Morbid - Rodney Alcala: The Dating Game Killer (Part 1)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is morbid. We have a fun, crazy, old-timey case. Whose could it be? It's mine. Wow. But guys, this one is really wild. It's got ghosts. It's got moida. As Spencer Henry would say. And it's also got the first time in U.S. the first and only time in U.S. history that spectral evidence was actually entered into like an official court document before like, you know, we're talking like Salem Witch Trials for sure had all that craziness. Yeah, yeah. But this is when testimony from a ghost was actually entered into a legal document for a murder trial. Pretty fucking iconic if you ask me. It's a wild one. It is a wild one. Should you just go right into it? Yeah, I think we should just

Starting point is 00:01:19 get into this because it's long. It's crazy. It's so interesting. This takes place in West Virginia. so all my West Virginians out there. You're in a place of West Virginia lately. I don't know what's going on. I'm in a place of West Virginia. So I don't know if you guys all just like, something about your vibes just brought me there the last few weeks. But I don't know.

Starting point is 00:01:39 I think this one was actually, I saw it suggested a bunch of times, like people were asking for it. So I looked into it. I had heard it before. Actually, I'd heard it on lore with Aaron Minky. And as soon as I saw the name, I was like,

Starting point is 00:01:54 wait a second, where have I heard that? I went right back and listened. I love it. So go listen to the lore episode because it's really good. And I believe it's one that he remastered to. Aaron Manky, friend of the pod. Friend of the pod.

Starting point is 00:02:06 So yeah, so go listen to that after you listen to this because it's great. So we're going to be talking about the Greenbrier Ghost. This has a lot of stuff in it. Okay. A lot going on. All right. This is talking about a woman named Elva Zona Heister Shoe. Yes.

Starting point is 00:02:25 We are going to call her Zona because that's what everybody called her around her. And it just is much easier for time purposes. It's a very long name. But Elva Zona Heister is like a very pretty name. I even just like Zona. All of it, but I like really like Zona. Yeah, that's what everybody called her. She was born in 1875 in Greenbrier County, West Virginia.

Starting point is 00:02:48 Everyone loved her. She was a very sweet girl. I love Zona. Her parents were Jacob Hedges Heister and her mother was Mary Jane. Robinson, Heister. They were farmers. She grew up on a farm. She was a little farm family. Their family traded and sold goods from the farm in town, like, you know, eggs, corn, other necessities. They could provide in town, and then they could also get things in return for what they were providing the town. So Mary, the mother, was very religious, but she was, like,

Starting point is 00:03:18 known to be a very honest, very hardworking, very kind, and just like fair woman. Like, people really liked this family. Cool. She also made sure all her children attended church at the Seoul Methodist Chapel. Mary and Zona in particular were very close. Like, people always thought they were sisters. Oh, cute. It's really cute.

Starting point is 00:03:39 They had a bond that was super unique. Kind of like Gilmore Girls. Kind of like Gilmore Girls. We can always bring it back. Lorlai and Rory, baby. Baby. So Zona was the second oldest of seven children, and she had all brothers. Oh, man.

Starting point is 00:03:56 And also, that's kind of probably why the bond with the mom kind of came about because it was like, hello. Yeah, right? But, yeah, they just, like had something. It was just one of those relationships, like you said, like Lori, Lorelai and Rory. Like Lori. Like Lori. Their bond name.

Starting point is 00:04:12 Yeah. But they just, like, really loved each other. They were best friends. everyone who knew her said she was a super sweet child. She grew up to be a very sweet woman. She just like through and through as a kind person. Sweetie. Her brothers really looked out for her and they were very protective of her.

Starting point is 00:04:27 Oh yeah. Which is kind of adorable. I love that so much. This family was super nice to each other. They were nice to everyone around them. The kids were very happy and healthy. Seemed like the only thing going against them was the 1800s of it all. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:04:40 That'll usually work against you. And eventually a man that would be named Trout. Trout. Yes, trout. Given name? No, but he is a smelly fish man, so we'll go with it. Or at least that's what I refer to him as. Grossy. I don't really know why they called him trout. So when... Really? Yeah, I really don't. There was no... In these cases, you can get like bits and pieces of information, but... Yeah, to be expected. No one explained why he was called trout, but I just assume it's because he smelled like shit. Gross. Yeah. So when Zona was 16 years old, she was. was finally allowed a bit more freedom because, again, they were very overprotective of her. Yeah. But her, you know, her brothers were like, all right, she can come into town with us and like start doing the trading in town. Like, we'll bring her in.

