Greenbrier County, West Virginia was a densely populated area. Nothing out of the ordinary ever occurred there until 1897, when a shocking death created an outburst and made headlines. Elva Zona Heaster was victim to a horrible murder that had originally been judged as “death by natural causes.”1
In 1895, Heaster gave birth to an illegitimate child. The next year she met Erasmus Stribbling Shue, and the couple soon married and were known to be inseparable. Despite the love the couple had for one another, Mary Jane Robinson Heaster, Zona Heaster’s mother, was not very impressed by Erasmus Shue, and disapproved of their marriage. Despite this, the couple continued to live together.
Erasmus Shue had initially moved to Greenbrier County to work as a blacksmith. Months went by and the couple seemed to live a normal life. On January 23, 1897, Shue sent a young boy that worked with him in the blacksmith shop to run an errand for him. The young boy obliged and walked to the couple’s house to do as he was told. Upon entering the house, the boy found Heaster lying at the bottom of a stairwell. Knowing that Heaster was dead, the young boy ran to his mother and notified her of what he had seen. The local doctor, police, and Shue were notified. Shue was the first to arrive on the scene; he carried his wife up the stairs and laid her on their bed, where he proceeded to dress her. His actions were very out of the ordinary considering the custom was for the ladies of the community to dress her in appropriate burial wear. Shue dressed her in a stiff-collared dress and a large veil. The local doctor, Dr. Knapp, was sent to examine the body, but was having difficulties since Heaster’s husband refused to let go of her, cradling her head and hysterically crying. As a result, Dr. Knapp declared her cause of death to be “an everlasting faint,” but then changed his statement to “childbirth.” What was particularly interesting was that Heaster had told no one that she was pregnant, nor did she appear to have signs or symptoms of pregnancy. Soon after, Heaster’s mother was notified and she immediately blamed Shue for Zona’s death.2
Mary Jane, Heaster’s mother, began praying and asking God to give her the name of the person guilty of her daughter’s murder. About four weeks after the death of her daughter, Mary Jane claimed to have had visions of a ghostly appearance telling her that Shue had killed her daughter. This occurrence happened four nights in a row, and began to make Mary Jane very ill. She decided to take her testimony to a prosecutor, John Alfred Preston. The prosecutor was hesitant about taking her case, but decided to do research on his own before believing Mary Jane. He went around the town asking for testimonies on the matter and found that Dr. Knapp admitted to not having been able to conduct a complete examination of the body. Neighbors noticed that during the viewing of Heaster, Shue never left the side of the coffin and didn’t let anyone look at her closely. As the pieces of the mysterious death finally fell into place, the prosecutor decided to take on the case. The prosecutor was able to obtain a warrant that allowed the body to be exhumed for re-examination.3
After a complete autopsy was performed, doctors found that Heaster’s neck had been broken and the bruising around her neck indicated that her windpipe had been severely crushed, as if she had been strangled. After the autopsy had been concluded, Shue was arrested and taken into custody for a later trial.4
The trial started on June 23, 1897, and lasted for eight days before the jury decided on a verdict. During the trial, the prosecutor tried to avoid using Mary Jane’s testimony due to the misunderstanding the jury might have. Regardless of these allegations, Mary Jane went ahead and revealed how she knew that Shue had murdered her daughter. Shue’s attorney immediately rejected the idea claiming that Mary Jane was crazy and unstable. The jury, however, found her story credible but did not mention it again after the first statement. The evidence against Shue was overwhelming and on the last day of the trial the jurors finally decided on a verdict. Ten of the twelve jurors voted on execution, but since it was not a unanimous decision, Shue was eventually sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder of Elva Zona Heaster.5
After the sentence, Shue was sent to prison, but the overwhelming disagreement on behalf of the community caused an outraged. Greenbrier County citizens felt that Shue should be hanged for his crime. On July 11, 1897, an angry mob gathered and threatened to lynch Shue, but the sheriff heard what was happening, and hid Shue in the woods before the mob could reach him. The Sheriff calmed the mob and eventually everyone went home.6
On July 13, 1897, Shue was placed in the state penitentiary where he eventually died of natural causes on March 13, 1900.7
The ordeal of the Greenbrier Ghost has sparked interest in many paranormal investigators and has made West Virginia a popular tourist attraction. No real evidence has been found on the Greenbrier ghost that Mary Jane claimed revealed her daughter’s murderer. The case is particularly interesting because at the time, investigators could not have revealed the murderer, due to the obvious lack of technology or forensic evidence. The only person that could have any other reliable testimony on the case would be the young boy that found Zona Heaster dead. From what was uncovered, the case can only be concluded as “Murder Solved by Ghost.”
