Greenbrier Ghost 5642080 172790656 2007-11-20T22:26:50Z 71.64.8.87 /* The murder */ [[Image:ZonaHeasterShue.jpg|thumb|Zona Heaster Shue, murder victim]] The '''Greenbrier Ghost''' is the name popularly given to the alleged [[ghost]] of a young woman in [[Greenbrier County, West Virginia|Greenbrier County]], [[West Virginia]], [[United States]], who was murdered in 1897. The events surrounding the haunting have led to it becoming a very late instance in [[United States|American]] [[law|legal]] history in which [[spectral evidence|the testimony of a "ghost"]] was accepted at a murder trial. ==Background== '''Elva Zona Heaster''', the murder victim, was born in Greenbrier County sometime around 1873. Almost nothing is known of her early life, other than that she was brought up near [[Richlands, West Virginia|Richlands]] and that she gave birth to a child [[illegitimacy|out of wedlock]] in 1895. In October of 1896, Zona met a [[drifter]] named Erasmus Stribbling Trout Shue, also known as Edward; he had moved to Greenbrier County in search of a new life, and to work as a [[blacksmith]]. Shue found work in the shop of one James Crookshanks; Zona met him not long after his arrival in town. The two fell in love and soon married, despite objection to the match by Zona's mother, Mary Jane Heaster, who had taken an instant dislike to Shue. ==The murder== [[Image:MaryJaneHeaston.jpg|thumb|left|Mary Jane Heaster, Zona's mother]]The couple lived peacefully for a short time, but on [[January 23]], [[1897]], Zona's body was discovered at her home by a young boy who had been dispatched to the house by Shue on an errand. The boy found Zona lying at the foot of the stairs, stretched out with her feet together and one hand on her stomach. The boy ran to tell his mother, who summoned the local doctor and [[coroner]], George W. Knapp. Knapp did not arrive for close to an hour. By the time the doctor arrived, Shue had carried his wife's body upstairs to the bedroom, and laid her out on the bed. He dressed the corpse himself; this was unusual, as traditionally the job of washing and preparing the body for burial would be undertaken by the women of the community. Nevertheless, Shue dressed her in a high-necked dress with a stiff collar, and placed a veil over her face. Shue remained by the corpse while Dr. Knapp examined it, cradling his wife's head and sobbing. Knapp, noting the husband's grief, gave the body only a brief examination, noting some bruising on the neck. When he tried to look closer, Shue reacted so violently that Knapp{{unclear}} ended the examination and left the house.[[Image:ShueHouse.jpg|thumb|House where the murder took place]] Initially, Zona's cause of death was listed as "everlasting faint"; later, this was changed to "[[childbirth]]". Knapp had been treating her for "female trouble" for two weeks before her death, but whether she was pregnant or not is unknown. Zona's parents were soon informed of her death. Mary Jane Heaster is reported to have said that "the devil has killed her" upon hearing the news. ==Burial== Zona was buried on [[January 24]], [[1897]]. Although Shue initially showed great devotion to the body, keeping constant vigil at the head of the open [[coffin]] while it was being moved, his behavior soon began to arouse suspicion. During the [[wake (ceremony)|wake]], his grief changed repeatedly from overwhelming sadness to incredible energy. He allowed no one to come close to the coffin, especially when he cradled Zona's head with a pillow on one side and a roll of cloth on the other. He explained these additions by saying that they would help his wife "rest easier". Shue also tied a large scarf at the corpse's neck, explaining tearfully that it "had been Zona's favorite". Still, a strange looseness about the neck was noticed as the corpse was being moved to the cemetery. For her part, Mary Jane Heaster was convinced that her son-in-law had murdered his wife. After the wake, she had removed the sheet from inside the coffin and tried to return it to him, but he refused it. She noticed an odd odor about it, so she washed it; the water in the basin turned red when she dropped the sheet in. The sheet then turned pink and the water cleared. The stain could not be removed, which Mrs. Heaster interpreted as a sign that Zona had been murdered. She began to [[prayer|pray]], and every night for four weeks kept up her prayers, hoping that Zona would return to her to explain what had happened. ==The haunting== According to local legend, Zona appeared to her mother in a dream four weeks after the funeral. She said that Shue was a cruel man who abused her, and who had attacked her in a fit of rage when he believed that she had cooked no meat for dinner. He had broken her neck; to prove this, the ghost turned her head completely around until it was facing backwards. Supposedly, the ghost appeared first as a bright light, gradually taking form and filling the room with a chill. She is said to have visited Mrs. Heaster over the course of four nights. ==Exhumation and autopsy== Armed with the story told to her by the ghost, Mary Jane Heaster visited the local [[prosecutor]], John Alfred Preston, and spent several hours in his office convincing him to reopen the matter of her daughter's death. Whether he believed her story of the ghost is unknown, but he did have enough doubt to dispatch deputies to reinterview several people of interest in the case, including Dr. Knapp. He was