September 2, 2025 • 7 mins
"Was the legendary sheriff Buford Pusser a hero—or a killer hiding behind Hollywood myth?"In this jaw-dropping episode of The Ben and Skin Show, hosts Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray unravel a decades-old cold case that inspired not one, but two Hollywood films—and may have been built on a lie.True Crime Turner takes center stage as KT dives into the 1967 murder of Pauline Pusser, wife of Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser. Once hailed as a vigilante icon and immortalized in the cult classic Walking Tall, new forensic evidence suggests Buford may have staged the entire ambush and murdered his wife in cold blood. The twist? Blood spatter outside the car and a suspicious close-range wound on Buford’s cheek contradict his heroic tale.The crew explores how this revelation shakes the foundation of a story that spawned a 1973 film starring Joe Don Baker and a 2004 remake with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Ben hilariously speculates, “This is going to get The Rock canceled!” while Skin wonders if the truth was buried until Joe Don Baker’s passing earlier this year.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go to Kevin and now the latest in crime,
serial killers, cold cases, cult leaders, and blood and you
know him, you fear him.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's time for true crime KT Kevin.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
What's your question for Ojay?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Many of them like who should I draft in the
fantasy league? Ojay? He used to have good advice on that. Yeah,
from a golf cart Twitter world. Uh, this story's a
little wild. In nineteen sixty seven, a lady by the
name of Pauline Pusser was killed tragedy. Doesn't seem like
you're taking her death very seriously. Actually, why water went
(00:39):
down the wrong So that's actually what that was about.
Classic Pusser. Her husband killed the Pusser. Her husband is
a man by the name of Buford Pusser. Oh what
year is this?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
By the way, in nineteen sixty seven. Okay, I feel
a lot better about the jokes.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
That were just made. Yeah, he was. He was the
sheriff in Tennessee. His nickname was Slick. Now. The story
goes that there was an ambush that was meant for him,
and that she was shot and killed in that ambush.
He had reported that his wife volunteered to do the
(01:18):
ride along with him. In the early morning hours of
a domestic disturbance call. He came to a car pulled
alongside alongside his and fired several shots. It's overnights, it's dark,
and it killed her and it injured him, and he
claimed it was an ambush intended for him. Okay, so
he then kind of becomes a hero. And this is
(01:41):
a story so legendary that this movie was made in
nineteen seventy three called Walking Tall starring actor Joe Don Baker.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
You bet your ass. They even classic movie of the seventies.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
And they remade it in two thousand and four with
Dwayne the Rock Johnson. You bet your ass.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
It was a classic movie made in the early two thousands.
You gotta understand, Kati, tell me about these movies.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Well, the seventies was big on visual anti stuff, of course. Yeah,
that's the prime era of death. Wish you had Walking
Tall with the great Joe Don Baker and their visual
ante movie.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
It's still coming off the Western era too, so that's
still in No, that's yeah, the guy going and get
revenge and the that's kind of the way that even
though he was a cop, dirty Harry operated. These guys
don't operate within the law. They take the law into
their own hands, Kevin, and they go shoot everybody.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
So I never saw the original, but I am familiar
with the work of Joe Don Baker. He was in Fletch,
he was in Cape Fear, he was in The Naturally
played the Babe Ruth guy and a great character actor.
I never saw him as a starting quarterback running the
show on his own movie. I was only three when
that movie came out, and I never saw it, never
saw it on TV or anything. But I always thought
(02:52):
that the Rock version in my mind, I thought it was.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Similar to First Blood.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Yeah, you know, like the idea of it's the war
hero who's back home.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Things haven't been.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Somebody's taking care or taking advantage of these people. Somebody
needs to stand up against them, and he takes a stand.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I have this memory that could be wrong, could be
conflating movies of that era, but I have this memory
of Joe Don Baker walking with a limp in that movie.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I guess he was injured in real life. Here is that?
Is that what happened? Well? Not on his leg? Oh okay,
it was called walking tall Yeah, And I.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Seem to remember him like walking with a limp in
this Maybe it happened late in the movie after a
fight or something. I don't know, but that just sticks
out my memory.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
So I just remember the rock walking around with like
a two by four. I think he was hitting people
with a big board. Joe Don Baker did that too.
