pens and needles
until we hear something definitive from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
And I appreciate you having me here to explain what
I've done and why I've done it, and you know
that I hope it leads to a proper conclusion. And
like you, I'm sitting on pens and needles. I want
to know what's going on.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
I'm going to end Zone seven the way that I
always do with a quote. It's just too bad that
it takes such a tragic event to make folks willing
to take a stamp Sheriff Viavert Husser, July fourteenth, nineteen
seventy four. I'm Cheryl McCollum and this is Zone seven
It was in nineteen seventy three. I was eight years
old when I sat in a dark movie theater with
my good friend and his mama, who had taken us
to the movies because she knew I loved police work
and thought, oh, this will be a fun movie to
take the children to. I had only seen movies like
(00:32):
one hundred and one Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, or Swiss
Family Robinson, So when Joe Don Baker came on that
screen as walking Doll, I was teleported to another place.
I had never seen such action Sodom and Gomora in
(00:56):
my life, and I loved every minute of it. This
movie had hookers, hell billy gangsters, killers. I mean, there
was so much coming at me. People getting stabbed, people
getting ambushed, moonshiners back in the woods with steals. I mean,
I just couldn't even hardly comprehend everything that I was seeing,
(01:19):
but I soaked it up. I memorized lines in that movie.
This movie also filled in some gaps I didn't know
until this movie there was such a thing called a madam.
So now I learned that these hookers they had a
safe place to come and have their dates, so to speak.
(01:40):
And this lady provided a place in protection, and she
got to cut then bootleggers. I didn't know how things
got from the steal in the woods out into the
public well. I learned about bootlegger. I learned that criminals
didn't drink at a bar or a tavern. They drank
(02:00):
at a roadhouse. And then there was the ambush where
the sheriff and his wife were going down the road
and some people pulled up beside him and opened fire,
killing his wife Pauline, and leaving him for dead. But
he survived. But he goes back and he gets him
a four foot long stick and tries to clean that
(02:23):
town up, basically virtually by himself. Now, want y'all to
imagine me at school the next day, I held court.
I'm telling you, I quoted Walkin Tall. I quoted Sheriff Pusser.
I told everybody this crowd was around me. Told him
all about Madams, the Dixie Mafia, everything I could think
(02:45):
about to tell him. I told one of my favorite
quotes from the movie I told on the pee Field
when the madam asked the sheriff tried to come into
her place of business, you got a warrant, Sheriff Pusser says, yeah,
I keep it in my boot, and then of course
I had to mimic him kicking the door completely down.
There were some awful bad people along the Tennessee Mississippi
(03:08):
line in the nineteen sixties. The Dixie Mafia ran their game,
lots of notorious votes. Sheriff Fever Pusser became famous for
his style of law and order with that big stick.
Sheriff Pusser stood about six foot six. He was the
chief of police in Adamsville, Tennessee, from nineteen sixty two
(03:32):
to nineteen sixty four. Then he was elected sheriff in
McNairy County, Tennessee, becoming the youngest sheriff in Tennessee history.
And he went after the Dixie Mafia and the State
Line mob from day one. He was at the Shamrock
Motel on February the first, nineteen sixty six, investigating a robbery.
(03:53):
When Louise Hathcock attempted to kill him, she had to
concealed thirty eight. The Pusser returned fire, killing her. January second,
nineteen sixty seven, Husser was shot three times by unidentified gunmen.
Then on August twelfth, nineteen sixty seven, Pusser and his wife,
(04:14):
Pauline were ambushed. Pusser was shot in the face and
Pauline was killed. Sheriff Pusser named Curtsey Nicks as the
gun for hire, but no one was ever charged with
Pauline's murder and the aggravated assault against the sheriff. Now,
tonight we're going to talk about the ambush. We're going
(04:35):
to talk about some of the evidence that may or
may not exist. We're going to talk about some of
the folks that may or may not have been suspects
at the time. And we are so fortunate to have
with us somebody that has researched this case, somebody that
knows this case backwards and forwards, understands the history of
(04:56):
Sheriff Pusser, and he's written a book on the subject.
