January 23, 1897

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Joel Byers

On This Date in TWISTED-HISTORY.com! on January 23, 1897, Elva Zona Heaster was found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband, Edward Stribbling Trout Shue, is the only known case where the alleged testimony of a ghost is believed to have helped secure a conviction. The ghostly testimony was supposedly given from the dead Elva Heaster, to her mother, and she allegedly told her mother that Shue broke her neck and killed her for not having prepared any meat for their dinner. Luckily for the prosecutor, there was also the evidence of Elva’s broke neck and the fact that Shue had been married two times previously and abused both of his previous wives, with one dying under mysterious circumstances. Up to the point of his conviction, Edward didn’t think the prosecutor had a ghost of a chance to find him guilty and he even bragged about how he was going to find another wife and get married again after he was release from jail.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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