Episode 26 - A Hell of a Twist: The Greenbrier Ghost

Hey, everybody! We have a great Guess What I Heard for you...the Greenbrier Ghost! This is the only known case where testimony from a ghost was used to convict a defendant of murder! It's a cool one! Here we go!

STOP! INSIDE JOKES AHEAD!

If you haven’t gotten to listen to the episode yet, spoiler alert! This post contains lots of stuff that will make waaay more sense if you listen to the episode before or while reading. So if you haven’t already, pump the brakes and listen to the episode or just click above to play so that you can be in on all the shenanigans to follow!

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Produced by Peter Woodward

THE SHUES

Love at first sight...

In Greenbrier County, West Virginia in October of 1896, Erasmus Stribbling “Trout” Shue met Elva Zona Heaster, and the two fell for each other very quickly. Despite their significant age difference with Erasmus aged 35 and Zona only 23, the two became inseparable and decided to marry. Zona’s mother, Mary Jane Heaster, disapproved immediately, not only because of their ages, but she, in general, did not care for Erasmus.

Erasmus was a blacksmith that had recently moved to the area to open his own shop. He was generally acknowledged to be hard-working, charming, and very handsome.

The two married in November of 1896, moved into their new home, and before long, they were expecting a child.

Things go left quickly...

Almost immediately, Zona was having issues with her pregnancy. She was under the care of the local physician for these issues. Perhaps as a precaution in case anything happened to the baby, it was not widely known in the town that she was pregnant.

On January 23, 1897, Erasmus was working late in his blacksmith shop on a last minute order for horseshoes. Concerned about his pregnant wife at home, he instructed his 11 year old apprentice to go to Erasmus’s house to check on Zona and let her know Erasmus would be working late.

When the apprentice arrived at the home, he found Zona lying unresponsive on the floor with a trail of blood present. She was either at the base of the stairs or in the diningroom; there are varied accounts. The boy ran to his own home and informed his mother about what he had seen. His mother instructed him to go and retrieve Erasmus and the doctor.

When the doctor arrived, he found Zona being cradled in Erasmus’s lap upstairs in their bedroom. Erasmus was inconsolable, sobbing and holding her and stroking her hair. When the doctor asked to examine Zona, Erasmus would not leave her. But after some gentle coaxing from the doctor, they laid Zona out and Erasmus stayed near her head, continuing to hold her head and neck, crying and stroking her hair while the doctor looked her over.

After his examination, the doctor concluded that she was, in fact, deceased and likely died because of complications from the pregnancy.

The Funeral

Zona was buried shortly afterward on January 25. At the funeral, Erasmus was absolutely devastated and inconsolable, sobbing throughout. He stayed near the casket, refusing to leave his wife’s side. He still cradled her head in his hands and even made sure to put her favorite scarf on her.

During the services, attendees noticed that Zona’s mother, Mary Jane, was glaring daggers “shamelessly” at Erasmus with a look of hate and disgust on her face. Once Zona was lowered into the ground, Mary Jane she left the funeral without saying anything to anyone.

Mourners were confused by this behavior, not knowing what could have prompted it.

What's up with Mom?

Over the next few weeks, Mary Jane’s behavior continued to be odd, but just got waaaaay weirder…

She refused to come to the door for visitors checking on her following her daughter’s death. People would see her through her windows pacing back and forth then kneeling on the floor looking off into the distance.
On the rare occasions she ventured out in public, she appeared very disheveled and refused to make eye contact or talk to others when they spoke to her. She would quickly run off, muttering to herself constantly. Even her husband was affected by this behavior: he was known to be sleeping in the barn, not in the house with Mary Jane.

This continued for weeks until on February 21, Mary Jane emerged from her house and walked into town, looking very put-together and like a woman on a mission. She went into the office of the local prosecutor and demanded to speak to him immediately. He immediately granted her request out of curiousity. Over a period of two hours, Mary Jane told him a story that convinced him to leave his office immediately afterward and contact the local doctor for the purpose of exhuming the body of Zona Heaster Shue.