But more than someone who's written a book, our guest
tonight gave information to the TBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation,
that is prompted the reason we're talking tonight. The ambush
(05:16):
where Pauline Pusser was murdered is cold. Nobody was ever arrested,
nobody was ever brought to trial. Well, some information has
come forward information solid enough the TBI has taken some action.
So I want to welcome to Zonne seven Mike Elam,
(05:36):
who has a background in law enforcement, a background in
the private sector, and is an author and researcher and
historian when it comes to Sheriff Bufford Pusser.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Cheryl, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Well, I got to tell you, I've already talked to
you a little bit, and talked to you has only
peaked my interest even more to what is going on
own with the TBI and what their foundation is on
this case, the new evidence and where this may lead.
Because again, for somebody that is known about Sheriff Pussers
(06:14):
as I was eight years old, I understood and always
believed that the Dixie Mafield was involved, and now that
may not be the case. So I'm just so thankful
that you are here to share with us some of
the things that you have found and where you see
this case right now with TBI.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
First, let me say that you know, I've basically gathered
a lot of information and I've kind of been a
clearing house of information. It's one of those things where
recently they were given information about a firearm that possibly
could have been used. That is what prompted the current
(06:54):
happenings with the excavation of Pauline's body. And I think
that well on the road, you know, establishing if exactly
where or what happened as best we can with so
many people gone at this point.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Now you grew up, you got into law enforcement. Were
you a fan of Sheriff Puessers? Did you know about him?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I was a fan, absolutely a fan. I was attending
the University of Arkansas and I was kind of prompted
to get into law enforcement by some events that happened there.
And like most people, I started out as a dispatcher
and a jailor, and you know, eventually kind of worked
my way up. I worked for two different sheriffs, and
(07:41):
when I was there with Benton County here in Arkansas,
I was a huge fan of Youpord Pesser and history.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
You know, I've worked for two sheriffs as well. And
when you go from working for a sheriff to a
police department, it's a different world. The sheriff has got
so much and you can learn so much more if
you're a jailer and you know who is absolutely in
your county. To me there's nothing better than being in
(08:12):
that jail and seeing who's coming through there, why they're
coming through there, because it'll give you rock solid information
about what's truly going on in your caump.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Oh yeah, unlike especially back in the sixties, they didn't
have the protocols we have today. But you know, the
sheriff was like king of the county. He had a
lot of responsibility, but he also had a great deal
of authority.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So you're at the sheriff's department and then you move
into the private sector, so you've got kind of a
double way of looking at something. You could look at
it as a lawman, but you could also look at
it as a businessman slash private citizen.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Oh yeah, And you know, having worked in both, it
gave me a different perspective than what most people have,
I guess. I mean, I saw everything from the law
enforcement side, and you know, you learned things in just
about every profession that you're in. But there were so
many similarities with what I did at the sheriff's office
(09:18):
and what I did in the private sector because I
was director of lost prevention for a large retail company,
and of course you're always investigating employee thefts, all kinds
of big shoplifting, rings, insurance fraud, product shrinkage, I mean,
lots of theft, and everything goes on in a retail facility.
(09:41):
So that gave me an insight as well.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
When you started to look into this case, what is
the first thing you found that made you go, wait
a minute.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Probably two things that hit almost at the same time.
One where I began to really doubt the Pusser legend
was I found or was shared with Louise Hathcock's autopsy report. Now,
she was a club owner, a bar owner there at
(10:15):
the state line. She had a restaurant that sat on
the Mississippi side of the line, and about fifty feet
away on the north side of the line in Tennessee,
she had a motel. And of course she was one
of the people that was kind of featured in the movie.
