quote:Originally posted by mikeelam:quote:Originally posted by RETIREDLEO:
I have examined the story myself. That research began when I first met Pusser forty years ago. I have not only talked with the people you have, I have know many of them, and arrested more than a few. Some of them want the "honor" of being the inconsequential little man that brought down the legend, much like you dream about. I know Pusser was not a perfect man, but I also know that he wasn't who you make him out to be either. While I don't believe many of the events portrayed in the movies, they were dramatizations, not documentaries. Try and find any Hollywood version based on a true character that the people involved were in total agreement with.
You have accused a dead man of murdering his wife and sexually assaulting his step-daughter, along with a litany of other criminal acts. Do you really believe that people do not suffer as a result of your actions? What integrity or balls does it take to do that? I could post a number of horrific crimes that Pusser could have perpetrated, but how could anyone prove that he didn't? Once people like you start putting these wild statements out there, they create a life of their own.
I have no problem with setting the record straight. I do have a problem with spineless people hiding behind a keyboard and irresponsibly launching attacks on someone that is unable to defend himself.
Maybe I simply have more pride in my former profession than you do. I could possibly overlook someone who wanted to bend the rules a little, but if you have actually studied this story as you claim then you know Pusser more than bent a few rules. You know that he was part of the problem at the state line..., not part of the solution.
I wasn't the one that said that Buford sexually assaulted his stepdaughter although I am aware that this story exists. That story was told by a Selmer police officer who knew Buford well as he served at the same time while Pusser was sheriff. I can't and wouldn't take credit for spreading that story around on forums regardless of it is true or not, although that seems to be exactly what YOU are doing right, here right now. Talk abiout spineless..., blaming others for what you are doing...., now that truly is spineless.
Again, if you researched the story as you claimed, then you would already know all of this story and much more..., wouldn't you. The real question is why aren't you "trying to set the record straight"?
Many of the people who have said that Buford had committed criminal acts had no problem attaching thier own names to the the stories they told. They were not hiding from the truth..., they were promoting it.
Somehow I find it strange that you are afraid to use your real name as you libel and slander mine, so if you really have no problem "setting the record straight" then you now have an opportunity to start by identifying yourself..., or are you just going to hide behind your keyboard?
Reponses from Charlie on the Buford Pusser Newsletter". Charlies comments are in blue where as mine are in red.
Mike- This, of course brings into question if there was a Cadillac at all. Without a Cadillac, where is your argument? Tell us Charlie, what proof do we have that there was a Cadillac? All we have is Buford's word on that and when challenged on many other subjects Buford's veracity often fails the test. Isn't that true?
Charlie: And when your veracity is challenged you just change the topic and find another way to make personal attacks.
Mike: Whoa Charlie...back the truck up!!! Lets be clear on a number of issues here starting with personal attacks. I was on another forum at Times Daily.com. I was posting there regarding a gun that was found in a creek that some had alleged to have been used in the Pusser ambush. The information about that forum had been posted here by a member of crimemyths. I went to that forum to see what was there and I shared some information about Pusser. Then YOU came on the forum and attacked me not the other way around. You even called me out by name. You criticized me for posting on various forums that have information or discussion regarding Pusser. What business is it of yours where I post and secondly, why are you so critical of me since you are posting there as well. You are the ultimate hypocrite. You whine like a little girl if someone makes a point about your beloved hero. I am into to honest debate. STOP YOUR **** WHINING..., IT MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A WIMP. If you want to engage in debate that's fine..., I'm just tired of you acting like a drama queen.
The Cadillac
Charlie: Sheriff Pusser saw in the blue 1965 Cadillac when this murder occurred on August 12, 1967 (The Warren Jones Letter). Apparently the TBI had an idea there was a Cadillac and followed up on it they had suspects and the car was still being mentioned eight months later in the investigation. One would think if the TBI, MBI, and FBI all involved in the investigation the Cadillac theory would have been debunked as a fraud Pusser would of been in hot water.
