Overview

• Tennessee’s TBI and the 25th Judicial District attorney announced that modern forensic, medical and ballistic reviews establish probable cause implicating Buford Pusser in Pauline Mullins Pusser’s death.
• A 2024 exhumation and new autopsy found a previously healed nasal fracture commonly associated with interpersonal trauma, consistent with signs of domestic abuse.
• A medical examiner concluded Pauline was likely shot outside the car and then placed inside, citing cranial trauma that did not match the vehicle interior and blood spatter on the hood.
• Investigators say Pusser’s cheek wound was a close-contact shot inconsistent with a drive-by and likely self-inflicted or staged.
• No charges can be brought because Pusser died in 1974, and officials plan an online, searchable archive of the case file as Pauline’s brother welcomes the findings and a granddaughter questions accusing the deceased.