Starting point is 00:05:27 Yeah. But she's not going by herself. Cute. It's really cute. She could go in the wagon and all that. So one day when she was heading to the general store with her brothers, like a couple of her brothers, she ran into a boy named George Waldridge, who was working at the liversees mill. So they hit it off immediately.

Starting point is 00:05:44 Of course. Swin, swoon, swoon. She did. They started making special trips into town to see each other. Oh my gosh. And soon after, dates were being planned between the two. And then a romance, like a full-blown romance blossomed. Oh, I love it.

Starting point is 00:05:58 So this was in June 16. In 1895, Zona became pregnant. Now, the couple ended up not getting married or anything like that because the families both decided that they were not in a position to be a successful family unit. So instead, George agreed to pay support for the baby and to have visits. It was all very amicable, very 1800s. And this was allowed back then. That's interesting.

Starting point is 00:06:24 Yeah. So November 29th of that year, she gave birth to a son, but he died shortly after birth. Oh, no. He wasn't even named. Like, I have a book that I want you guys to read. And I'm going to look it up right now. And Ash is going to vamp, vamp, vamp, vamp, bam, bam, van, van, van. Brooke while you're rooting with Elena.

Starting point is 00:06:42 This is your summer reading. reminder, we just have to pull up the list of approved books. And we're doing so. We're doing so right now. So you should read. It's on Amazon. It's a really quick read. The Haunting of Zona Heister Shoe, the Green Briar Breyer Ghost Chronicles. It's by Nancy Richmond and Misty Murray Walkup. Okay. It's a really good book. They have a ton of documents that I searched and they are hard to find, so it's nice to have them in like that little book. But you can see that there is like a birth certificate for this baby boy, but there's no name given to him. So it's very clear that he died right after. That's so sad. I know, it's really sad. He was buried on the Heister family farm because he

Starting point is 00:07:24 was not able to be buried in a church cemetery since Zona and George were not married. Lame. Seems totally fair. No, it doesn't. Just in case you couldn't tell that was sarcasm. I saw that twinkle of sarcasm in your eye. So George married another woman only a year later. Wow. Yeah, because they didn't stay together. They just, everything got. I wonder what happened. It was so lovely at first. Yeah, it's too hot and heavy in the beginning.

Starting point is 00:07:50 I was just going to say, I think it was one of those like too quick puppy love. Like, wow. And this was also, I think Zona's like really first, like, relationship. You know, seeing a guy and like feeling that feeling. And I think it happened very quickly, you know. So I don't think they were especially equipped together to deal with the grief of losing a child either. Yeah. think this was just too fast, too quick, and it burned out really quick.

Starting point is 00:08:17 And maybe that's why George moved on so quickly because he was kind of like in his own grief. I think the grief kind of took them apart instead of bringing them together. Yeah. And of course, Zona was deeply entrenched in grief just from losing a child, but also now from losing her partner. That was really sad and seeing him move on really quickly. That's a lot on your plate all at once. That's a lot.

Starting point is 00:08:37 So the next year, while recovering from the tragedy she had just dealt with, she started venturing out into town again. finally, because she really pulled back for a while. She didn't want to go anywhere. Like her mom said, she was a totally different human being. So she's venturing out with her brothers again to pick up supplies at the mill or the general store, drop stuff off from the farm. And it was just a way to get herself back to who she was.

Starting point is 00:08:59 Like, she was just trying to get out there again. But her family said she was starting to come back, but she never really bounced back after the loss of her baby. Yeah. She wasn't the same zone. That will change anybody. Oh, I'm sure. Now, in 1896, she met the new blacksmith while she headed into town.

Starting point is 00:09:16 Oh, the blacksmith, you know is a zaddy. He's a blacksmith. He's a zaddy. You just, you know that. You're like, oh, I know this. Now, his name, or what he said his name was, was Edward Trout Shoe. Okay, so he's not a zaddy because I spoke too soon because I know that he is Trout now. Here's the thing, though.

