Pauline Pusser autopsy....

[jframe]

I've read quite a bit about Bufford for years, haven't read that book yet but I'll be getting it!

It's a great read. The author was teaching Geneaolgy at a small college near Chattanooga when a student told him she had an interesting family history.
One of her relatives was Louise Hatchcock, the woman Pusser shot and killed at the Shamrock Motel at the Tennessee/Mississippi state line, after she pulled a snub nosed .38 on him and it misfired. That was what got him interested in doing actual research on the entire state line story,of which Pusser was actually just a small part of. The book is full of copies of search warrants, FBI arrest records, the autopsy report on Hatchcock, and quite a bit more. My wife was born and raised in McNairy County, so that is another reason I am up there quite a bit.

 

[Faulkner]

{snip} She was hit twice in the head from 30.06 rounds out of a BAR. The gun was never found, and probably never will be found. {snip}

Hmm, for some reason I thought it was spent .30 carbine brass they found along the shooting scene.

A couple of years back I rode my Harley over to met a buddy who lives near Memphis and we spent the weekend nosing around McNairy County, Tennessee, visiting the courthouse and some of the historical sights from the Bufford Pusser era. Rural Tennessee and rural Arkansas had a lot in common back in the late '60's.

Regarding constables, Arkansas constables are a constitutional office, so it would take a constitutional amendment by the state legislature to abolish the office state wide. The only thing local county government can do is not fund the office, which is the case in many counties. They are elected for two year terms and serve in the Justice of the Peace district in which they live.

I have served as an elected Arkansas constable for eight consecutive terms (16 years) concurrent with serving with the sheriff's department.

 

[Puller]

Bufford's reign as sheriff was well before my time but many of my kinfolks are still around that recall those times since we live just across the line into Mississippi. They say the word was that Bufford crossed the line a few times but that's what it took to take down organized crime that was literally winked at all the way to Nashville.

 

[rwsmith]

That's what I remember....

Hmm, for some reason I thought it was spent .30 carbine brass they found along the shooting scene.

A couple of years back I rode my Harley over to met a buddy who lives near Memphis and we spent the weekend nosing around McNairy County, Tennessee, visiting the courthouse and some of the historical sights from the Bufford Pusser era. Rural Tennessee and rural Arkansas had a lot in common back in the late '60's.

Regarding constables, Arkansas constables are a constitutional office, so it would take a constitutional amendment by the state legislature to abolish the office state wide. The only thing local county government can do is not fund the office, which is the case in many counties. They are elected for two year terms and serve in the Justice of the Peace district in which they live.

I have served as an elected Arkansas constable for eight consecutive terms (16 years) concurrent with serving with the sheriff's department.

I remember it being .30 carbine.

 

[jimmyj]

Correct, and a lot of that depends on the state you live in. Florida doesn't have constables and I don't think they ever have....Texas however has constables and from what I gather they have broad powers and influence there...Maybe somebody from Texas can comment on that?

I know that I remember one elected Tennessee constable decided to start running radar on I-40 and then doing vehicle searches. He could do it, I guess, but why? Big liability and out his lane. The Sheriff of the county complained, but the constable said stick it...SO, it went up the chain to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, who then back lobbied the county commission to eliminate the office in the next election, which they did..

They probably just should have voted to impeach and remove him and leave the office itself alone, but you know...Painting with broad brushes and all. I would assume that the county attorney told the commission it was a liability, (which it was), but the constable had his own bond. The county would have ended up on the hook for a lawsuit from that goofball.

I began LE in 1962 Polk County Florida. At that time there were Constables who were the law enforcement arm of the Justice of Peace.

 

[MelvinWalker]

I began LE in 1962 Polk County Florida. At that time there were Constables who were the law enforcement arm of the Justice of Peace.

I did not know that. I didn't know Florida ever had Constables, but then, I have only been living here four years.

 

[Muley Gil]

21 of Alabama's 67 counties still have constables.

 

[S-W4EVER]

I have followed the Pusser story for many years. Pusser no more shot Pauline than I did...

It would take a lot of objective evidence to convince me of that too and I don’t live anywhere near Tennessee.

 

[jframe]

Hmm, for some reason I thought it was spent .30 carbine brass they found along the shooting scene.

A couple of years back I rode my Harley over to met a buddy who lives near Memphis and we spent the weekend nosing around McNairy County, Tennessee, visiting the courthouse and some of the historical sights from the Bufford Pusser era. Rural Tennessee and rural Arkansas had a lot in common back in the late '60's.

Regarding constables, Arkansas constables are a constitutional office, so it would take a constitutional amendment by the state legislature to abolish the office state wide. The only thing local county government can do is not fund the office, which is the case in many counties. They are elected for two year terms and serve in the Justice of the Peace district in which they live.

I have served as an elected Arkansas constable for eight consecutive terms (16 years) concurrent with serving with the sheriff's department.

According to the book I mentioned, which I believe has pictures of some of the spent casings, it was 30-06. The casings in the pics are bottlenecked, which a .30 carbine would be straight walled.

 

[Puller]

According to on line sources, a .30 carbine was used in the ambush.

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. Shortly after they passed the New Hope Methodist Church, a fast-moving car came alongside theirs and the occupants opened fire, killing Pauline 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 needed several more surgeries to restore his appearance.

 

[rwsmith]

I had no idea....

...that we had constables in SC until I met one many years ago.

 

[rwsmith]

Latest news....none

The latest I could find says that her remains were re-interred but nobody is saying anything. It seems like they could at least say what she was shot with. April 8th.


Pauline Pusser remains returned to gravesite - WBBJ TV

 

[Alk8944]

I just looked for an up-date last night, May 7, and found nothing!

It's a shame a legitimate post deteriorated into a string of remarks about constables and moonshiners/bootleggers instead of staying on the original subject of the thread.

 

[Rustyt1953]

 

[Puller]

So it appears that as long as the case is open and unsolved the autopsy would be considered case evidence and does not have to be released.

 

[rwsmith]

That pretty much means, forget it....

So it appears that as long as the case is open and unsolved the autopsy would be considered case evidence and does not have to be released.

Suffice to say she was shot and killed, Buford more than likely had nothing to do with it, aside from being the target. It was over 50 years ago and it's not likely that any new evidence or revelations will come to light and the whole thing was probably superfluous. I would just wonder if she was killed with the same type of .30 carbine bullet that shot Buford through the jaw. But they aren't releasing even that bit of information. Heck with 'em.

 

[BKLooney]

Just got this in today, can't wait to read!