Mike: I take the opposite view charlie. One would think that with a "dream team" of investigators that included the TBI, MBI, FBI and the likes of Rex Armisted and Charlie Goforth they would have been able to prove that a Cadillac was involved in the alleged ambush if Pusser was telling the truth. But, that's another question isn't it..., was Pusser telling the truth? What else was there to connect a blue 1965 Cadillac to the alleged ambush? ...., ABSOLUTLY NOTHING..., just Pusser word.
I would suggest that Warren Jones included a mention of the blue 1965 Cadillac in his letter to OSBI agent Jack Hill as they had so little information of any kind to share...period. You say "apparently the TBI had an idea there was a Cadillac involved" ..., well charlie where did they get that idea? From Buford Pusser..., nowhere else! Have you ever considered the possibility that Buford was sending investigators down endless rabbit trails to keep anyone from looking at him too closely?
Have you ever actually considered that it was Pauline Pusser, not Buford who was the target of the alleged ambush. Buford had everything to lose if Pauline lived long enough to leave him and talk to the authorities about his corruption as she had threatened to do. He had everything to gain if she were dead. Why should he not be considered a suspect? Nothing much had gone on at the state line since Pusser killed Louise Hath**** on February 2, 1966. Eighteen months and the county had been quiet up until the alleged ambush.
Charlie: Baltimore police officer Jeff McCleese had communications with Deputy Director of the TBI Steve O Watson. McCleese was given the opportunity to view the ambush file in a room with an agent outside the door. He recalls photos of a blue Cadillac in the case file. Tennessee since then has become a closed record state. I have had several conversations with McCleese. We all by now have a copy of the letter to McCleese from Deputy Director of the TBI Steve O Watson stating all the bullets entered the driver's side of the car.
Mike: You say Jeff McCleese saw the ambush file and recalls seeing photos of a blue Cadillac in the file. To many, that might seem significant, but as a former law enforcement officer I can tell you that investigation files are often filed with tips, leads and information gathered during an investigation that went absolutely nowhere. Yes, there may have been such a photo(s) in the file. This shows only that investigators followed up on what Buford told them. Why wouldn't they follow up on it..., the better observation is that ultimately investigators gleened little or no useful information here.
Yes charlie, bullets entered the drivers side side of Pusser's car. More smoke and mirrors..., what does it prove? If you are staging an ambush and claimed shots were fired from a Cadillac that pulled along side you wound you shoot into the drivers side of your car to make things look good? Again, what little information we have seen from the file is nice to have, but still, it proves nothing.
Charlie: Rex Armisted interview: He would not go into how the TBI came up with the suspect list but said "it was very reliable". He went on further to say "the Cadillac was dark blue and traced to a dealership in Tupelo where it was bought through W.O. Hath****. He said Hath**** financed and ordered Pusser's murder." Rex who investigated the ambush from the Mississippi side of the case.
Mike: OK, lets put the story of W.O. Hath**** into proper context so people will have a better idea of exactly how he plays into all of this.
Pusser and W.O. Had a history. W.O. operated the Plantation Club on the Mississippi side of the state line. Pusser claimed that in February 1957 he was attacked beaten and robbed and the Plantation Club, however, I have never seen anything where Pusser accused W.O. Hath**** by name of being involved in this incident. In fact, there is no available information th show that this event ever happened or to show that Buford ever received 192 stitches in his head and face as W.R. Morris ranted about in the official biography of Buford Pusser, "The Twelfth of August". There are no police reports, medical records or newspaper reports regarding the incident when it was alleged to have occurred. Photos taken of Buford Pusser in this time frame to not support this claim as they show NO SCARING to Pusser's head or face as one might expect to find. The Buford Pusser home and Museum has nothing to prove that this event EVER HAPPENED. All we have is again..., Buford's word.
We also know that in December 1959 W.O. Hath**** was beaten and robbed while he was alone in the club (his wife had retired to their living quarters of the building). Pusser, Wright and King were linked to that event not only by witnesses who placed them in the Plantation Club but by physical evidence in the form of a laundry marker they left behind...., a laundry marker from Chicago were they lived at the time.
