A Decades-Old Cold Case Development Completely Changes This Dwayne Johnson Movie

Phil Karlson's "Walking Tall," a Tennessee-set vigilante film starring Joe Don Baker, was released in 1973 to somewhat positive reviews and a rather respectable take at the box office. Made for about $500,000, the film made over $40 million. 

Baker played Buford Pusser, a real-life cop who retired from a professional wrestling career in 1964 to become the sheriff of McNairy County. Pusser was a local hero who became notorious for his efficacy, cracking down on illegal gambling, sex work, and moonshining. He was able to interrupt the criminal dealings of the Dixie Mafia, a Mississippi-based crime syndicate, as well as the State Line Mob, which ran illegal goods from Mississippi to Tennessee. Bad guys were constantly trying to assassinate Pusser, always unsuccessfully. His wife, Pauline, was murdered in a drive-by shooting in 1967, and the killer was only recently identified. Remember that detail. We'll come back to it.

Pusser finally died in a car wreck in 1974, and there have long been suspicions of foul play. He was 36. Pusser had just signed a contract to play himself in an upcoming sequel to "Walking Tall," but his death led to the hiring of Bo Svenson in his place. "Walking Tall, Part 2" was released in 1975, and "Walking Tall: The Final Chapter" came out in 1977. The legend of Buford Pusser lasted for decades, leading to songs, additional TV movies, and a high-profile "Walking Tall" remake in 2004. The remake starred Dwayne Johnson, still being credited as "The Rock" at the time. The remake wasn't a huge hit, but it did spawn two straight-to-video sequels of its own. "Walking Tall: The Payback" and "Walking Tall: Lone Justice" both came out in 2007, both starring Kevin Sorbo. 

According to a new report from the Associated Press, the identity of Pauline's killer — thanks to some careful delving by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation — can now be determined. New evidence in the 58-year-old case suggests that Pauline's killer ... was Buford Pusser himself. Cue The Stranglers' "No More Heroes." 

The 2004 remake of "Walking Tall," while based on the Buford Pusser story, is actually time-shifted forward to the present, and the names have all been changed. Dwayne Johnson played a character named Chris Vaughn, Jr., and he was no longer from Tennessee. Now he hailed from a small town in Washington State. Chris Vaughn still became a one-man army for the local Sheriff Department, this time busting crystal meth dealers. Neal McDonough played the local casino owner, and Kevin Durand played one of his thugs. Cobie Smulders of Marvel fame had a small role as "Exotic Beauty." Because the 2004 version of "Walking Tall" changed all the real-life details, one can kind of distance it from Pusser. The Kevin Sorbo movies are about a character named Nick, so the connection becomes even more tenuous by then. 

In real life, however, Buford Pusser looks to be the perpetrator of Pauline Pusser's murder. It seems that the local District Attorney, working with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, decided to reopen Pauline's cold case in 2022 (cold cases are regularly reviewed), hoping to finally apprehend the drive-by shooter that Buford claimed killed her. There was no evidence of a mysterious gunman, but there was a lot of evidence, however, against Buford. Mainly, new details were noticed in old crime scene photos, looked over anew by Dr. Michael Revelle. Pusser claimed that he and his wife were driving to the site of a disturbance when a man in a truck pulled up next to them and shot her while she was seated in the front seat. At the time, the local cops took Pusser's word for it, but it was clear upon review that Pauline was shot outside the car and then put back inside it. 

According to the AP report, the local Tennessee sheriffs saw the inconsistencies as a reason to exhume Pauline's corpse, looking for new evidence. 

Buford Pusser was also injured in the alleged attack, leaving a shotgun wound on his face. Dr. Revelle found that the wounds in crime-scene photos were of a close-up shotgun blast, and not a distance attack from a car as Pusser claimed. It was, he found, likely that Pusser deliberately shot his own face to make it look like he was attacked. All of these pieces of evidence would have been enough to bring Pusser to court on murder charges. There was also evidence that Pauline had a broken nose that had healed, a sign that Pusser might have been abusing her. 

Pauline's brother, Griffon Mullins, was happy to have the evidence presented to him. Until 2025, Pauline's killer was a mystery, and he had been depressed over the lack of closure. Finding evidence against Buford was the closure he needed. He also expressed no surprise at the fact that Pauline might have been abused; it always appeared that it might have been the case. He didn't say anything because, well, I suppose one doesn't accuse a local sheriff of domestic abuse in 1967. All of the Pusser files will eventually be made available to the public through the University of Tennessee. 

Pusser died in 1974, so renting the "Walking Tall" movies will not contribute to his legal defense fund. One can watch them without guilt, re-analyzing the way we vaunt our heroes and our lawmen, not knowing of their crimes and sins. The end of the 1973 film, wherein Joe Don Baker kills his wife's assassins, now takes on a different meaning.  

Meanwhile, Dwayne Johnson is certainly blameless, not knowing he was, in a roundabout way, portraying a real-life murderer. His next film, "The Smashing Machine," is due in theaters on October 3.