# @insider on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DRnKdU6Ccp6
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/37396445-insider-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/ee6a1a1f77.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-11-28T19:30:10.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Insider (@insider) — https://gondola.cc/insider

## Caption

Sheriff Buford Pusser was famous in Tennessee for busting the moonshine stills and prostitution rings forged by the "State Line Mob," a collection of gangsters who operated at the Mississippi border. 

The sheriff would later tell law enforcement that an anonymous person called his home just before 5 a.m. and insisted he drive to the state line, about 25 minutes away. Buford said his wife, Pauline, was suspicious about the call — with reason. Since cleaning up McNairy County, the sheriff had survived multiple gunshot and stab wounds. 

They got in Buford's squad car and started down the quiet two-way street to State Line Road. Buford would later tell investigators that about 20 miles later, a car with no headlights sped up beside the Pussers and began shooting. Pauline was hit. 

Buford survived and became an instant fascination: Books and songs were written about him, and the "Walking Tall" movie franchise gave him the Hollywood hero treatment. 

For decades, rumors swirled that Buford, who died in 1974, was involved in the murder. It took more than half a century for law enforcement to investigate them: On February 8, 2024, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation visited Pauline's grave and exhumed her body in the hopes of finally putting the rumors to rest.

For many, it was a seminal moment in a Southern tale that has been handed down through generations. Could it all have been a lie? The answer to that question wouldn't come for another year and a half — and when it did, it would shatter a legend.

Read more about how Buford’s legacy has gotten a lot more complicated at the link in our bio.

Story by Jason Guerrasio

(Credit: McNairy County Archives; Ray Di Pietro for Business Insider)

#truecrime #walkingtall #tennessee

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## Tags

truecrime, walkingtall, tennessee

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