We also know that unlike Pussers alleged attack at the Plantation Club in 1957, the attack on Hath**** was well documented, both by law enforcement authorities and the hospital as well.
We also know that when Cleaton Wilbanks became sheriff in Alcorn County Mississippi that W.O. Hath**** shut down the Plantation Club, an event that had nothing to do with Buford Pusser or his rein as sheriff in neighboring McNairy County Tennessee.
We know that after after Buford killed Louise Hath**** at the Shamrock Motel that the state line and McNairy County remained quiet for the next eighteen months even though Howard Bunch and W.O. Hath**** purchased the Shamrock and White Iris from the Jack Hath**** estate. There is no record that I am aware of that Buford had any problems with either Bunch or Hath**** while they operated these establishments. As a matter of fact, W.O. avoided going into McNairy County because of Pusser.
We also know that after closing down the Plantation Club, W.O Hath**** refurbished cars...mostly Cadillacs. Why Cadillacs? He once explained that you could refurbish a wrecked Chevy and make some money, or you could spend the same time refurbishing a Cadillac and make some "real" money.
My point here is that Hath**** bought, sold and traded in Cadillacs, something that Pusser was also aware of. Now, if you are going to kill your wife, or have her killed, wouldn't you have an "escape" plan?
Days before the alleged ambush Buford was going around Selmer telling people that he would be "stalked and killed", a story that was reported in the news paper by Chief Deputy Jim Moffett after the ambush occurred. Buford knew that Pauline was planning to leave him and had threatened to expose his corruption as well. Was she planning on returning to Adamsville from their "vacation" to see her parents in Haysi Virginia? Could Buford take the chance that she wouldn't?
If Buford was smart enough to start a story a week before the alleged ambush that he would be "stalked and killed", is it out of the realm of possibility that he also knew that Hath**** may have recently sold or traded a blue 1965 Cadillac to a dealer in Tupelo? Again, was Pusser just sending investigators down "rabbit trails"? Was the mention of this blue 1965 Cadillac merely a part of his "escape plan"?
You forgot to mention that soil samples were taken from the Cadillac and they did not match samples from the New Hope Road area.
You also forgot to mention that as soon as W.O. Hath**** heard about the alleged ambush that he drove to the TBI headquarters in Nashville where he and his wife both were administered and passed polygraph examinations. Why did he not only volunteer but insist on taking a polygraph examination? Because W.O. suspected that he would be Pusser's scapegoat in the ambush. Tell us Charlie, did Pusser take a polygraph examination as W.O. did?
Tell us Charlie, what, other than Pusser's claim that a Cadillac was involved in the ambush, what is there to make us believe that one really was involved?
Charlie, you seem to be one of those people who want to believe in the alleged ambush..., simply because you want to. Nothing we know of really supports Pusser's version of the ambush..., people believe it because its the only version that has really been told. Pusser himself is actually the best suspect we have based on real information.
I can't help it if the TBI, MBI, FBI, Charlie Goforth and Rex Armisted couldn't prove the ambush happened the wat Pusser claimed or that a blue 1965 Cadillac was involved. Maybe they is a reason they couldn'y prove it..., did you ever consider that?
There are lots of things that have not and probably will never be answered regarding the ambush. One of those things that I really began to question as we reconstructed the ambush as Buford told it, was how a a Cadillac could pull up beside Pusser's parked Fury at the second ambush site and the gun man sitting only three to five feet away could fire 12 times and hit the alleged intended target only once ..., and still not kill him?
You and Rex Armisted can both talk all you want about how W.O. Hath**** financed and ordered Buford Pusser's death, but neither of you seem to have made to first base with proving it.
It can certainly be said that I have not proven that Buford Pusser killed Pauline or had her kill, but I do believe I have done a much more compelling job of making my arguments than you and Armisted have made of yours. People of course will decide for themselves who or what they wish to believe.