Starting point is 00:09:36 I can understand why she was physically attracted to him. He seemed like he was a physically attractive man. I wish you had said saddie. I'm sure. But he seemed like he was a physically attractive man. I get why Zona was immediately drawn to him. Unfortunately, sometimes bad people are good-looking. It just happens.

Starting point is 00:09:53 It happens a lot. Yeah. So she was immediately attracted to him. Again, he was good-looking. He was loud. He was outgoing. He was just kind of like, you know, something different. And he was something different.

Starting point is 00:10:05 She had never been around that kind of thing before. He drew people to the blacksmith shop with his charms and his tails. which were often embellished or just plain bullshit. She and her brothers began to go there regularly on their trips into town, and it seemed like Zona's personality was starting to shift, and the weight of grief was lifting a little bit. So her family was like, I don't know who this guy is. She's going to see in there, but like he's doing something to her.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Let's get it. So Mary and Jacob, Zona's parents, they went into town one day, and they were like, you know what, let's go see what this new blacksmith is. And they met Edward for the first time. They had heard again about the new blacksmith. Smith, his charming personality. They knew that Zona was kind of into him, but Mary literally hated him the moment she spoke to him. And your mama, she always knows. She always knows. She said he was an egomaniac. He was inappropriate. And in fact, she thought he acted entirely too flirty with girls

Starting point is 00:11:01 that were barely above the age that it was even slightly appropriate. Disgusting. Yeah. So he was a man that likely had a lot of secrets. And Mary knew. it. She was like, I just feel it. She had his number. I literally wrote after this. She had his number immediately. We are on the same way. We are on the same wavelength. And she just knew, she was like, I knew he was hiding something. Yeah. Like this, where were you before this blacksmith shop? I don't know. I don't like this. Are you even a blacksmith? Who are? Is your name even Edward? It's not. We all have that one friend. You ask them how they're doing. They're like, oh my God, I'm totally

Starting point is 00:11:42 fine. It's kind of the same with my cat, both of them, actually. They seem fine and, you know, since I don't speak cat language, I just go with it. I'm like, yeah, you're great. I should say like I used to go with it though, actually, because I wanted a little more peace of mind. That is exactly why I switch to Pretty Litter, which, by the way, is the world's smartest cat litter. Pretty Litter crystals change color to detect early signs of potential illnesses, like metabolic acidosis, which can cause diabetes, urinary tract infections, kidney issues, and so much more. Pretty litter is ultra-absorbent and it instantly traps odor. Like we're talking instantly. It's lightweight, it's dust-free, and it works for up to a month without clumping. That means

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Starting point is 00:13:04 That's PrettyLitter.com slash Morbid to save 20% on your first order. pretty litter.com slash morbid. Now, Mary and Jacob found out that Zona had been indeed taking trips into town to meet Edward. And after they met him, they were like, stop those trips. They forbid her. But she kept meeting him behind their backs because you know how that works. And it was probably even more fun. Well, and he seemed to take pride in the fact that he knew he was not what her parents wanted for their precious daughter.

Starting point is 00:13:36 He took it as kind of a challenge, not. to make them like him. Like, yeah. He basically just wanted to own Zona and to take her from them. We all know this dude. Uh-huh. We've all dated that guy. We have all unfortunately dated this man.

Starting point is 00:13:49 And if you haven't, you're very lucky. Yeah. So soon, briefly into their doomed romance, he said they would run away. You know, let's run away and get married. No. Let's just fuck everybody. Fuck your family. Who gives a shit?

Starting point is 00:14:02 Let's get out of here. That's what he basically said. Lame. I don't have it like on. I didn't find a record. heard of him saying that, but I know that's what he said. He said, fuck your family. He said, fuck your family, let's leave. So she agreed immediately because she was very wrapped up in this like, Sonah, honey. I, you know, I dated a guy like this. That's all I could think of this entire time. I knew that's

Starting point is 00:14:21 exactly what you were thinking of. And I wasn't going to throw you under the bus. No, it's okay. I'll throw myself under the bus. Like, I've dated this man. And Mama knew. And Mama knew. Mama knew. Mama knew, Mama knew right from the second he met him. She tried to sabotage that. A lot of people knew. Debra, Deb Deb Deb Deb also knew. The second she meant. I would have known. I was just a bit young. You were a child. I didn't like him.

