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
Clarissa Bustamante
Very interesting article! I have never heard of this story before but it is sad how a husband could murder his wife in a way that was in such violence. I think it is very odd how the main witness claimed that she was told by a ghost that it was the husband who had done the murdering. This article makes me wonder how a case like this would be handled in the court room today. But in way I believe that if this case occurred today then it would have been solved a lot sooner due to the enhanced technology we now have in the world.
Karina Nanez
This was a very interesting article to read, what seemed like a happy couple and a happy marriage ended in complete disaster and murder. I liked the way you presented your article, beginning with the couple meeting and the mother not liking Erasmus Stribbling Shue. I was shocked at how it was a child who discovered Zona Heaster had been killed and that her husband evaded the law for as long as he did.
Sarah Mares
I had never heard of this topic before reading this article, and it ended up being a very worthy read. The story of the Greenbrier ghost essentially reaching out to Mary Jane Heaster and revealing to her the actual person who murdered her daughter seems like something extremely ridiculous and can be hard to believe, but it was relieving to know that it was not a piece of evidence that the jury had relied on when it came time to reach a verdict. This article was very entertaining to read and I could easily follow the story thanks to the clarity and flow of how it was written.
Cherice Leach
This is a fantastic article! Great job! I couldn’t take my eyes off of the screen for one second. I love a good murder mystery and even further a murder solved by a ghost?! It is quite strange though that the ghost of Zona Heaster confessed her killer to her mother, a woman who already believed Shue was guilty. Her mother could have said this without it happening and I believe the same outcome would have happened.
Ezequiel De La Fuente
This story kept me interested the whole time. Whether or not Mary Jane was crazy or delusional, it was clear that there was some foul play involved in the death of Elva and Mary Jane’s claims lead them to further investigate, leading to a proper prosecution. You choose a very interesting topic to write about and I thought that it was a great article overall.
Abigale Carney
Very interesting article! I have never heard of this paranormal case before! I really enjoy reading about criminal murder cases such as this. You gave a lot of great details which allowed the story to keep me engaged throughout. It is very interesting that the court found the mother’s visions reliable, I do not think the legal system today would take her word as evidence.
Osman Rodriguez
Great article there! Reading it reminded me of this book I had once read when I was younger. I don’t remember the name of the book, but it sounds similar to this article, plot wise. It is interesting how this whole case played out, the fact that it turned out to be her own husband who killed her. I wonder what the motives were exactly. The whole ghost aspect of it was ominous as well, great way to end the article.
Justin Garcia
This was a very interesting article. The fact that the only lead investigators had to go on was a lawyers word based on a statement of a woman who saw a ghost. Is very interesting because it feels like something out of a fictional mystery. This kind of story could only happen back then because today with more advanced tests, a testimony of someone who they would deem to be crazy would not be used. Overall this was well formatted article.
Valeria Hernandez
Alondra Aviles creates an interesting and captivating story on Heaster’s ghost which solved her own murder. The part that most captivated my attention was the fact the fact that her own husband killed her. The article is arranged well as Aviles created a great story arc introducing a protagonist, antagonist, climax, rising action, and finally falling action. The tragic part of the story is that her own husband was capable of killing her.
Samuel Stallcup
Nice article. I liked how you gave some background information on the marriage; describing their love and detailing what their relationship was like. The transition into the murder was sudden, just like the murder, and I thought that was pretty neat. You gave a lot of detail and followed the story very well. What I thought was most interesting was obviously that a jury believed someone who had “visions” of who it was.