Her name there was Calie Hacker, and she was shot
(10:36):
and killed by Buford. And when I saw that autopsy report,
it showed some things that were just absolutely mind boggling
to me as how that they could have made the
movie the way that they did. And that was the
first thing that hit me. The second thing that hit
me that I got copies of it, almost the identical
(10:58):
time were photos of Bufford's Plymouth Fury that he and
Pauline were in when they were allegedly ambushed.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
What stuck out the most about the car.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
For me, it was the blood spatter inside and out.
Gaufford's story was that they never exited the vehicle. He
said that they had been attacked at a little bridge,
A couple of shots were fired, Pauline was hit. She
allegedly kind of leaned over on him, was gasping for air,
(11:35):
you know, for breath. Beaufort said he drove two miles
on down the road, it was about two point one miles,
stopped the car, started to get out to go around
and check on Pauline, and you know, he said he
had one foot on the ground and one foot still
in the car when they pulled up alongside of him
and started to fire again. But the problem I had
(11:59):
was that, you know, by that time he was back
in the car, but there was blood spatter all over
the outside of the vehicle, on the hood, the front bumper,
the outside of the windshield, and that did not go
with his story. And of course, you know, usually when
there is blood spatter, you look for how it tails,
(12:22):
and the tail points the direction that the projectile was
handling or heading, And it seems to me that somebody
was shot standing in front of the car.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
The story that I always knew was he was driving
down New Hoe Road when they pulled alongside of him.
He's still moving when they shoot, and then there's the
secondary place just as you described. So I'm kind of
baffled when you talk about blood splatter on the hood
of the car too.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It makes entirely no sense. It doesn't compared to the
story that he would tell people. You know, he said
the first shots were fired there at the bridge and
the cars were moving. You know. When I got into
this and I started looking at everything, the problem that
I had was that they theorized that there was a
car park behind that church that's on New Hope Road,
(13:18):
and that they chased him down and fired the first
two shots at that bridge. The bridge is only seven
tenths of a mile from the church, and some friends
and I tried to reconstruct that and we couldn't make
it work because, for instance, I'd set my cruise control
on about forty five miles an hour when I passed
the church, and they were in a Cadillac gave chase
(13:39):
and by the time I reached the bridge, they were
still two hundred to two hundred and fifty yards behind me.
They hadn't caught me. Cameraman that was in the car
said that they reached speeds over ninety miles an hour
trying to catch me, and I thought that at one
point they were going to leave the road, but at
any rate. From there, he said, he hit the gas.
(14:00):
He thought he had lost him, and that's the reason
why I stopped two miles later at an intersection two
county road intersections where Yancy Davis Road intersected with New Hope.
He stopped just ten yards shy of that intersection, and
that's where he said he started to get out of
(14:20):
the car. They pulled up alongside of him. A rifle
came back out the window. He said. He grabbed the
barrel of the rifle, and at that point there was
anywhere from fourteen to seventeen shots that could have been fired.
When I got to looking into that, the next problem
I had was where they found the shellcasings.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
What was up with the showcases?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
You know, if you've got two cars that are close
enough together that and they're stopped and the gun comes
out the window and Beuford can reach and grab it.
They've got to be in close proximity. Well, when you
fire a a rifle or a car being in this case,
you know the shell casings are going to be ejected.
(15:07):
You would expect, or I did, to think that you
would have found them in between the two vehicles, some
possibly being ejected inside the Cadillac, and some the couple
could have possibly been ejected over there in the into
Buford's car after the windows shot out. However, they found
the majority of the shellcasings on the opposite side of
(15:30):
the ambush vehicle, on the shoulder of the road, And
it's kind of like, how on earth did that happen?
How did those shellcasings get all the way on the
opposite side of where everything was happening. And that gave
me the idea that somebody was probably on foot shooting.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
So even if you have Car A and Car B
and they're both face of the same direction and Car
A speeds off, the shell casings, if some of them
are under the tire, could have gotten thrown backwards or
a little to the side, but there's no way to
get on the opposite side of.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Car B correct. I just couldn't make it work anyway.
