Episode 17
The Ghost Who Testified at a Murder Trial
Up nextEp 18: The Elevator Footage Nobody Can ExplainThe documented facts
- Zona Heaster Shue, born 1876, married Edward Shue in November 1896 and was found dead at the foot of her stairs on January 23, 1897.
- Her mother Mary Jane Heaster said Zona's ghost visited four nights describing a broken neck, which the exhumation confirmed.
- Edward Shue was found guilty of murder on July 11, 1897, sentenced to life, and died March 13, 1900 at Moundsville.
- West Virginia's historical marker calls it the only known case where testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer.
The Draugr does not invent. He documents.
The Greenbrier Ghost, 1897
The facts
- November 1896Zona Heaster Shue, born 1876, marries Edward Shue.
- January 23, 1897Zona is found dead at the foot of her stairs.
- 1897Mary Jane Heaster says Zona's ghost visited four nights, describing a broken neck. The exhumation confirms it.
- July 11, 1897Edward Shue is found guilty of murder and sentenced to life. He dies at Moundsville on March 13, 1900.
The evidence
- The mother told the court her dead daughter's ghost named the killer and the broken neck. The exhumation agreed.
- West Virginia's own historical marker calls it the only known case where testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer.
Sources
The words, as I spoke them.
Transcript
Heh heh! Greenbrier County, eighteen ninety-seven. My daughter Zona was found dead at the foot of her stairs. Her husband Edward? Stranger than a ghost at a wedding!
Then Zona's ghost visited me. Four nights, she stood at my bedside, turned her head fully around, and whispered: Edward. Heh! A pain in the neck!
I told the prosecutor. They exhumed Zona, her neck was broken, just as her spirit showed me. Edward was arrested.
Convicted! The only murder conviction in history won by a ghost's testimony. Heh heh heh! The dead don't rest, boils and ghouls... and they NEVER lie!
Dramatized for the telling. The facts above are documented; the narration is the Draugr’s retelling of them.
Wear the nightmare
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