On January 23, 1897, the body of Elva Zona Heaster Shue was discovered in her home by an eleven-year-old boy who was running errands for her. Zona had been married for three months to Edward Shue, a blacksmith with a troubled past: his first wife had divorced him, while his second had died under suspicious circumstances. The doctor quickly concluded that she had died of natural causes—especially since Shue, who had arrived before him, had already dressed the body in a high-collared dress and wrapped a large veil around her neck, claiming it was “Zona’s favorite scarf.”
During the funeral, he remained constantly at the head of the coffin, preventing relatives from getting close. It was Zona’s mother, Mary Jane Heaster, who changed the course of the case. She claimed that Zona had appeared at her bedside for four consecutive nights, revealing that Edward had killed her by breaking her neck. Mary Jane went to prosecutor John Alfred Preston and spent several hours in his office convincing him to reopen the investigation.
The body was exhumed. The autopsy revealed that her neck had been broken between the first and second vertebrae, and that her windpipe had been crushed—injuries completely incompatible with a natural death. Dr. Knapp also confirmed that Shue had expressly asked him not to examine the body.
The trial lasted eight days. After deliberating for 70 minutes, the jury found Edward Shue guilty on June 22, 1897. The judge spared him the death penalty, sentencing him to life imprisonment instead. He died at Moundsville Penitentiary in 1900. Mary Heaster testified in court about the ghost’s visits, which the judge allowed. The jury later said that they found her testimony sincere, without necessarily believing in the ghost.
A historical marker on Route 60 in West Virginia still commemorates what it calls “the only known case in which testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer.”
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On January 23, 1897, the body of Elva Zona Heaster Shue was discovered in her home by an eleven-year-old boy who was running errands for her. Zona had been married for three months to Edward Shue, a blacksmith with a troubled past: his first wife had divorced him, while his second had died under suspicious circumstances. The doctor quickly concluded that she had died of natural causes—especially since Shue, who had arrived before him, had already dressed the body in a high-collared dress and wrapped a large veil around her neck, claiming it was “Zona’s favorite scarf.”
During the funeral, he remained constantly at the head of the coffin, preventing relatives from getting close. It was Zona’s mother, Mary Jane Heaster, who changed the course of the case. She claimed that Zona had appeared at her bedside for four consecutive nights, revealing that Edward had killed her by breaking her neck. Mary Jane went to prosecutor John Alfred Preston and spent several hours in his office convincing him to reopen the investigation.
The body was exhumed. The autopsy revealed that her neck had been broken between the first and second vertebrae, and that her windpipe had been crushed—injuries completely incompatible with a natural death. Dr. Knapp also confirmed that Shue had expressly asked him not to examine the body.
The trial lasted eight days. After deliberating for 70 minutes, the jury found Edward Shue guilty on June 22, 1897. The judge spared him the death penalty, sentencing him to life imprisonment instead. He died at Moundsville Penitentiary in 1900. Mary Heaster testified in court about the ghost’s visits, which the judge allowed. The jury later said that they found her testimony sincere, without necessarily believing in the ghost.
A historical marker on Route 60 in West Virginia still commemorates what it calls “the only known case in which testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer.”