I looked at it, and you know, witnesses said that
they were the shellcasings were all in such close proximity
to each other, and that's just something you rarely see
as a weapon ejects the shellcasings from the port. You know,
(16:25):
they're just kind of scattered generally, So why are they
all in certain places? From there? Just brought on more questions,
you know, I got to thinking about the time and
motion between the sites. Buford was hitting the chin. Most
people the movie showed it as being showed it as
(16:46):
being struck in the jaw and having his jaw blown
away and having to wear casts. That didn't happen. You know,
that brown that he took was to the chin.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
So your research, when you went back and talked to
folks and read articles about that August twelfth, nineteen sixty
seven night or an early morning four o'clock in the morning,
did you find that Pauline normally would go with him
or was this unusual for her to have been in
the car that time of day.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Well, of course, some of Buford's closest friend and such
would come out with this story that she often went
with him on calls down especially toward the state line,
because she didn't want Beefford to be down there by himself. However,
you know, his own chief deputy contradicted that, saying that
(17:41):
was only twice that he could remember that Buford would
go on calls as such, and that both times that
he was not there with Buford were two occasions where
Bufford got shot. But they said that Pauline did not
go on calls with Beauford. And as a former officer yourself,
(18:04):
you know that it's highly unusual that you would take
a spouse on any type of disturbance call, well.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Especially at four o'clock in the morning, when you've got
two children at home.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Well, actually there were three kids at home. Pauline's oldest daughter, Diane,
had been staying in Memphis, and Pauline had called her
and told her that she needed to come home because
she was having a lot of problems with Buford. So
Diane was there as well as Mike and Dewana.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Now Sheriff Pusser named somebody the ambush leader part of
it did the shooting. I mean, he flat out said
Curtsey Nicks. Did it, but was never able to bring
into justice. Has your research brought his name up at all.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Well, certainly that's somebody that you would look at since
he made the statement, but you've never really found a
solid connection that placed him there or anywhere in the
area at that time. Nicks later went to prison for
the murder of grocer in New Orleans, Frank Corso, and
(19:13):
then Paula was in prison. You know, he contracted the
murders of Judge Sherry and his wife in Biloxi. So
with Youuford going to prison for these murders, what better
prison cred can you have than to say, hey, I
was responsible for the ambush in which Buford was shot
(19:35):
and Pauline was killed. I mean other inmates you know
kind of idolized a guy like that quite often.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well, especially after the movie, for sure, everybody knew who
he was.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Right, so that came to Kirksey's benefit that he could
claim that he was involved and yet not really be
prosecuted for it.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Well, the other thing about Curtsey Nates and the Dixie Mafia.
After the murders of Judge Sherry and his wife, Margaret,
we knew absolutely he'd kill a woman I mean, there's
some folks in the Italian mafia that wouldn't do that,
or other criminals that may leave your wife alone. But
in this situation, we know he would do that.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Nix was a pretty ruthless guy. But you know, you
also have to ask yourself what was his connection to
the state line or the state liners that he would
come down and do that for anyone. Now, something that
people don't understand is that when Sheriff Pusser took office
(20:42):
in September of nineteen sixty four, all of this would
be over at the state line. It was gone shortly
after Louise was killed on February first of nineteen sixty six.
So then eighteen months later here you have the ambush.
You know, you have to wonder why anyone would go
(21:02):
after Beauford because the state line pretty much closed down
with the death of Lui's Hathcock on February first, nineteen
sixty six, So whyse and who is waiting for eighteen
months to plan the ambush? That didn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
And you know, it just seems like Cheff Pusser over
and over and over was involved in some type of
gunfight because it wasn't over even after the ambush, his
wife has been murdered in front of him. And then
on December twenty fifth, nineteen sixty eight, what happens.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Gefford was supposed to be inside the sheriff's office and
received a call that a individual named Russ Hamilton, who
was a known killer, and that is very true, was
intoxicated threatening to kill this neighbors all this and that.
