ADAMSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — In tight-knit, rural Tennessee, a cold case murder is especially shocking. But when it's the sheriff's wife in the 1960s, the tragedy becomes a sort of legend.

Today in 2025, the question remains — who killed Pauline Pusser? Was her own lawman husband somehow responsible?

In the last 15 months, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation exhumed Pauline's body looking for answers. February 2024. State officials dug into the hardened, winter soil looking for fresh clues at the Adamsville cemetery in McNairy County back in February 2024.

It was Pauline Pusser's final resting place since 1967 but it's also where the TBI is hopeful they can figure out who killed her.

People will say, 'the person's dead.' But the dead person will give a lot of information for us to discuss," explained Dr. Feng Li, Metro Nashville's Chief Medical Examiner.

Dr. Li explained how it is possible to find evidence on a corpse after all this time. He said the environment, embalming and the quality of the casket are all factors in how well Pauline's body was preserved for all these decades.

And so it's possible for investigators to find helpful evidence on her remains.

"If it is well-preserved, on the other hand and the person is experienced, we can still see the intact body with the skins, with the organs, and with the tissues," said Dr. Li.

First, examiners will take a picture and an X-ray looking for any sort of foreign object. Gunshots and signs of pressure can still be visible if the skin is intact while forensic anthropologists can examine the skeleton to find any points of trauma.

"Sometimes, it's very surprising. For example, I had a case where they didn't do autopsy and burial and then some allegation to other party, and they decided to exhume the body...surprisingly enough, the brain is very well preserved," recalled Dr. Li.

The TBI decided to re-examine Pauline's murder after a new tip and the admission that an autopsy was never done on Pauline after her brutal killing.

The state's new investigation could put an end to this cold case and bring peace to Pauline's family.

But it can also give a new ending to the story McNairy County's been telling for decades about the sheriff and his wife.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/special-reports/buford-pusser/why-were-pauline-pussers-remains-exhumed/