Overview

• The TBI and the 25th Judicial District attorney said evidence meets probable-cause standards that Buford Pusser murdered Pauline Mullins Pusser in 1967, and that they would present an indictment to a grand jury if he were alive.
• Modern forensic analysis concluded Pauline was most likely shot outside the car and then placed inside, and blood-spatter patterns indicate the scene was staged.
• A medical review found Pusser’s cheek wound was a close-contact gunshot likely self-inflicted, contradicting his account of a long-range ambush by unknown assailants.
• A 2024 autopsy documented a previously healed nasal fracture consistent with interpersonal trauma, and new witness statements pointed to intimate-partner violence.
• The cold-case review began in 2022, a 2023 tip—including about a possible weapon—spurred an exhumation in 2024, and the resulting file exceeding 1,000 pages will be accessible through the University of Tennessee at Martin after redactions; Pauline’s brother said the findings brought him closure.