So allegedly people called the police department there in Selmer,
(22:05):
and the legend goes that they were so afraid of
Russ Hamilton that they refused to go out on the call.
So Beauford went, walked up, knocked on the door, Hamilton
said come in. As soon as Beauford stepped in, well,
Hamilton started shooting at him with a little handgun, and
(22:28):
allegedly Bufford was wounded, had the handle blown off of
his gun and one round hit the door facing and
Beaufort allegedly dropped to his knee, fired one shot and
got Hamilton almost directly between the eyes. You know, it's
one of those things where there's lots of questions even
in that shooting.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
His style of sheriff and you know, with the big stick,
with all the guns swinging with the bust and his
he even told his own deputies. But two rules we
dish out just as evenly. And if anybody takes a bribe,
I'll take your head off myself. I mean, that's who
he was reported to be.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Yeah, but in reality, he never carried a stick. That
is a huge misconception. And of course in the movie,
those were just scripted lines from Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Now, Mike, the eight year old me, you're just breaking
my heart because again, you know, you grow up and
you want these things to be true. You want this
hero to be true, this guy that can come into
this town with all of this corruption and basically straighten
it out single handedly. But you're doing something and you're
(23:45):
taking on something that I think is brave. And when
you are trying to say, Pauline deserves justice and we're
going to look at this thing objectively, and we're going
to do the research, and we're going to realize, hey,
we she never had an autopsy. That right there should
blow your mind. That the sit and sheriff is ambushed
(24:09):
and his wife is murdered and he doesn't do every
single investigative tool he can do to avenge her.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I as the state medical examiner at that time. I
got ahold of him years later and I asked him
why that one was never done, and he said, the
protocol back in the sixties was that the local medical
examiner and the district attorney had to concur on the
need for one, and he said clearly either one or
(24:38):
both of them did not want an autopsy done on Pauline.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Mike, tell us where we are now and what TBI
has recently just done.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Well. To be honest, I don't know what the tbi's doing.
All I can tell you is that I have a
Facebook page and for the past seven years I've used
that kind of as a fishing hole to we talk
about Beauford, Pusser, the state Line, everyone that was involved.
And it's always been my hope that I would get
(25:11):
clues to this story. And sure enough I did, and
of course, like I say, several of them have come through,
the biggest one probably being the individual with the gun.
I'd posted about all this on my Facebook page and
you know, so, yeah, I would like to think that
(25:31):
I've contributed a lot to what is happening, but I
don't know. They asked me a lot of questions. I
give them whatever I can to help out in the investigation.
They share nothing with me. It's against their protocols, and
I understand that there's a state law in place where
the TBI just does not share information from their files.
(25:55):
So all I've got are my own insights about what
they're doing based upon my experience.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Well, they did something huge. They exhumed Pauline Pusser's body.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yes, and I would assume that there's something that I
passed along, and I know along the way that they
have probably talked to individuals and possibly learned even more
than what I passed on. But at some point, I
don't know if it was the gun that was located.
I don't know if it was someone that they talked
(26:28):
to in reference to all this, but there's something that
has triggered them to go to the extent, you know,
exhuming her body. That's just rare, especially in a case
that's old. But you know, they're trying to do the
right thing. You never let a case die. And I've
(26:49):
got hand it to the TBI. They have stepped up.
They're going after this. You know, they understand I've always
called this justice for Pauline, and that's exactly what they're
doing it, maybe six years old, but you know they're
willing to do what it takes to close the case.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
There's going to be folks out there that say, well,
they did this without the family knowledge, They're just on
a fishing expedition, this is a witch hunt. Whatever. But
the bottom line for me is, for over fifty years,
she has had no justice. Nobody has been brought to trial,
(27:31):
nobody has legitimately been named. So if they have gone
to the links to exule her body, that ain't a
ficient expedition, that ain't a witch hunt. That's based on
some bona fide information.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
I would think so. And I would say also that
years ago I interviewed some of Pauline's siblings and at
that time, of course, this was before the internet was
really a big thing where you could find a lot
of information. There's a lot of things that have occurred
early on in this story, but her siblings never knew
(28:11):
that there was any question that Rufford might have been
involved in Pauline's death. And I think that they there
apparently is a family member that or more that have
agreed to have Pauline's body exhumed, And I would like
(28:32):
to think that when you know, I was telling the
family about what I was finding, and they were so shocked.
