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Silenced by the Dixie Mafia – Part 1: Buford Pusser Story

Buford_Pusser

Photo courtesy Wikipedia: fair use

The movie Walking Tall tells the Hollywood version of the real-life story of Sherriff Buford Pusser’s war with the Dixie Mafia. A two-hour film cannot possibly explain the entire story, nor can it relate the stories of all the secondary characters. Unfortunately, the story of murder, betrayal, and cover-ups didn’t end with the death of Sherriff Pusser. I will try to relate this massive tale to you, but it may take more than one post.

1967:
The Dixie Mafia was known as the State Line Mob and was led by Carl Douglas “Towhead” White and Louise Hathcock. White was in prison when his lover, Louise Hathcock pulled a gun on Sherriff Pusser and was killed. Upon hearing the news, White called his friend Kirksey Nix, Jr and ordered the hit on Sherriff Pusser and his wife, Pauline.

August 12, 1967:
Sherriff Pusser received a disturbance call in the wee hours before dawn. Pauline Pusser decided to ride along with her husband as she had done on many occasions. The pair drove out to New Hope Road to check it out. The disturbance was a ruse to ambush the young sheriff and his wife.
Pusser passed the New Hope Methodist church looking for the reported disturbance but continued driving when he found the place quiet. A black Cadillac pulled out from behind the church and followed the sheriff with its lights off. As the two cars reached a narrow bridge, the Cadillac flashed on its headlights and came racing up beside the officer’s car.
The Cadillac’s passenger opened fire hitting Pauline in the head. The sheriff ducked stepped on the gas. The engine roared to life, and the car lurched ahead of the assassins. He sped up the road a couple of miles until he was sure he had lost his tail, and then pulled over to check on Pauline. Moments later the assassins again found their mark and gunshots rang out hitting Sherriff Pusser in the face and jaw blowing it apart. Somehow the sheriff would survive the attack, but Pauline was killed.
At first, Pusser declared he knew precisely who was responsible and named Towhead White, George McGann, Gary McDaniel, and Kirksey Nix. After 18 days in the hospital and a dozen surgeries to repair his face, Pusser declared he couldn’t tell who had shot him.

Was it the trauma that caused his amnesia or was the hard-nosed police officer going to exact his own revenge?

Time would witness the deaths of three of the conspirators, but Kirksey Nix would remain on the loose. Legends would be told about the great Buford Pusser, but the story didn’t end with his death in a 1974 car wreck. Kirksey Nix continued and became the head of the Dixie Mafia. By 1987, Nix would be embroiled in another major hit.

Here is where the side stories start creeping into this case. The Dixie Mafia and the State Line Mob were prevalent in the area due to the payoffs of local officials and the coverups by local police departments. This allowed the mob to rule without much interference. Although a few shady officers corrupted the police departments, other lawmen were threatened into silence. At this point in the story, I would like to interject one officer named Lieutenant Dan Anderson of the Harrison County Sherriff’s Department.
Six weeks after the ambush of Sherriff Pusser on New Hope Rd, Lt. Dan Anderson’s son, Ronnie Anderson was shot and killed in his apartment. The case was immediately ruled suicide despite massive evidence to the contrary.

What happened to this 17-yr-old polo victim in leg braces?

What kind of threat could he really have been?

I will dive deeper into the case of Ronald Anderson next week and follow up with the murder of his father, Dan. Along the way, we will highlight the nationally publicized case of the slaying of Judge Sherry and his wife. All these bizarre murders are tied together with a delicate string. That string is the Dixie Mafia. Find out more next week when this cold case story continues.

9 thoughts on “Silenced by the Dixie Mafia – Part 1: Buford Pusser Story

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  1. This is so interesting I have followed Buford story every since it has been out on theaters
    I even been to his home museum several times
    Met Dawana When she ran the restaurant
    I am still fascinated about it. Seems like the story gets bigger and bigger like a snake pit. Unreal that something like this could happen in a small Southern town

  2. I met sheriff pusser as a child my dad took me to meet him when his book came out and movie was fixing to hit best of my recollection at the wkrg studios in mobile al he was a guest on the Connie be a hope show my dad being a policeman got wind of his appearance and took me to meet him a towering powerful man I was a fan from that moment on

  3. I met sheriff pissed as a child my dad took me to meet him when his book came out and movie was fixing to hit best of my recollection at the wkrg studios in mobile al he was a guest on the Connie be a hope show my dad being a policeman got wind of his appearance and took me to meet him a towering powerful man I was a fan from that moment on

  4. i dont want to sound creepy but i love stories like this! i have seen walking tall movie several times, first when i was a teen thinking i would love to be a police officer!! well. that didnt happen, but my interest in true crime stories has grown!! i feel a bit uneasy admitting i like them!! i dont like that people are murdered but that others do these crimes so readily with almost no cost to themselves!! my family & i are not criminals & yet the police seem to know our every move!! why bother us when there IS real crime going on?? at any rate, u are a lovely writer & i hope that ur stories will maybe result in justice for some of these poor people!! thank u so much for letting us know about these things!!

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