You're right, that did happen.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, Well, he died. Bauford Pusser, who with the story
behind Jodahn Baker's character Car Baufford Pusser in the movie. No, No,
he's just the inspiration. But he died in a car
accident in nineteen seventy four. But now they've uncovered physical, medical, forensic,
and ballistic evidence that contradict his story of his wife's
(04:11):
murder in nineteen sixty seven. They now believe that Pauline
Pusser was shot outside the vehicle and then placed inside
the vehicle, which is not at all what Buford Pusser
told investigators at the time. So this is a cold
case until twenty twenty two. But now with some modern technology,
they've now discovered they think he was lying, and they've
(04:33):
used modern forensic science they think he was lying, and
now they think that basically they got into a disturbance
he pulled her outside the car, shot her, then put
her back inside the car, and then there's blood splatter
on the outside of the vehicle, which contradicts his story.
And also they think they found a wound. There's a
wound on his cheek. Okay, there's a gunshot wound on
(04:55):
Buford Pusser's cheek, which was a close contact wound, not
long range as he told the sheriffs back then, like, oh, yeah,
he razed his cheek. He like hit himself in the
mouth with it. Even what do you like a bullet
willing right there with you at that motion? He hit
himself in the mouth with it with his fist right there.
And uh now, I'm also like reading all this and
(05:16):
going this is crazy. Well, fifty years ago, who cares?
We kind of no. But Pauline Pusser's family was asked.
There's a member of Pauline Pusser's family was asked about this,
someone who knew Beuford before he died in the car
accident just seven years later. Mama Pusser, Uh, it was
actually a male figure. And he goes, I wasn't surprised.
(05:38):
There's something off about that fella.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Oh, True crime Turner that you.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Realize why this is coming out now, right, because they're
doing a new walking Tall movie. Are they really? Oh?
I don't know why is this coming out.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
They waited for Joe don Baker to pass in May
of this year at the age of eighty nine.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
They didn't want him to see all this Bested Peace, Quinn,
the Wild, the whole movie for fifty years. We're just
lied to. No one knows his tricky. This is something
about history. History's tricky, folks. This is going to get
The Rock canceled. No, The Rock is thriving because his
new movie just got a fifteen minute ovation at the
(06:17):
Venice Film Festival. Oh, I'm excited for this.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
I saw Jeremy Piven talking about him. He was like, uh,
he was like, yeah, The Rock's the biggest actor in
the world. Never took one acting class. And he goes,
and I'm going to be doing stand up in a
mall next to it David Busters tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And then he takes his mic and he holds it down.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
He goes, can you hear me in the back And
they were like, yeah, he goes, that's right because I
took acting classes.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Awesome, you know, you know where he took acting classes.
Do you guys know that who his buddy was and
you've seen him in a bunch of movies together, was
John Cusack.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Oh really?
Speaker 3 (06:53):
And I believe Cusack's parents tot PIVN, like growing up
in Chicago or something.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
That's why they were a bunch of movie used to
get early on.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Yeah, all right, fantastic stuff there, True Crime Turner, what's
your question for OJ?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Coming up in just over three minutes, it's the Today Game.
Let's go to Kevin and now the latest in crime,
serial killers, cold cases, cult leaders, and blood and you
know him, you fear him.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's time for true crime KT Kevin.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
What's your question for Ojay?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Many of them like who should I draft in the
fantasy league? Ojay? He used to have good advice on that. Yeah,
from a golf cart Twitter world. Uh, this story's a
little wild. In nineteen sixty seven, a lady by the
name of Pauline Pusser was killed tragedy. Doesn't seem like
you're taking her death very seriously. Actually, why water went
(00:39):
down the wrong So that's actually what that was about.
Classic Pusser. Her husband killed the Pusser. Her husband is
a man by the name of Buford Pusser. Oh what
year is this?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
By the way, in nineteen sixty seven. Okay, I feel
a lot better about the jokes.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
That were just made. Yeah, he was. He was the
sheriff in Tennessee. His nickname was Slick. Now. The story
goes that there was an ambush that was meant for him,
and that she was shot and killed in that ambush.
He had reported that his wife volunteered to do the
(01:18):
ride along with him. In the early morning hours of
a domestic disturbance call. He came to a car pulled
alongside alongside his and fired several shots. It's overnights, it's dark,
and it killed her and it injured him, and he
claimed it was an ambush intended for him. Okay, so
he then kind of becomes a hero. And this is
(01:41):
a story so legendary that this movie was made in
nineteen seventy three called Walking Tall starring actor Joe Don Baker.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
You bet your ass. They even classic movie of the seventies.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
And they remade it in two thousand and four with
Dwayne the Rock Johnson. You bet your ass.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
It was a classic movie made in the early two thousands.
