In the winter of 1897, the quiet hills of Greenbrier County, West Virginia, became the stage for one of the strangest court cases in American history, the only known instance in which a ghost’s testimony was officially entered into a murder trial. It began with the sudden death of twenty-three-year-old Zona Heaster Shue, a young woman who appeared to have collapsed under mysterious circumstances. By the time her story was told before a jury, the lines between folklore, grief, and justice had blurred completely. The “Greenbrier Ghost,” as the case came to be known, remains one of the most enduring supernatural legends in Appalachia, rooted in documented testimony and court transcripts rather than local myth alone.
Zona was discovered on January 23, 1897, lying at the foot of the stairs in her home near Livesay’s Mill. Her husband, Erasmus “Trout” Shue, seemed distraught, carrying her body upstairs and dressing her himself, an unusual act at the time, as preparing a body was typically handled by women or undertakers. Shue tightly wrapped a scarf around Zona’s neck and arranged her head on a pillow, insisting that no one disturb her. The physician who arrived later found Shue’s behavior peculiar, hovering close, refusing to let the doctor examine the body thoroughly. The death was attributed to “childbirth,” despite Zona not being pregnant.
Zona’s mother, Mary Jane Heaster, was not convinced. She had disliked Shue from the start, describing him as “violent-tempered,” and she believed her daughter’s sudden death made no sense. After the funeral, Mary Jane removed Zona’s sheet for washing and noticed a strange odor and discoloration that deepened her suspicion. She prayed for clarity, asking for a sign that would reveal the truth. What happened next became the core of the legend.
According to Mary Jane’s sworn testimony, Zona appeared to her across four consecutive nights. The spirit stood at the foot of her bed, solid and visible, and told Mary Jane that she had been strangled by her husband after a violent argument. The ghost demonstrated how Shue had broken her neck, turning her head completely around until the bones snapped. Mary Jane later told investigators, “She turned her head all the way around, and looked back at me, to show me how it happened.”
Mary Jane brought this testimony to the local prosecutor, John Preston. Although he could not take ghost stories at face value, the inconsistencies surrounding Zona’s death, especially the rushed burial and lack of medical examination, convinced him to reopen the case. He ordered the body exhumed. During the autopsy, doctors discovered that Zona’s neck was indeed broken. Her windpipe was crushed, ligaments were torn, and the cervical vertebrae were fractured. Her head had been twisted so violently that the injuries matched the description Mary Jane claimed the ghost had shown her.
With physical evidence now pointing to murder, Shue was arrested. During the trial, Mary Jane took the stand, and the defense attempted to discredit her by pressing her about the ghostly visitation. Rather than wavering, Mary Jane doubled down. She calmly and firmly stated that Zona had shown her the details of her own death. Despite the sensational nature of this testimony, the jury focused on the physical findings, Shue’s suspicious behavior, and his violent past, including two previous marriages marked by abuse and sudden death.
On July 11, 1897, Erasmus “Trout” Shue was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. While historians generally agree that the forensic evidence was sufficient on its own, the ghost story became inseparable from the case. Newspapers across the country published sensational accounts of the “Greenbrier Ghost,” and the legend grew into one of Appalachia’s most famous supernatural tales.
Today, the Greenbrier Ghost occupies a rare space where folklore intersects with legal history. Court records confirm that Mary Jane’s testimony about the ghost was accepted in the courtroom and that her persistence led to the autopsy that ultimately exposed the truth. Whether one believes that a spirit truly visited her or that grief sharpened her intuition, Zona’s death was re-examined because her mother refused to accept an easy explanation.
Along a rural road outside Lewisburg, a historical marker still stands, declaring the site “Interred in nearby cemetery,” and noting that her death “was revealed by her ghost.” Beneath the Appalachian canopy, where legends often echo longer than fact, Zona Heaster Shue is remembered not just as a victim, but as a presence, a voice that spoke beyond the grave, turning suspicion into justice, and leaving behind one of the most haunting true stories of the American frontier.
Sources & Further Reading:
– Greenbrier County Courthouse transcripts, 1897 murder trial
– West Virginia State Archives: Case files of Zona Heaster Shue
– “The Greenbrier Ghost” – West Virginia Folklife Center, oral history records
– Newspaper accounts from *The Greenbrier Independent* and *The Pocahontas Times* (1897)
– Historical analyses from the West Virginia Humanities Council
(One of many stories shared by Headcount Coffee — where mystery, history, and late-night reading meet.)
