In 1967, an ambush on a quiet Tennessee road left Sheriff Buford Pusser wounded and his wife, Pauline, killed.

Decades later, new investigative forces have taken a fresh look at the case. In part one of a three-part investigative series, Sheryl McCollum brings back author and researcher Mike Elam, veteran homicide detective Jason White, eyewitness Dennis Hathcock, and former death investigator Danny Cupples to revisit what actually happened that August evening.

They recount evidence that challenges the official narrative: guns being transferred between vehicles, a frantic officer making threats at a woman’s home, and a teenage witness discovering part of Pauline’s remains near the roadway.

For more background on the Pusser case, listen to Sheryl’s previous Zone 7 episodes:

• Sheriff Buford Pusser: The Other Story Featuring Guest Mike Elam
• Tennessee Ambush: The Death of Pauline Pusser

 

Highlights:

• (0:00) Sheryl welcomes listeners to Zone 7 and introduces a special panel of experts returning to the Pusser investigation
• (3:00) Jason explains what a homicide detective hopes to find when a 1967 murder case is reopened
• (4:45) Witness introduction: Dennis Hatcock and his firsthand account of Buford Pusser’s actions that evening
• (6:45) Secret meetings and guns transferred between vehicles
• (12:00) A late-night dispute out a woman’s home and Buford Pusser’s ominous warning: “Tomorrow you’ll be putting flowers on my grave.”
• (15:00) A stop at the local Phillips 66 station and a mysterious phone call
• (18:30) The call that changed everything: Pauline is dead and Buford may not survive
• (22:00) Location dispute: Dennis describes finding evidence miles away from where responders were searching
• (26:00) First responders focus on the wring site while vegetation is disturbed and potential evidence goes overlooked
• (31:45) Danny Cupples share forensic insight into Pauline’s head wound and the bullet path
• (34:30) The story behind the carbine rifle traced back to the Pusser case, which is now in the custody of the Tennessee Bureau of Instigation
• (40:30) A preview of where this reopened investigation may lead next

 

Guest Bios:

Mike Elam is a former Benton County Sheriff’s Deputy and author. His book Buford Pusser: The Other Story traces his own cold case investigation into the 1967 ambush that killed Pauline Pusser.

Jason White is a veteran homicide detective with the Tulsa Police Department, a featured investigator on A&E’s The First 48, and the podcast host of KGRA’s Into the Fire.

Danny Cupples is Tennessee’s first Chief Death Investigator and a certified forensic death investigator who has trained elite forensic teams in New York. Danny teaches infant death investigations at MTSU and continues to serve on a cold case unit.

Dennis Hathcock was a teenager when he saw Sheriff Buford Pusser on the night of the ambush, later discovering critical evidence along New Hope Road.

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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award-winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnline, forensic and crime scene expert for "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace," and co-author of the textbook, "Cold Case: Pathways to Justice." She is the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a national collaboration that advances techniques for solving cold cases and assists families and law enforcement with unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnappings.

 

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