You gotta understand, Kati, tell me about these movies.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Well, the seventies was big on visual anti stuff, of course. Yeah,
that's the prime era of death. Wish you had Walking
Tall with the great Joe Don Baker and their visual
ante movie.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
It's still coming off the Western era too, so that's
still in No, that's yeah, the guy going and get
revenge and the that's kind of the way that even
though he was a cop, dirty Harry operated. These guys
don't operate within the law. They take the law into
their own hands, Kevin, and they go shoot everybody.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
So I never saw the original, but I am familiar
with the work of Joe Don Baker. He was in Fletch,
he was in Cape Fear, he was in The Naturally
played the Babe Ruth guy and a great character actor.
I never saw him as a starting quarterback running the
show on his own movie. I was only three when
that movie came out, and I never saw it, never
saw it on TV or anything. But I always thought
(02:52):
that the Rock version in my mind, I thought it was.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Similar to First Blood.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Yeah, you know, like the idea of it's the war
hero who's back home.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Things haven't been.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Somebody's taking care or taking advantage of these people. Somebody
needs to stand up against them, and he takes a stand.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I have this memory that could be wrong, could be
conflating movies of that era, but I have this memory
of Joe Don Baker walking with a limp in that movie.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I guess he was injured in real life. Here is that?
Is that what happened? Well? Not on his leg? Oh okay,
it was called walking tall Yeah, And I.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Seem to remember him like walking with a limp in
this Maybe it happened late in the movie after a
fight or something. I don't know, but that just sticks
out my memory.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
So I just remember the rock walking around with like
a two by four. I think he was hitting people
with a big board. Joe Don Baker did that too.
You're right, that did happen.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, Well, he died. Bauford Pusser, who with the story
behind Jodahn Baker's character Car Baufford Pusser in the movie. No, No,
he's just the inspiration. But he died in a car
accident in nineteen seventy four. But now they've uncovered physical, medical, forensic,
and ballistic evidence that contradict his story of his wife's
(04:11):
murder in nineteen sixty seven. They now believe that Pauline
Pusser was shot outside the vehicle and then placed inside
the vehicle, which is not at all what Buford Pusser
told investigators at the time. So this is a cold
case until twenty twenty two. But now with some modern technology,
they've now discovered they think he was lying, and they've
(04:33):
used modern forensic science they think he was lying, and
now they think that basically they got into a disturbance
he pulled her outside the car, shot her, then put
her back inside the car, and then there's blood splatter
on the outside of the vehicle, which contradicts his story.
And also they think they found a wound. There's a
wound on his cheek. Okay, there's a gunshot wound on
(04:55):
Buford Pusser's cheek, which was a close contact wound, not
long range as he told the sheriffs back then, like, oh, yeah,
he razed his cheek. He like hit himself in the
mouth with it. Even what do you like a bullet
willing right there with you at that motion? He hit
himself in the mouth with it with his fist right there.
And uh now, I'm also like reading all this and
(05:16):
going this is crazy. Well, fifty years ago, who cares?
We kind of no. But Pauline Pusser's family was asked.
There's a member of Pauline Pusser's family was asked about this,
someone who knew Beuford before he died in the car
accident just seven years later. Mama Pusser, Uh, it was
actually a male figure. And he goes, I wasn't surprised.
(05:38):
There's something off about that fella.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Oh, True crime Turner that you.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Realize why this is coming out now, right, because they're
doing a new walking Tall movie. Are they really? Oh?
I don't know why is this coming out.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
They waited for Joe don Baker to pass in May
of this year at the age of eighty nine.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
They didn't want him to see all this Bested Peace, Quinn,
the Wild, the whole movie for fifty years. We're just
lied to. No one knows his tricky. This is something
about history. History's tricky, folks. This is going to get
The Rock canceled. No, The Rock is thriving because his
new movie just got a fifteen minute ovation at the
(06:17):
Venice Film Festival. Oh, I'm excited for this.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
I saw Jeremy Piven talking about him. He was like, uh,
he was like, yeah, The Rock's the biggest actor in
the world. Never took one acting class. And he goes,
and I'm going to be doing stand up in a
mall next to it David Busters tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And then he takes his mic and he holds it down.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
He goes, can you hear me in the back And
they were like, yeah, he goes, that's right because I
took acting classes.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Awesome, you know, you know where he took acting classes.
Do you guys know that who his buddy was and
you've seen him in a bunch of movies together, was
John Cusack.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Oh really?
Speaker 3 (06:53):
And I believe Cusack's parents tot PIVN, like growing up
in Chicago or something.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
That's why they were a bunch of movie used to
get early on.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Yeah, all right, fantastic stuff there, True Crime Turner, what's
your question for OJ?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Coming up in just over three minutes, it's the Today Game.
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