‘Walking Tall’ sheriff likely murdered his wife in 1967, Tennessee officials say

AL.com ^ | 8/29/25 | Jeremy Gray

[mass55th]

Who shoots have their face off to stage a murder?

[chaosagent]

Pusser died in 1974. The actor who played him, Joe Don Baker, died this year.

[Beowulf9]

DO!

😆

[waterhill]

Great times (for me as a kid).

[shelterguy]

“”””Unfortunately not.

I’d go back to 1974 in a heartbeat.”””

I have been saving up for a DeLorean and a flux capacitor. I frequently check Craigslist for plutonium.

[Thank You Rush]

“”Are you aware that it’s not 1974 anymore?””

I guess not....time to shut everything down and call it a day/night. Thanks.

[Skywise]

“This isn’t about tearing down a legend”

Oh yes it is.

[mass55th]

have = half

[verum ago]

Buford shot his wife, and then shot himself in the face? Does that really seem likely?

Literally all you have to do to disprove his version of events is look at the blood spatter on the hood of the car in the photo in this article.

The amazing thing is that people went along with his very, very obviously bullsh*t story about the “ambush”.

Seriously, you think his wife’s blood got spattered all over the hood through a bullet hole or two significantly offset from her body? And he somehow got contact powder stippling from a gunman on the side of safety glass?

The physical evidence on this case has always contradicted Sheriff Pusser’s story. He was just too popular a figure for people to call him out.

His murdering of his wife makes things a little less confused, doesn’t it? He wasn’t some noble hero with a club. He was a damned psychopath.

[logi_cal869]

That one...sucked.

[basalt]

his jaw and face was pretty mangled too...not sure im buying this.

[Captain Peter Blood]

Well why don’t you do a reenactment and tell us that works out when you get out of the hospital.

[The Duke]

They shot the big car chase scene from that original movie, where a car ran off into a ditch beside a narrow metal bridge, just a couple of miles north of my home town. So of my high school classmates worked for what seemed like months preparing that ditch for that stunt (which, as I recall, lasted all of 20 seconds, chase included).

I remember driving my tractor over that bridge and waving down to my classmates that summer.

I don't trust the clairvoyance of "officials" 60 years after the fact.

Let the ghosts continue resting in peace.

[verum ago]

I’m not some a$$hole leftwing historical revisionist.

What I’m pointing out is that the actual, *physical *evidence* has always belied Sheriff Buford’s story. Period, full stop.

[SkyDancer]

Loved JDB in movies.

[Williams]

What was the motive?

For an almost B movie, Walking Tall really hit hard. Seeing his wife shot in the car reminded me of seeing JFK assassinated. Really shocking scene.

[Gnome1949]

McNairy County, TN has had some strange murders over the years.

I have visited Selmer more than once and whether Buford Pusser was a rotten guy or hero depends upon whom you ask.

Mary Winkler shot her preacher husband, Matthew, to death in 2006 in Selmer (McNairy Co.) TN. She blasted him with a shotgun as he lay asleep in their bed. Mary then fled to the Alabama Gulf Coast beach with her kids for a vacation break. She was arrested hundreds of miles away during that “break.”

She claimed her husband was kinky and made her wear platform shoes to bed when they had sex. That was quite a defense for shooting her husband to death in the back as he slept.

Mathew Winkler’s parents were furious their dead son was subjected to vicious defamation by Mary’s defense team. The dead man could NOT, of course, respond to the accusations.

There were also a lot of people in Selmer who felt sorry for Mary Winkler. She was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. She only served one week in jail after her conviction, having been given credit for time she served in jail before her trial.

Mary Winkler was involved in check kiting thousands of dollars, with many bounced checks, which she hid from her late husband. A lot of people thought the shooting death was related to a cover-up of her own financial crimes.

[basalt]

i always thought the original movie, although incredibly manipulative, was pretty good. I most remember the beautiful brunette, Brenda Benet, who asked Pusser for a light at the bar...she had a excellent rack. In a really weird real life twist, Benet married the actor Bill Bixby in the mid 70’s. They had a son together but separated. In early 1981, Benet hired a then 17 year old Tammy Bruce, yes the gay conservative commenter thats now in the Trump administration, as her “assistant”. The 2 then proceeded to have a lesbian affair. Benets son soon died from some type of infection. She got very depressed and committed suicide..Tammy Bruce was the person that found her body. Just some little, odd facts.

[Spacetrucker]

No, the ACTOR who portrayed Pusser died this year. Mr.Buford passed away quite some time ago.

[Tired of Taxes]

So, he got away with her murder and was hailed a hero. RIP Pauline.