Did a legendary pro wrestler turned sheriff, who inspired the movie Walking Tall, murder his wife? That’s the conclusion that Tennessee authorities have come to.
Buford Pusser, the legendary Tennessee sheriff whose crusade against crime inspired the 1973 movie Walking Tall, is now the prime suspect in the murder of his wife, Pauline Pusser, 58 years later.
At 6’6″ and 250 pounds, Buford Pusser was a high school football and basketball player. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps following his graduation. However, his service ended prematurely when he was given a medical discharge for Asthma. He then left rural McNairy County and headed to Chicago. At that point, he began his pro-wrestling career under the name Buford the Bull.
He married his wife, Pauline Pusser, in 1959 and returned home to Adamsville with her in 1962. After returning home, he followed in his father’s footsteps in law enforcement. From serving as a police chief and constable, Buford Pusser was elected sheriff in 1964, becoming the youngest sheriff in Tennessee’s history. He became a local hero for battling the State Line Mob and the Dixie Mafia with his signature hickory clubs.
His various assassination attempts and the 1967 ambush that killed his wife and wounded him inspired the 1973 movie Walking Tall, which starred Joe Don Baker and became a box-office success. The two sequels to the movie, starring Bo Svenson, were less profitable, and Pusser himself initially wanted to play the lead role. WWE legend Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson starred in the 2004 remake.
Is The Story Of Walking Tall Far From The Truth?
Buford Pusser passed away in 1974 in a car crash. While his legend peaked after the ambush that killed his wife, the crime itself remained unsolved. However, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced in January 2024 that the investigation remained an active case. With no autopsy performed during the original investigation, the TBI exhumed Pauline’s remains in February 2024 to perform an autopsy.
With allegations of wrongdoing on Buford Pusser’s part emerging earlier this year, after reviewing the evidence, the TBI, along with the McNairy County district attorney’s office, announced in August 2025 that if Pusser were alive, he would be the prime suspect in his wife’s murder and that he likely killed her and staged the entire crime scene. Pauline’s autopsy revealed that she had been shot twice in the back of her head, contradicting Pusser’s initial statement, in which he claimed that people opened fire on them from a fast-moving car. It also revealed that she had recently recovered from a broken nose, possibly from an incident of domestic violence.
The revelation has shattered Buford Pusser’s heroic myth, and the once-celebrated hero of Walking Tall now emerges as the prime suspect in his wife’s murder.
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