Sergeant Jim Pembry was one of the officers, along with Officer Boyle, charged with guarding Dr Hannibal Lecter while in custody in Memphis. Both officers had their routine in dealing with Lecter, however nowhere near as effective as Barney's. Lecter was transferred to Memphis during the “Buffalo Bill” case he was assisting, in exchange for better privileges. He was under the care of Pembry and Boyle for three days in 1983.
Shortly after meeting FBI agent trainee Clarice Starling and becoming her primary guide while tracking the serial killer Buffalo Bill, Lecter, while still incarcerated at the Baltimore State Mental Hospital for the Criminally Insane, offered to reveal Buffalo Bill's "real" name to Senator Ruth Martin of Tennessee in exchange for better living conditions within her state. Martin's daughter, Catherine, is Buffalo Bill's latest kidnapped victim and the Senator is desperate to rescue her daughter.
Lecter is taken to the Senator and gives a name which is false; he claims that the killer's name is "Billy Rubin," a reference to "bilirubin", a pigment found in feces — and the exact shade of Frederick Chilton's hair. Lecter is delivered to Pembry and Boyle, who warn him that if he behaves properly, he'll be treated well. Upon revealing the false information to the authorities, Lecter is transferred to the Shelby County Courthouse in Memphis. His new living quarters are an enclosed, barred cage in the center of a large room.
Lecter is brought an evening meal by his handlers, who follow their procedure for restraining Lecter before entering the cell; they have him sit down with his back to the bars and handcuff his wrists, with a baton inserted between his back and the bars themselves. One of the officers would then enter the cell and place the tray inside the cell. The two would also check Lecter's wrists, to make sure he hadn't smeared any soap on them, and his clothing for any contraband items.
Unbeknownst to the officers, Lecter had an improvised handcuff key, which he used to unlock his cuffs. Lecter quickly snapped one cuff to Boyle's wrist and the other to the a table, leaving the officer defenseless. Lecter kicked at the heavy door to the cell, temporarily stunning Pembry. Lecter then viciously bit the man's face, tearing away a chunk of flesh and blinded the man with his own can of mace, before having his head beaten against the bars. Lecter had handcuffed Boyle to a table leg and beat him to death with Pembry's nightstick.
Later that evening, shots were fired. When the SWAT team arrived at Lecter's cell, they found Boyle strung up on the bars, mutilated in a horrific act of disembowelment. Pembry lay nearby, badly injured but alive. One officer, Sgt Tate believed that the sight of what happened to Pembry was the worst thing he had seen happen to an officer. Medical assistance was given to Pembry when paramedics arrived. He was placed on a gurney and was taken into the elevator.
While in the elevator, blood began to drip on the gurney, seeping in from the ceiling. A SWAT team is brought in to apprehend Lecter, finding him on the roof of the elevator, covered in blood, with a gun by his side. When they checked the body, they actually found it was Pembry, his face having been cut off his skull. In the ambulance, rushing from the scene, Lecter revealed that he'd used Pembry's flayed face and his uniform to disguise himself. The ambulance was found, the crew killed by Lecter, who escaped clean.
It is stated that Sgt. Pembry was 50 years old in the ambulance scene.