Was Buford murdered?
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joelmaners — 20 years ago(July 16, 2005 12:02 PM)
From what I know of the situation in McNairy County at the time, it's difficult to believe that he was murdered. He wa driving a very light car on a narrow highway so it would have been easy to loose control and have an accident. The car provided very little protection in the crash so his death was not a surprise. However, it's not out of the question that someone wanted him taken out. He had no lack of enemies in the area. Personally, I think it was just an untimely death.
I was a kid when they shot the movies around here in Jackson. I loved the first one the best with Jo Don Baker. He was great.
Joel
Jackson, TN -
kparham — 20 years ago(August 10, 2005 11:29 AM)
I moved to McNairy County from L.A. (don't ask)about 4 years ago. I've been considering doing a documentary about him - what he was REALLY like and what REALLY happened during that period, according to the people who knew him. About half of the people in the county loved him and think he was murdered and about half didn't like him and believe it was just an accident. I've seen many families "divided" on what happened to him. His daughter, Dwana maintains that he was murdered. He certainly made a lot of people angry enough for that to happen. However, he drove like a maniac. Combine that with a Corvette and an attitude that he wouldn't get stopped by local authorities, it's easy to agree with the folks that believe it was just an accident. I lived in Memphis as a kid and remember seeing the result of his accident on the news. I've talked to dozens of people who knew him and there's some AMAZING stories that definitely contradict the "official story" and the movies. When I was a kid, I looked at him as a hero. I think of him now as even more of a hero, since dealing with a lot of these McNairy County people. Moonshining is still a booming business here, although now the "drug of choice" is meth. Numerous times, while riding my 4-wheeler on property owned by International Paper, I've come across abandoned stills, as well as remnants of "portable" meth labs. Since a good amount of people around here refuse to work, they like to come to your house and "relieve" you of your own property. I honestly believe that, per capita, I saw less crime in L.A. than here. I guess that's why this is such a "charming" community! LOL! I believe it was an untimely death, also. I understand that Buford was supposed to star in the third "installment" of Walking Tall. I would have loved to have seen that!
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kparham — 20 years ago(August 12, 2005 04:54 PM)
In the movie, Buford got a call late one night about an incident and he took his wife when he responded. It was supposedly a "set up" and he was ambushed: he was shot up badly and his wife was killed. I've talked to numerous people, including a person who worked at the shop where his car was taken, who say that ALL of the holes in the car from the bullets were extended OUTWARD - meaning that ALL of the shots came from INSIDE his car. In addition, the bullet holes were all in the roof or just below the roof of the car - meaning that they were at an angle that had to come from the front seat; that they couldn't have come from outside of the car and in particular, another car. Plus, there were two guns found in Buford's car. The first time I heard this I was shocked and didn't believe it. Then I heard it again, and again, and again. All of these people had seen the car "first hand"I guess everyone around here had to go take a look at it. Granted, folks around here are not CSI'sbut we do know one thing - and that's gunsand bulletsand what bullets do.heck, that's three things we know. I guess we're not as backwards as I thought! Anyway, a lot of the people went on to say that Buford and his wife fought like crazy all of the time and that she thought he had a girlfriend that he was going to see before the family went on vacation the next day - that's why she went out on the "call" with him. Some believe that he was mad that his wife was "on to his scheme" and the shooting was a result of this and others think that they went out on an actual call, got into a fight with one another and the shootings were a result. I'm not infering or insinuating anything here and definitely not accusing him of anything - this is what the folks in McNairy say.
Also, many people say that the reason he decided to run for sheriff and put all the "illegal activities" out of business was that when he initially moved back here, he tried to "muscle in" on the activities, take over and get all the money - but it backfired on him and he got severly beaten. Buford was known in high school as a ruthless bully. They go on to say that when he became sheriff, he ended-up getting the money from these illegal activities by letting them stay in business. When he started taking more and more and more, they decided to "get rid of him". I take all these stories with a "grain of salt", but what I CAN say is that all of these folks knew Buford and many of them aren't the type who you would think would lie, make up stories or even gossip. A lot of them you have to "drag the story out of them". -
mcavendish — 20 years ago(January 31, 2006 03:04 PM)
Kparham has no knowledge of anything. The speculation he puts forwrd is all in his mind. No one thinks or speculates what he states. It is a lie, mad up by a sick person trying to have some fun on the net. disregurd nything posted by this person.
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pegnoble — 20 years ago(February 05, 2006 10:21 PM)
McNairy County is in West Tennessee, about 80 miles east of Memphis and just above the Mississippi border at Corinth, Miss. I used to live in Selmer, TN for a couple years and it's located in McNairy County. It's just south of Jackson, TN. His house is a museum and it's located in Adamsville, TN, a short drive from Selmer, TN. I've driven that road between Selmer and Adamsville numerous times and that's where he crashed his car. The corner is not very sharp at all, he should have made the turn just fine. It seemed to be thought by just about everyone that someone had tampered with the brakes on his car and that's what caused him to miss the turn. Or that someone ran him off the road. Pretty amazing guy. One of my instructors at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, TN was in the original movie. His daughter owns a restaurant in Adamsville named Pusser's at the time I lived there. She cracked me up, big gal, big hair, lots of makeup. Lots of pictures and stuff of Buford in the restaurant though.
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chimera-21 — 12 years ago(May 06, 2013 06:51 PM)
A 'vette is a light car that offered little protection
Wow.
The things you learn on IMDB!
(For those unaware, the 'vette weighed 3500lbs in that erasans fuel and a 250lb driver)
http://www.libertydwells.com -
usa-19 — 20 years ago(December 27, 2005 09:05 AM)
I sincerely believe that we will never really know whether Buford was really murdered or it was just a freak accident. Unfortunately, small towns like where he died do not have the technology to do and complete an in depth investigation. But lets not forget that Buford was a real life hero!
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shendoah-68 — 20 years ago(January 24, 2006 01:46 PM)
Knowing the corruption in goverment,that Tennessee has been known for from Memphis to Nashville clear up to the Smokey Mtns.I have come to the conclusion.That former McNairy County Sheriff Buford H Pusser was murdered on that August nite in 1974,in that firey car crash.I heard from those who knew him personally and yes he did drive fast,but was able to maintain control of his vehicle and was a careful driver!The investigation in my opinion was botched and covered up by state officials.Mr Pusser along with (JFK) (RFK) &(MLK) some day the truth will be known about all of the above listed suspicious cases and what really happened to them!
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Paul-308 — 19 years ago(April 10, 2006 03:17 PM)
It would be interesting to find out what the report of the accident says.What was the condition of the vehicle's brake lines and steering mechanism? I understand that the Corvette burned to the ground,but solid steel parts (like tie rod ends) dont burn up.
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fyrball1052 — 19 years ago(April 11, 2006 12:23 PM)
Paul, The answers to that, is at Carbo's police musuem in Pigeon Forge,TN. They have the car on display, along with parts from the car, I think, one tie rod is displayed and shows where it ( broke, was cut) depending on how you look at the whole wreck