Buford Pusser was born in
Adamsville, McNairy County, Tennessee, on December 12, 1937. He was the son of Helen (née Harris) and Carl Pusser. His father was the police chief of Adamsville, Tennessee. Buford Pusser was a high-school football and basketball player and was tall. He enlisted in the
United States Marine Corps when he graduated from high school, but his service ended in boot camp when he was given a medical discharge for
asthma. Pusser survived several alleged assassination attempts. According to events as told by Pusser, on February 1, 1966, Louise Hathcock attempted to kill Pusser during an on-site investigation of a robbery complaint at the Shamrock Motel. Hathcock allegedly fired on Pusser with a concealed .38 pistol. Pusser returned fire and killed Hathcock. On January 2, 1967, Pusser was shot three times by an unidentified gunman.
Murder of Pauline Pusser According to Pusser, his phone rang before dawn on the morning of August 12, 1967, informing him of a disturbance on New Hope Road in McNairy County; Pusser responded, and his wife, Pauline,
rode along. Pusser said that shortly after they passed the New Hope Methodist Church, a fast-moving car came alongside theirs and the occupants opened fire, killing his wife and leaving Pusser for dead. Doctors said he was struck on the left side of his jaw by at least two, or possibly three, rounds from a
.30-caliber carbine. He spent 18 days in the hospital before returning home, and he required several more surgeries to restore his appearance. On January 5, 2024, more than 56 years after Pauline Pusser's death, the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced that the criminal investigation remained an active case, and requested information from the public. Following several tips, the TBI confirmed that an autopsy had never been performed on Pauline Pusser's remains during the course of the original investigation in 1967. In a written statement, the TBI said, "With the support of Pauline's family and in consultation with 25th Judicial District Attorney General Mark Davidson, TBI requested the exhumation [of Pauline Pusser's remains] in an attempt to answer critical questions and provide crucial information that may assist in identifying the person or persons responsible for Pauline Pusser's death." Her remains were
exhumed on February 8, 2024 and
reinterred on or around April 7, 2024. The TBI and the district attorney general for Tennessee's 25th Judicial District announced on August 29, 2025, that, were Buford Pusser alive, there would be probable cause to charge him with the death of his wife. Investigators announced that Pauline Pusser's wounds were not consistent with Pusser's story, but rather were consistent with having been shot at close range, that Pauline's nose had been broken shortly before her death, and that the blood on Buford Pusser's car also contradicted his narrative. They also found that Pusser's own wound was likely self-inflicted.
Later career Pusser shot and killed an intoxicated Charles Russell Hamilton on December 25, 1968, after responding to a complaint that Hamilton had threatened his landlord with a gun. Pusser was ineligible for re-election in 1970 due to
term limits then in effect. He was defeated in his bid for sheriff in 1972. Pusser blamed his loss to incumbent Sheriff Clifford Coleman in part on the controversy surrounding the making of the semibiographical movie
Walking Tall. Pusser was nonetheless re-elected as constable of Adamsville by a majority of
voters. He served as constable for two more years (1970–1972).
Death Buford Pusser died on August 21, 1974, of injuries sustained in a one-car automobile accident west of Adamsville. ==Popular culture==