While it might seem like a scene straight out of Shakespearean plays like Hamlet, it is not. A ghost indeed gave testimony to help solve her own murder case. The event unfolded just outside Lewisburg in Greenbrier County, United States. There is an intriguing historical marker that stands as a testament to this unusual occurrence. According to the West Virginia Tourism site, the marker proudly declares, “Only known case in which testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer.” The tale behind this marker revolves around the infamous Greenbrier Ghost and the events that unfolded in 1897.
Elva Zona Heaster Shue, known as Zona, was a beloved local woman who had recently married a charismatic and enigmatic blacksmith named Edward. Tragically, a mere three months into their marriage, Zona was found dead under mysterious circumstances. The local doctor and coroner were summoned to examine the body. However, due to a delay, they arrived nearly an hour later. During their examination, Edward, overwhelmed with grief, mourned over Zona’s body. Taking this display of sorrow at face value, the coroner hastily attributed her cause of death to an “everlasting faint,” later revised to “childbirth.”
However, certain peculiarities raised suspicions. Contrary to local customs, Edward dressed Zona in a high-necked stiff-collared dress. At the funeral, he obsessively guarded her body, preventing loved ones from getting close to bidding their final farewells. Furthermore, when moving her body for burial, several attendees noticed an unnerving looseness in Zona’s head.
Within a month of the burial, Zona’s mother, Mary Jane Heaster, who was not one to believe in ghosts, began recounting her daughter’s ghostly visits. According to Mary Jane, Zona appeared at her bedside multiple times, insisting that she had been strangled to death by a furious and vengeful Edward.
Convinced by these nightmarish encounters, Mary Jane took her story to Greenbrier County’s prosecuting attorney. He became intrigued and reopened the investigation. Zona’s body was exhumed, revealing a broken neck and a crushed windpipe, confirming the ghostly testimony.
According to Unilad, the West Virginia State Archives document noted that Mary said, “She told me that her neck was squeezed off at the first joint and it was just as she told me.” Upon being asked if she thought she had actually seen Zona and not just a dream, Mary replied, “Yes, sir, I do. I told them the very dress that she was killed in, and when she went to leave me she turned her head completely around and looked at me like she wanted me to know all about it.” She also added, “And the very next time she came back to me she told me all about it.”
Edward was brought to trial, and after only one hour and ten minutes of deliberation, the jury found him guilty. The newspaper reported that he was convicted based on circumstantial evidence rather than the testimony of a ghost. Edward was subsequently imprisoned in Moundsville, where he met his demise shortly after in 1900.
Mary Jane lived until 1916 and never wavered in her account of the ghostly encounters. Even now, more than a century later, the folklore surrounding Zona and her ghostly testimony continues to captivate and intrigue. The case of the Greenbrier Ghost remains the only recorded instance in history where the testimony of a ghost led to a murder conviction.
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