Starting point is 00:14:42 Yeah. You had you, it was fine. Yeah. So I get like Zona got very wrapped up in the like, you know, he's good looking and he's charming and he treats me nicely when no one's around and like you guys just don't see him when we're alone. And that's always a bad thing right there.

Starting point is 00:14:58 Yeah. Like my standards are in high school. We're like, is he hot? Do my parents like him? Yes. No. Perfect. There you go.

Starting point is 00:15:04 So it's like. And when you get older, it's like it just becomes, oh, it's just bad. So, like, I was, like, yelling at Zona here. I was like, no, Zona. You're like, I know. I know. I know. Now, she immediately agreed to marry him.

Starting point is 00:15:17 She packed her bags and they ran off together to get married. On her mom. On her mom. October 20th. Yeah. That's my wedding date. There you go. Not 18 something, something.

Starting point is 00:15:27 This isn't great. So I don't know if we want to connect those two things, but I mean, I'm just thinking at my wedding date. I'm not even, I'm just like being selfish here. This is a very doomed marriage. That's fine. Mine's not. That's why I'm saying, let's not connect.

Starting point is 00:15:40 Yeah, whatever. So none of their family attended. None of them knew about it. She wore a deep red dress she had made herself. Oh, honey, in a horror movie, there's the warning sign. Yeah, there it is. They then went back to town and moved into the home that Trout was renting at the time. That's when all the families found out that they had gotten married.

Starting point is 00:15:58 Nobody was happy. Wow. And it turns out Mary and Father Jacob were absolutely correct about Trout. Mary knew it. Mm-hmm. They had seen who he was the second they had met him. And again, they had that number. He was a pretty terrible person with a very questionable past.

Starting point is 00:16:16 One that they had, had they known the details about, even Zona probably would have run from the hills, run to the hills from him is what I meant. Yes, yes. But she didn't know any of this. So Edward's name was actually Erasmus Stribling Trout Shoe. Oh. Trout was a nickname. Interesting. So his name was Erasmus Stribbling Shoe, which like,

Starting point is 00:16:36 All right. That's a name. That's not Edward, but okay. I wish she was a cobbler. Right? Shoe feels right. So he was going by Edward because he was trying to pretend he wasn't a felon and a dickhead, which she was. Oh, good. So he was basically trying to start a new identity in that town. He was born in 1861.

Starting point is 00:16:55 And his parents, Jacob Thomas Shoe and Elizabeth, Virginia, spoiled him rotten even though he was one of nine siblings. Damn. They all referred to him as trout. Again, I like to think of it because. like maybe he was just like a smelly fish man but who knows we don't know oh that reminded me of kim possible okay i knew you wouldn't get it i just have to say it for the for the listeners for the kim possible heads out there i mean they're there there there chrisd colson romano i remember kim possible being on it was like you watching it but it was right out of my yeah because we love a christie carlson romano moment

Starting point is 00:17:29 yeah we do we love her tick i was an even stevens gal because that was right before that and i you know like just missed it i was there for the movie There you go. Now, Trout's father was a Confederate soldier. I'm just going to not. So there's that. Just putting that out there. Yeah. And he was also a blacksmith when he returned home from the Civil War. He taught Trout the ways of the blacksmith trade. And he eventually became very successful financially. The father or? Yeah, the father. Okay. So the family was like doing well. Now, growing up, Trout was known to be an asshole. He had a fiery temper. He was very aggressive. He was just a little shithead. He lied all the time. He loved to be the center of attention, even if it meant he was lying and spinning tails to do it. He kind of sounds like a Gemini man.

