What happened to Buffalo Jim from Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries?
Unsolved Mysteries is back for another season on Netflix, investigating cold cases of paranormal activity, disappearances and murder. Netflix is releasing three new episodes every Tuesday and this week's drop of new Unsolved Mysteries episodes contains the story of Buffalo Jim.
Buffalo Jim was a Las Vegas legend, a wrestling promoter who ran a repair shop and became well known for his on-going feud with Rick Rizzolo. On 6th April 2008, Buffalo Jim was found dead in a motel room, after a number of threats were made against his life. Whilst the coroner ruled his death as accidental, his family believe he was murdered.
So who was Buffalo Jim? And what happened to him? This is everything you need to know ahead of the release of Unsolved Mysteries this Tuesday (25th October).
Who was James 'Buffalo Jim' Barrier?
James 'Buffalo Jim' Barrier was born on March 22, 1953 and moved to Las Vegas when he was 18 years old. There he opened up an auto-repair shop near the Las Vegas Strip and later, a wrestling school called the Buffalo Wrestling Federation.
At the wrestling school he would often film for his local TV show Jim Wars. He was also a wrestling promoter and a well known name in Las Vegas, said to have known Hulk Hogan, Muhammad Ali and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.
Buffalo Jim was a single dad to four daughters.
What was his dispute with Rick Rizzolo about?
Buffalo Jim became a well known name in Las Vegas thanks to a legal dispute he had with his business neighbour Rick Rizzolo over car parking spaces.
Rizzolo owned the gentlemen's club next door to Buffalo Jim's auto-repair shop. The two were said to be friends however, when Rizzolo wanted to expand his club and asked Barrier to move his shop he refused.
In 2002 Buffalo Jim filed a harassment lawsuit, claiming the cars at his auto-repair shop had been vandalised.
Over the years Buffalo Jim kept in contact with the FBI and reporters who were investigating Rizzolo over claims he was attached to organised crime families.
In 2007 Rizzolo pleaded guilty to tax evasion. He was stripped of his business and spent six months in jail. As the FBI seized his property, Buffalo Jim was also forced to vacate his auto-repair shop as Rizzolo owned the plot of land.
During this time Buffalo Jim received a number of anonymous letters with warnings about alleged plots against his life being made by the Rizzolo family.
Two days before his death Buffalo Jim spoke about these letters with a journalist from Las Vegas Weekly, telling them the letters said he was going to be killed via one of two methods.
He said: "They’re gonna try to do it through a woman. Or they’re gonna try to drug me."
What happened to Buffalo Jim?
On 6th April, 2008 Buffalo Jim was found dead in a motel room on Boulder Highway. He was said to be found lying in bed, face up with a bottle of valium beside his bed.
An unidentified woman, who was in the room on the night he died, told police Jim had had a seizure but she didn't report it at the time and left his room as the seizure occurred.
The Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy ruled Jim's death as "accidental" and said he died of "dilated cardiomyopathy" and toxicology reports revealed cocaine in Jim's body.
At the time the coroner said: "There is no indication of foul play at this time."
However, Buffalo Jim's four daughters believe their father was murdered and his lawyer Robert Lueck said nothing was adding up about the case.
The daughters' first reasoning for believing their father was killed was because when they arrived at the crime scene there were two glasses of water on the side, and the room was clean. They claimed their father only drank bottled water and was always messy.
They also didn't believe the story of the unidentified woman who left after Buffalo Jim's seizure.
Buffalo Jim's friends and family were also suspicious as Rizzolo was released from jail two days before Jim's death. However, police did not interview Rizzolo in connection with Buffalo Jim's death.
Unsolved Mysteries Volume Three continues on Netflix 25th October.
You Might Also Like