After the prosecutor relayed the story Mary Jane told him to the doctor, the doctor also was in agreement that Zona should be exhumed. This was done the next day! And within minutes of the examination, the immediate apprehension and arrest of Erasmus was ordered and carried out!

Whatever Happened to Mary Jane?

So what changed that lead to the arrest of Erasmus Shue?

Well…listen to this…

Remember how Mary Jane, Zona’s mother, acted during and after Zona’s funeral? Well…turns out…she hated Erasmus. She had not liked or trusted him from the time she met him. Then at the funeral, his behavior disgusted her because she thought he was basically showboating and taking attention away from her daughter. She also in her gut felt like something was wrong. Her intuition told her something was off about her daughter’s death and in her mind the only person who could confirm this was her daughter. She got a resolve to hear from her daughter and decided to immediately after the funeral to try to somehow get in touch with her daughter.
After getting home, she went straight to her bedroom and began praying for her daughter’s ghost to appear to her and speak to her. She became obsessed for a solid month. This is why she looked so unkempt and ignored people on the street. She was constantly praying and looking around for any sign that her daughter was trying to make contact with her, and she was not willing to be distracted by anything or anyone.
Finally one night as she prayed, a bright light appeared in her room and the room got really cold. Just as Mary Jane starts to think it’s her daughter, the light disappeared.
This strengthened Mary Jane’s resolve and she began praying even harder! Over the next two days, there were two more appearances of the light.
On the fourth night, the light appeared again, but this time, Zona emerged out of it! She was dressed all in black. She was very pale and her eyes were black holes, staring directly at Mary Jane.
Mary Jane was terrified as Zona’s ghost approached and asked “How did you die?”
When Zona opened her mouth, dirt poured out and in a raspy voice, the spirit told Mary Jane that Erasmus was truly an abusive monster, hitting and berating Zona the entire time they were married, but projecting an image of the perfect gentleman and husband around others. She told Mary Jane that the night she died, Erasmus had become angry at her over the dinner she made, and though she tried to calm him down, he had actually choked her to death!
As if reliving the moment, Zona’s ghost levitated off the ground, her mouth agape with no sound. All the air got sucked out of the room as if it was going into Zona’s open mouth. Suddenly, Mary Jane heard a loud cracking sound! Zona’s head snapped around 180 degrees, and Zona’s chest was now facing Mary Jane, but her head was backwards.
Zona’s ghost then turned to walk out of the room. With her back to Mary Jane, her head was facing toward Mary Jane, and the ghost was smiling. Before finally departing, Zona’s ghost stopped in doorframe and said “Now do you see what he did to me?”

This is information Mary Jane relayed to the prosecutor that day. He believed her and immediately left to contact the local doctor. The doctor remembered Erasmus petting her head and hair after her death and the difficulty he had trying to get Erasmus to allow for an examination. They also recalled the scarf on her neck that Erasmus had been insistent on. Immediately upon examination of Zona’s exhumed corpse, they removed the scarf and see her neck had been dislocated and there was extensive bruising around her throat!

What's this guy's real deal?

Turns out…Erasmus was not the good man he pretended to be…

It was soon discovered that he had quite the past…

Erasmus had been married twice before meeting and marrying Zona.
His first wife divorced him, citing physical abuse. His second wife died in “freak accident.” Apparently, while she was helping him fix their chimney, a brick suddenly struck her in the head, killing her. Hmmm…

via GIPHY

Erasmus was tried beginning in June of that year for the murder of his pregnant wife, Zona. His attitude was that there was not enough evidence to convict him of any wrongdoing, and he also openly discussed wanting to marry again, hoping to have a total of seven wives. This winner…

During the trial, Mary Jane Heaster took the stand, and despite objections from the attorneys, she told the story of her communication with Zona’s ghost.

And the jury believed her! On July 11, 1897, they found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison, largely on the strength of Mary Jane’s testimony!

Erasmus was imprisoned in West Virginia State Penitentiary, where he died three years later in 1900 from mysterious illness that passed through the prison. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the local cemetery. Adios, woman-beating piece of crap.

via GIPHY

Zona was reburied and finally could rest now that justice had been done. There is a plaque near where she is buried that states that hers is the “only known case in which testimony from a ghost helped to convict a murderer.”