Starting point is 00:18:17 When was he born? Do you have the date? Like the actual date? I don't think I have the actual. I'm going to look it up. I'll look it up on the side while you talk. I want to see if there's an actual. I couldn't find one,

Starting point is 00:18:28 but there has to be one somewhere maybe. But this all carried into adulthood with him. Okay. And he was soon a ladies man, as well because again, unfortunately, he was handsome. And his ability to bullshit mixed with his family wealth. Like, sometimes bullshitters, like, they just can draw people in. Now, he first dated and married a woman named Ellen, who they called Ali, Esteline Cutlip,

Starting point is 00:18:54 who was a sweet and beautiful girl from Greenbrier County. Okay. They married in 1885 on Christmas Eve. Cute. And immediately following the wedding, Trout started physically and verbally abusing. Allie. Of course. He also cheated on her constantly and just wouldn't be home for weeks at a time and then show up without the need to explain where he was. Wow, I literally hate him. Unfortunately, they had a daughter together in February 1887 named Gertie, and he continued to abuse his wife. And by all accounts,

Starting point is 00:19:26 it got even worse until one day in March 1888 when Gertie was still in fact an infant, he suddenly told Allie to take the baby, take her shit, and get out of his house. What the fuck? He then threw all of her belongings and the babies outside of the house and was like, get out. What is wrong with this man? He turned even more chaotic at this point and was struggling financially because he knew his father would just be disappointed in his loser-ass son. So he wasn't asking his family for any help because they would have told him to get fucked. Because in the end, his family literally tells him to get fucked.

Starting point is 00:19:59 I love that. They don't support him at all. They should. So in 1888, after he had thrown his infant child and his wife of like barely any time out of his house, he was arrested for stealing a horse. He got two years in prison for the crime and he spent the sentence at Moundsville Prison, which he would come to know in love. He continued blacksmith work as part of his incarceration. And that's how he got like kind of good at it. And that's when he came out.

Starting point is 00:20:26 He was able to get a job. You weren't able to find his birthday. I couldn't find it. It's hard. It's like circa. Yeah, that's the thing. So on November 5th, 1889, Allie divorced his ass while he was locked up. Good.

Starting point is 00:20:38 In the record, it states that she said, quote, he without any cause abandoned and deserted me. He moved out when Gertie was about a year old. He never visited his child again. That's so disgusting. Kicked her out of the house, never to see her again. It's like, how do you have a whole baby and just not care? No, there are some sources, if you read this, that say that Alan died as a result of

Starting point is 00:21:02 falling off a haystack and breaking her neck. Damn. And that people thought he might have murdered her. But from what I saw, I think that's like added into the story later to make it even worse, which they don't need to because as we'll see, there's more shit in his past that you really don't need to make it worse. But I think they like the like, oh, you might have murdered this one as well. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:21:22 No. She just divorced him by all records that I could find at least. I couldn't find any like kind of death certificate for Ali at all. Now, when he was released December 20th, 1890, he started blacksmith work again in Pocahontas County. There he met another woman in 1894. Her name was Lucy Ann Tritt. Now, Trout was about 33 years old at the time, and Lucy was reported in a lot of cases to be 16.

Starting point is 00:21:54 Oh? But when I found her marriage record, she's listed as 24. When I looked up her death records, they state she was born. in 1871. So this would line her up with 24 years old. Oh, okay. Or actually more 23, I think, based on her date. Do you think that there's a possibility that they lied on the marriage license and then it carried

Starting point is 00:22:15 into the death certificate? That's what I wonder, but that did happen. Yeah, I'm not sure which one's correct. Yeah, because you would think that you would go by the birth certificate when you're doing the death certificate and not like the marriage license. Which is like, I don't know. So it could be either one. Huh.

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Starting point is 00:23:55 Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com.com. Morbid. That's betterhelp.com slash morbid. So they were married, unfortunately, June 23rd of that same year. And apparently the winter weather that year, between like 94 and 95, I think it was, was super crazy. They just had like a really bad winter. And so on February 1st of 1895, I believe, only eight months into their marriage, Trout claimed he went on the roof of his home, he shared with

Starting point is 00:24:32 Lucy to repair the chimney because the snow had messed up all the bricks. That is very normal. He was tossing old bricks off as he replaced them and he said Lucy came up with some water for him. He threw a brick and it hit her head in the head accidentally. Convenient. She died from the trauma, blunt force trauma to the head. The sheriff did question him because immediately they were like, that's fishy.