- Katie Lyle, Man Who Wanted Seven Wives: The Greenbrier Ghost and the Famous Murder Mystery of 1897 (Charleston, W. Va: Quarrier, 1999), 6. ↵
- Katie Lyle, Man Who Wanted Seven Wives: The Greenbrier Ghost and the Famous Murder Mystery of 1897 (Charleston, W. Va: Quarrier, 1999), 6. ↵
- “EDITORIAL: West Virginia ghost stories recounted in new book,” Charleston Gazette, The (WV), November 01. Newspaper Source, EBSCOhost (accessed October 10, 2017). ↵
- Mike Conley, “Mike Conley’s Tales of the Weird: Ghost brings murderer to justice,” McDowell News, The (NC), August 27. Newspaper Source, EBSCOhost (accessed October 10, 2017). ↵
- Katie Lyle, Man Who Wanted Seven Wives: The Greenbrier Ghost and the Famous Murder Mystery of 1897 (Charleston, W. Va: Quarrier, 1999), 6. ↵
- “EDITORIAL: West Virginia ghost stories recounted in new book,” Charleston Gazette, The (WV), November 01. Newspaper Source, EBSCOhost (accessed October 10, 2017). ↵
- Mike Conley, “Mike Conley’s Tales of the Weird: Ghost brings murderer to justice,” McDowell News, The (NC), August 27. Newspaper Source, EBSCOhost (accessed October 10, 2017). ↵
96 comments
Eloisa Sanchez Urrea
This was a very interesting article, but I find it hard to believe that a ghost was used as evidence in solving a crime. It is true that without the mother’s testimony of having seen the ghost her daughter’s body would not have been exhumed for re-investigation, but I don’t think it should have actually been used as evidence. I also wish that the article would have looked into a motive.
Belene Cuellar
Looks like the mom had every right not to approve the marriage. It’s so shocking to me to see that the husband just killed her without a second thought. I want to know why he killed her because there had to be some reason or he just hated her. All of that grief he pretended to do in front of everyone to convince them he didnt do it. It’s interesting to read how her mother was supposedly visited by a ghost that blamed the husband for her daughter’s death.
Maggie Amador
The idea that a ghost told Mary Jane who killed her daughter doesn’t seem very plausible, as I’m sure this was a time of grieving which could have made her susceptible to hallucinations or even very vivid dreams. I believe the ghost telling Mary Jane who killed her daughter was only a way of making the public believe her own intuition and whether or not Mary Jane actually believed it herself is beyond me. I do think that Shue received a relatively fair trial despite the investigation beginning based off one grieving woman’s words.
Hanadi Sonouper
This was an interesting crime article, it was very baffling to read that a ghost solved this mystery. Even though this was a time period that was not heavily advanced in technology or in health science, the means of an autopsy was still a viable source to detect a possible murder. After reading the article it was clearly evident that the young woman was murdered by her husband, but due to this early era it seems like a lie. However, it is crazy to think that her daughters spirit later revealed the true cause of her death, it is evidently very plot twisting, but it just proves that some things happen without our control. The author did a great job at telling the story, it was a real engaging topic.
Kimberly Simmons
This story was absolutely baffling — the idea of a ghost coming to light and solving a murder just sends chills down my spine. I have heard plenty of stories of paranormal activity, but never one like this. I can’t help but assume Mary Jane was delusional; she didn’t like Shue and was devastated at the sudden death of her daughter. The world may never know the true story of what happened.
Destiny Flores
It’s a little scary to think that someone’s life could be hanging in the balance based off of someones mere words. Words, that come from the idea that they saw an apparition. Not just saw it, but was spoken to by it. A ghost-something that most people don’t even believe in, put a man in prison for the rest of his life. It could have been the case that he committed the crime, yet placing a ghost as the only viable evidence, is quite ridiculous.
Hannah Wilson
It is hard to believe that someone would put someone on trail to be executed because of a dream. It is also concerning that they did not take into consideration that the mother was already not found of Shue and disagreed with their marriage. I also would have liked to know more about any other evidence they might have found or what Shue did/said during the trial. Great article.
Maria Esquivel
At first I didn’t suspect that her husband could kill her but as I kept reading I did find him somewhat suspicious. Maybe Shue sent the boy out to his home because he knew he would find Elva dead and no one would suspect it was him. I really enjoyed reading the article and knowing how the mother was so sure that Shue was the killer, maybe the ghost was her daughter telling her who her killer was. Great read!
Destiny Leonard
Wow this article was not what I was expecting to read. I assumed that the article was going to be something similar to a Scooby Doo episode where they think it was a monster or a ghost which committed the crime and then they discover it was just a person in disguise . However this was not the case at all the murderer was the victim’s husband which is still a rather morbid thought. This article was a great read, great job !
Alyssa Childs
I didn’t feel like I got the full story, but Shue is a horrible man who may have killed his wife (he probably did). I wish I got more of how she died, well the full story because this was one death and it wasn’t very intriguing. It’s strange that her mother got help from a ghost to solve her daughters murder. I am very superstitious about stuff like this. In the end, Shue got what he deserved and his poor wife had to suffer his problems.