The Greenbrier Ghost

In 1897, a young woman named Zona Heaster Shue died under mysterious circumstances in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Her death was ruled natural—until her mother reported that Zona’s ghost had appeared and named her killer. The subsequent trial became the only documented case in American legal history where a ghost’s testimony contributed to a murder conviction.

The Victim

Elva Zona Heaster Shue

Elva Zona Heaster (1873-1897) was a young woman living in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. She was known to be beautiful, spirited, and perhaps somewhat headstrong.

In October 1896, Zona met Edward “Trout” Shue, a blacksmith who had recently arrived in the area. Despite her mother Mary Jane Heaster’s strong objections—she reportedly disliked Shue on sight—Zona married him in November 1896.

The marriage lasted three months.

The Death

January 23, 1897

On the morning of January 23, 1897, Trout Shue sent a young boy named Andy Jones to his house, ostensibly to ask Zona if she needed anything from the market.

Andy found Zona’s body at the foot of the stairs, lying stretched out with one hand on her stomach and the other by her side. Her head was tilted slightly to one side.

The boy ran to tell his mother, who notified Dr. George W. Knapp. By the time the doctor arrived, Trout Shue was already at home, cradling his wife’s body. He had dressed her in a high-necked dress with a large collar and veil.

The Examination

Dr. Knapp attempted to examine the body, but Shue hovered over it, becoming agitated whenever the doctor approached Zona’s head and neck. He wept loudly and refused to leave his wife’s side.

Uncomfortable with the situation, Dr. Knapp conducted only a cursory examination. He initially noted “everlasting faint” as the cause of death, later amending it to “childbirth”—despite no evidence that Zona had been pregnant.

The Funeral

Trout Shue’s behavior at the wake was peculiar:

• He refused to let anyone else dress the body
• He placed a pillow on one side of her head and a rolled cloth on the other
• He kept adjusting the high collar and veil
• He oscillated between extreme grief and inappropriate cheerfulness

Neighbors noticed that when Zona’s body was moved, her head seemed “loose”—not supporting itself as a normal corpse’s head would.

Mary Jane Heaster, Zona’s mother, requested the veil that had covered her daughter. When she washed it, the water turned red. The stain would not come out. Mary Jane was convinced her daughter had been murdered.

The Ghost

Four Weeks of Apparitions

For four consecutive weeks after the funeral, Mary Jane Heaster prayed intensely, begging God to reveal the truth about her daughter’s death.

According to her later testimony, her prayers were answered.

The Visitations:

Zona’s ghost appeared to her mother four times over four nights. Each night, the apparition became clearer and more detailed.

First Night: A cold light filled the room. Mary Jane saw her daughter standing there, her face turned away.

Second Night: Zona appeared again, this time facing her mother. She looked sad.

Third Night: The ghost spoke. Zona told her mother that Shue had been cruel and abusive throughout their marriage.

Fourth Night: Zona revealed how she died: Trout Shue had attacked her in a rage, breaking her neck. The ghost demonstrated, turning her head completely around to show the injury.

“He broke my neck,” the ghost said. “He broke my neck.”

Mary Jane’s Actions

After the fourth visitation, Mary Jane Heaster went to the prosecutor, John Alfred Preston. She told him everything—that her dead daughter had appeared and named her killer.

Preston was skeptical of ghosts. But he was troubled by the circumstances of Zona’s death and Shue’s strange behavior. He decided to investigate.

The Investigation

Exhumation

Preston ordered Zona’s body exhumed and examined by three physicians. Trout Shue objected strenuously, declaring: “They will not find anything!”

He was wrong.

The Autopsy Results:

The doctors found:

• A crushed windpipe
• A neck broken between the first and second vertebrae
• Severe bruising around the neck
• Signs of strangulation

The cause of death was clear: Zona Heaster Shue had been murdered.

Trout Shue’s History

Investigation revealed disturbing facts about Edward Shue:

First Marriage: Ended with his wife leaving him, citing extreme cruelty and abuse.

Second Marriage: His second wife had died under mysterious circumstances. Cause of death was never clearly established.

Zona was his third wife. The pattern was unmistakable.

The Arrest

Trout Shue was arrested for murder on March 13, 1897.

The Trial

June 22-July 1, 1897

The trial of Edward Shue became one of the most sensational in West Virginia history—largely because of Mary Jane Heaster’s testimony.

Mary Jane’s Testimony

The prosecution called Mary Jane Heaster as a witness. The defense attorney, hoping to discredit her, made a fateful decision: he asked about the ghost.

The Testimony:

Under oath, Mary Jane described her daughter’s visitations in detail:

• How Zona appeared to her four nights in a row
• How the ghost had described Shue’s cruelty
• How Zona had demonstrated her broken neck
• How the ghost had specifically named her killer

The defense attorney attempted to get her to admit she had imagined the encounters. Mary Jane was unshakeable:

“I prayed for truth, and my daughter came to me. She told me her husband killed her. And he did.”

The Legal Significance

Strictly speaking, the ghost’s testimony was hearsay—Mary Jane was reporting what someone else (the ghost) had told her. However, the judge allowed it, perhaps reasoning that it wasn’t being offered to prove Shue killed his wife, but to explain why Mary Jane had pressed for investigation.

The physical evidence—the broken neck, the crushed windpipe—proved the murder. But the ghost story captured public imagination and likely influenced the jury’s perception of Shue.

The Verdict

On July 11, 1897, Edward Shue was found guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment at the West Virginia State Penitentiary.

Shue maintained his innocence until his death from an epidemic in 1900, about three years into his sentence.

The Legacy

Legal History

The Greenbrier Ghost case remains unique in American jurisprudence:

• The only documented case where testimony about a ghost’s statements was admitted in a murder trial
• The only case where a ghost’s accusation contributed to a conviction
• A landmark example of how extralegal information can influence legal proceedings

The Historical Marker

A historical marker stands in Greenbrier County commemorating the case:

“GREENBRIER GHOST: Interred in nearby cemetery is Zona Heaster Shue. Her death in 1897 was presumed natural until her spirit appeared to her mother to describe how she was killed by her husband Edward. Autopsy on the exhumed body verified the apparition’s account. Edward, found guilty of murder, was sentenced to the state prison.”

It is the only historical marker in the United States commemorating a ghost.

Questions Remain

Did Zona’s ghost really appear?

Believers point to:

• Mary Jane’s consistent, detailed account
• The accuracy of the ghost’s claims about the manner of death
• The impossibility of Mary Jane knowing about the broken neck before exhumation
• Her willingness to swear under oath

Skeptics suggest:

• Mary Jane suspected murder and convinced herself of supernatural confirmation
• She may have noticed the “loose” head at the funeral and deduced the cause
• The power of suggestion and grief can create vivid experiences

We cannot know for certain what Mary Jane Heaster experienced. We know only that she reported it truthfully according to her own understanding, and that subsequent investigation proved her accusations correct.

The Deeper Mystery

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect is not the ghost but the outcome. A mother’s intuition—whether expressed through prayer, dreams, or genuine apparition—exposed a killer who might otherwise have escaped justice.

Zona Heaster Shue died silenced. But somehow, her story was told.

---

In 1897, a murdered woman spoke from beyond the grave—or so her mother claimed. The ghost named her killer. The autopsy proved her right. And Edward Shue spent the rest of his life in prison, convicted in part by testimony from a spirit. Zona Heaster Shue’s grave still stands in Greenbrier County, marked by the memory of a daughter who returned to tell her mother the truth.