I'm sure that they've wondered ever since how Pauline really died.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
So, Mike, let me ask you this. When you've got
an agency like TBI, a solid investigative body, one of
the best there is. They got the body farm in Knoxville,
they educate all law enforcement. What do you think they're
looking for right now?
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Out Well, of course, all I can give is my
personal opinion, but I would think they're going to be
looking at several things, how many times she was shot,
what the trajectory of the projectiles were. They're going to
be looking at entrance wounds, exit wounds. They're going to
be looking for any other possible injuries that have never
(29:22):
been mentioned to anybody. There may be some, there may
not be. But everything in an autopsy tells you a story,
and they're looking for the entire story. I would assume.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
I don't think there's any question that you are absolutely
right about that. I think for me, the entry and
exit those wounds are so critical to match with the
story that was told, and the trajectory will bring it home.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I believe. So, I mean it only makes sense that
you would compare the statements that made and tried to
determine if the trajectories agree with the story. But again,
you know, the night that all this happened, she had
(30:12):
been at home, she had Pauline. Most people don't know
that Pauline and Vieufort had separated at one point, and
that the oldest daughter, Diane, was actually away from home,
staying in Memphis, and that Pauline had told her to
come home, that she and Viefort were having problems. And
(30:34):
I'm guessing, but I'm saying that Pauline was indeed going
to leave Vieuford, and that she was gathering all her
kids under one roof so that she could leave Adamsville
and take the kids with her. Levon Plunk when I
interviewed her, Leavonn was Pauline's best friend. She took Pauline
(30:57):
home that night. She was afraid of Youd. She after
Pauline invited her to come in, she refused because she
was scared of Youford. She told him, Pauline, I'll park
the car down the street. You get ready to leave,
you flash your porch, laud On, I'll come down there
pick you and the kids up and we'll be gone. Allegedly,
(31:18):
she was going to take them to the airport so
that they could return to HAYSI. Virginia Bufford came home
about that time. Levaughn saw him pass He walked in
the car and she told me, said, I heard one
gun shot and I panicked. I left. I didn't know
what to do. Said, I couldn't call the Sheriff's office
(31:39):
because Carl Pusser Peubt's dad was the dispatcher, and said
she couldn't call her husband because he was one of
Buford's deputies and he would try to cover from Beauford.
And she said, you know, I had a family to raise.
I you know, didn't know what to do, and I
didn't know who I could trust, so I did nothing
(32:00):
immediately and said then a short time later her husband
called her and said, well, Pauline was killing the ambush
meant for Beauford. And ironically, what gets me is that Diane,
the Gufford's stepdaughter, would also tell her friends that she
(32:20):
heard a disturbance out in the living room. She never
did identify that I know of exactly what the disturbance
was that woke her, but said, it wasn't long before
she heard the front door open. She looked out a
window and saw Befford car carrying half dragging Pauline toward
a car. He placed her in the front seat and said,
(32:44):
then he turned around and started walking back toward the house.
And Diane would tell her friends that she thought that
Efford might be coming back to the house to get
rid of both her and Mike, and said, he got
about half there. He reached down, picked up Pauline's shoes,
placed them in the front floorboard of the car. And
(33:08):
you know, you look at the photo there they are
so neatly placed, just like you pick a pair of
shoes up with one hand. To me, it was totally
unlike a photo that you would see of where a
lady kicked her shoes off for a drive. They're not
usually placed so neatly in one spot and at the
proper angle for somebody to have just set the shoes
(33:30):
in there. There's all kinds of little clues when you
look at these things.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Tell everybody about your book, be Youford Pusser. The other
story is the legend real? How did this come about?