likely responding to public sentiment, as numerous locals had begun suggesting that Zona had been murdered. Preston himself went to speak to Dr. Knapp, who stated that he had not made a complete examination of the body. This was viewed as sufficient justification for an [[autopsy]], and an [[exhumation]] was ordered and an [[inquest]] [[jury]] formed. Zona's body was examined on [[February 22]], [[1897]] in the local [[one-room schoolhouse]]. Shue had "vigorously complained" about this turn of events, but was required by law to be present at the autopsy. He responded that he knew he would be arrested, but that no one would be able to prove his guilt. The autopsy lasted three hours, and found that Zona's neck had indeed been broken. According to the report, published on [[March 9]], [[1897]], "the discovery was made that the neck was broken and the [[windpipe]] mashed. On the throat were the marks of fingers indicating that she had been choked. The neck was dislocated between the first and second [[vertebrae]]. The ligaments were torn and ruptured. The windpipe had been crushed at a point in front of the neck." On the strength of this evidence, and his behavior at the inquest, Shue was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife. ==Trial== Shue was held in the jail in [[Lewisburg, West Virginia|Lewisburg]] while waiting for the [[trial]] to begin. During this time, more information about his past was coming to light. He had been married twice before; his first marriage had ended in [[divorce]], with his wife accusing him of great cruelty, while his second wife had died under mysterious circumstances less than a year after they were married. Zona was his third wife, and Shue began to talk of wishing to wed seven women; he freely spoke of this ambition while in jail, and told reporters that he was sure he would be let free because there was so little evidence against him. The trial began on [[June 22]], [[1897]], and Mary Jane Heaster was Preston's star witness. He confined his questioning to the known facts of the case, skirting the issue of her ghostly sightings. Perhaps hoping to prove her unreliable, Shue's [[lawyer]] questioned Mrs. Heaster extensively about her daughter's visits on [[cross-examination]]. The tactic backfired when Mrs. Heaster would not waver in her account despite intense badgering. As the defense had introduced the issue, the [[judge]] found it difficult to instruct the jury to disregard the story of the ghost, and many people in the community seemed to believe it. Consequently, Shue was found guilty of murder on [[July 11]] and sentenced to [[life in prison]]. A [[lynch mob]] was formed to take him from the jail and [[hanging|hang]] him, but this was disbanded by the [[Sheriff#United States|deputy sheriff]] before any damage was done. ==Aftermath== Shue was moved to the [[West Virginia State Penitentiary]] in [[Moundsville, West Virginia|Moundsville]], where he lived for three more years. He died on [[March 13]], [[1900]], the victim of an unknown [[epidemic]], and was buried in an unmarked grave in the local cemetery. Mrs. Heaster never recanted her story of her daughter's ghost, dying in September of 1916. As for Zona, her ghost was never seen in the area again. ==A modern explanation of the red sheet== Because the deceased's husband was working as a [[blacksmith]] at the time, he would have had contact with two substances common in blacksmithing of the period: [[iron(II) chloride]], which is a result of the Bessemer process of steelmaking, and [[iron(III) chloride]], which was used to stain knives and is also readily producible in a blacksmith's shop of the time period. Also, the major soap of the time period was soda lye, or NaOH (sodium hydroxide). [[Sodium hydroxide]] will react with both FeCl<sub>2</sub> and FeCl<sub>3</sub> together to produce magnetite—or [[iron(III) oxide]], a red [[precipitate]]. That also explains the "odd odor", which was probably the odor of [[muriatic acid]], used in the formation of iron(III) chloride. The sheet likely turned pink because it was acting as a filter inside the wash basin, which would have removed the iron(III) oxide particles as they precipitated out. Iron(III) oxide is well-known now when it collects in the fibers of clothing as a rust stain, which is particularly difficult to remove. All of this suggests that Shue had handled the sheet to a great extent prior to having washed the substances from his body. It is important to note that large amounts of these substances would have been needed to be present in order to cause such a noticeable reaction.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} ==State historical marker== The state of [[West Virginia]] has erected a [[historical marker|state historical marker]] near the cemetery in which Zona Shue is buried. It reads: :''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. Only known case in which testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer.'' ==References== *[http://www.prairieghosts.com/shue.html PrairieGhosts.com story] *Dietz, Dennis. ''The Greenbrier Ghost and Other Strange Stories'', South Charleston, WV, Mountain Memories Books, 1990. ISBN 0-938985-08-6 *Goshen, Specific. In Memory of Zona Heaster Shue, 'Greenbrier Ghost' 1876-1979, Specific Goshen, Charmco, 1979. [[Category:Ghosts]] [[Category:Greenbrier County, West Virginia]] [[Category:American murder victims]] [[Category:1870s births]] [[Category:1897 deaths]]