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
Alejandra Mendez
This was such an interesting article to read. The way the article is organized in events makes it so much easier to read and understand with so much going on in the story. It also makes the reader think about the murder and perhaps even create their own theories about the murder as well. Part of me wants to believe that it really wasn’t Shue who murdered his own wife. I feel like Shue loved his wife far too much to want to hurt her in any way let alone kill her.
Liam Gillooly
What a cool story! A few years back, I had the privilege of staying at the Greenbrier resort. Never in my life have a seen such opulence and wealth. Walking through the tunnels of the Presidential bomb shelter was equally stunning. But then we have this case, one of violence and intrigue. The fact that Hester’s mother was able to communicate with this ghost and even use the evidence in court is amazing. Such things would never work in the modern world; its like the fun and life of mysterious events are no more. Great read, thank you!
Jasmine Martinez
This was such an interesting article to read. I found it personally enjoyable because I am a fan of horror and ghost like stories. I myself had never heard about this story of a husband and the brutal murder he committed. I found it kind of incredible that the jury accepted Hester’s ghost encounter as evidence in the trial. Again great article!
Troy Leonard
This was a great article to read. I like to read about ghosts and people encounters with them so that is what drew my attention was the title. I was very shocked when I read that the ghost came and told the mother who killed her daughter and it was used in the trial as evidence. when people think of ghost they think of death and scary things and this shows how there is not always a negative encounter with them.
Alise Balderas
This is a very interesting story! I was entertained and engaged throughout due to the background information and details she provided throughout the article. This article really got me thinking about how much things have changed in regards to trials and evidence and how if something like this were to happen today, it would not be taken to trial simply because the victim’s mother claimed a ghost told her that her daughter’s husband was the killer. Overall, one of my favorite articles on this page!
Gabriela Serrato
This story is exactly what a thrilling movie would be about. It has a ghost and an alarming murder. I wish it was fiction, and was simply a story from a scary book or movie, and not real. It is so sad how Elva lost her life in such a tragic way. It will never make sense to me, or probably anyone, how spouses can turn to murder the one they are married to. The actions of human beings sometimes get no explanation. It was also very creepy to me how the husband tried to stay at his wife’s side after her murder to obviously get no one to look closer at how she had died. And the fact there was a ghost involved really amplifies this story to a new level. As someone who has had paranormal encounters, I can easily relate to the mother who had the ghost encounter. I hope one day we will be able to prove the presence of ghosts.
Edith De Loera
The title of this article drew me in and its perplexity did not disappoint at all. Since the beginning, I did not get a good vibe from Mary Jane’s mother and the fact that her ridiculous “dreams” landed Erasmus in jail does not seem fair to me. I do not believe there was enough evidence to arrest her husband, or that he had anything to do with it. This is yet another case of an unsolved murder that does not serve justice.
Alexis Renteria
Very interesting article. I really enjoyed this article because it had to do with murder and i always find murder mysteries intriguing. I remember reading about the Joe Bennett murder case and how it was never solved due to all the missing pieces in the possible theories. It makes you wonder why people would kill someone they really care about and the type of psychological trauma that has to be in that person to do something as cruel as that.
Megan Barnett
Well written article! I am not really sure that I am convinced that Shue was the murderer though because no information, speaking just in this article, was given that gave him any motive. The evidence does kinda point towards him, but they way he was described made things sound like he really loved Heaster, so why would he kill her?
Christine Sackey
It is defiantly a true mystery how Elva Zona Heaste died. The husband did act odd when he found his wife body. For instance, how he changed her clothes himself and sort of protective over her body. It is suspiciously weird that he also did not want people to get close to the body. He probably did not want to see her have any bruises and suspect something. I do have to agree with Mary Jane that the husband did have a part in the death of her daughter.