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Actually? I'd been working on this little project of trying
to piece together evidence. And on my Facebook page, you
know how you get into questions and answers and so
on and so forth, and the story on the page
age had become a little disjointed, it, you know, because
one night we might be talking about something that happened
(34:08):
at a state Line club. The next thing, you know,
we might be talking about something that happened elsewhere in
the county. Well, in September of twenty nineteen, I found
out that I had colon cancer. So I was going
through chemo and radiation, had to have surgery, which occurred
(34:28):
on January fifteenth of twenty twenty, and I got out
of the hospital only to have to go back for
an infection. So I was, you know, out of the
away from everything for about a month. And that was
about the time COVID hit, and you know, I was
(34:50):
still having to go through more radiation and more chemo,
and of course I was bored out of my head,
you know, and on my folks on Facebook saying you
ought to take this time to write the book, you know,
because they had always asked me to write the book.
So you know, I did, and it was therapy for
(35:12):
me to put all this down and I have to
tell you that when I wrote it, I made a
lot of spelling and grammar errors because they couldn't find
anybody right then because of COVID that could really do
a job of editing like we needed to. I had
(35:34):
a good friend that I was doing her best to
edit it, but every time she'd send me something back,
I would make changes. Yet, but the facts are straight,
and it was mental therapy for me to write the
book and to get the word out about just how
Pauline had no justice. And the other odd part of
(35:56):
it is Beuford was my hero, and I realized while
I was doing this, I was tearing down the legend
of somebody that I'd always admired. It was kind of
a tough time in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Mike, I'm kind of torn like you are. I've never
had anything but respect for Sheriff Pusser and the legend
that I knew and accepted as truth, So I can
imagine that you are torn. But I think it's also
important for us to hear from you, and you just
tell us how you're leading your investigation.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Let me say that I do know that there's a
lot of people that don't agree with what I've done.
A lot of people that just absolutely hate the very
ground I walk on because I am tearing down legend.
But to me, Pauline deserves justice. It's that important that
each of us should have that opportunity to have somebody
(36:52):
review everything and the things come out the way that
they should. I tend to look at the evidence rather
than go along with the legend because the two absolutely
do not agree. And I would like to say apparently
the TBI feels the same way, because this is a
(37:13):
case that I imagine that they could have avoided. There
was plenty of reason for to avoid it. It was
an old case. Nothing's going to change except justice for
Pauline would take place. But they didn't ignore it. They
did what they are supposed to do. They went with
their duty. They looked into all this. I wish I
(37:35):
knew more about what was going on, but I don't.
I don't have any more end than anybody else. I
do have the ability to look at what they've asked for,
what that they have tried to analyze. I do know
of a lot of the people they talked to because
and interviewed, because a lot of them came to me
(37:57):
saying Hey, I've got this little piece of information, but
I feel like it could be important, so I passed
everything along that I could verify that might be important.
Apparently from that it's helped, at the very least build
a case up. And I think what the TBI is
doing is absolutely commendable. The state ought to be proud
(38:20):
of the agency.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
I can't agree more. Hauline Pusser deserves it. I have
a mantra every test, on every case, every time, and
I have.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
A mantra the truth has no agenda.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
I cannot thank you enough for being with us. I
appreciate it, and I will be on pens and needles
until we hear something definitive from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
And I appreciate you having me here to explain what
I've done and why I've done it, and you know
that I hope it leads to a proper conclusion. And
like you, I'm sitting on pens and needles. I want
to know what's going on.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
I'm going to end Zone seven the way that I
always do with a quote. It's just too bad that
it takes such a tragic event to make folks willing
to take a stamp Sheriff Viavert Husser, July fourteenth, nineteen
seventy four. I'm Cheryl McCollum and this is Zone seven
Host
Sheryl McCollum
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