Starting point is 00:24:58 And the family, her family was pretty sure that there was more to the story. They were like, I'm pretty sure this is foul play and not an accident. Yeah. But the case was dropped because there was no witnesses outside of Lucy and Trout and Trout said that's what happened. Wow. He showed literally no sadness or remorse for any of it, like told people, it's really not a big deal. Like, you know, your whole ass wife just died, sir. Well, he said he was planning on having seven wives at least, so on to the next one. All right. And that was how he reacted. Throughout his lifetime or at the same time? No, throughout his lifetime. What? So he got, he's good. He's like, I'm two down. I'm, I'm moving on to that seven. Whose goal is that? Trouts. Was there some kind of,

Starting point is 00:25:43 like, was there some kind of like religious motive behind that? Like he thought he would like make it to heaven or something? Oh, no. No, no. He just wanted seven. No, because he didn't want like seven at once. Right. I wasn't looking to like, I didn't know if he like tried to find a loophole and was like, I could have them separately. He literally was like, I would just like to have seven different wives. It's just very much. Throughout my life. Yeah. So. So. back to Zona. He has now tricked Zona into marrying her. Remember, this is like, this was his past. Yeah. Now we have one dead wife. We have one wife who he divorced, or didn't even divorce, just abandoned with his infant daughter. Yep. That's his past. And now he has tricked Zona into

Starting point is 00:26:18 marry him. Zona's his third wife. Third wife. Third and into the seven. Now, again, she's completely unaware that he abused his first wife, abandoned her, infant baby, dead wife. She has no idea. And Trout showed himself, unfortunately, right away to Zona once they were married to. That seems to be his M.O. Is he gets them to marry him and then he flips the switch. Just like he had to Allie and just like he had to Lucy. So he was an abusive prick. He was demanding. He wanted his wife to cooking clean and pamper him. Gross. If he didn't get what he wanted, he would lash out into terrifying rages. Do it yourself then. Now, this was terrible in about a million ways for Zona. But there was an added complication where she was not speaking to her family because they

Starting point is 00:27:06 didn't approve of this marriage to Trout. Oh, so she's just completely isolated. She's super lonely and she's just dealing. And like she's dealing with this, especially without her mom. Yeah. Like I stated, she's super close to her mom. Right. And she's going into this just having lost a baby. Yeah. Just having gotten out of a relationship, you know? And now this guy has bamboozled her. And I, like you said, isolated her, from everyone she loves and knows, which was his plan, you know. Oh, of course. Now, shortly before her death, because unfortunately, this does end with Zona dying, Zona thought she might be pregnant. Oh. So according to Trout, she wasn't feeling well, January 23rd, 1897. Now, at this point, they had only been married for three months. Trout said he normally would walk home during the day to

Starting point is 00:27:54 have lunch when he was working at the Blacksmith shop. And he would do this several times a day. He would have lunch. He would stop by for a snack. He would, it was just like a total, all throughout the day kind of thing. He's also probably trying to keep tabs on her. Uh-huh. Exactly. Now this day, this particular day, he swore he did not, not once. Yeah, just randomly decided not to go home today.

Starting point is 00:28:13 No reason. Although no one could corroborate that except for Zona and she was obviously never able to. Or so we think. So instead of going home at all that day, he walked across the street during lunchtime, or early in the morning. It's like early, I'd say probably. around like 9 a.m., maybe 10 a.m. Okay. He walked across the street from the blacksmith shop to where a man named Ruben Jones and his wife Martha Jones were living. Martha, they were like a beloved couple in around town and they had this sweet 11-year-old son named Anderson, Andy Jones.

Starting point is 00:28:48 Cutie. He was like a helper to everyone and he had done some chores and errands for Trout and Zona before. People called Martha Jones Auntie Martha. Cute. Now, Trout asked them, if Andy could check on Zona that day because she was feeling sick. Uh-huh. They said he had some, so they were like, yeah, sure, he can. But he has some things to do for a couple of other people first. So he'll get to yours after he does that. He said that they did say that Trout was like very annoyed by that.

Starting point is 00:29:19 But he said later, he immediately knew something was off when he, Andy did, when he arrived at the home. Because he did his things. And I think it was about an hour later that he went to zone his house. Okay. He said he immediately knew something was off. Just like the vibes was not right. And he said, and he's 11. Oh, wow.

Starting point is 00:29:35 And he was like, I showed up at this house and something was wrong. And he said when he was walking up to the door, he said he spotted what looked like blood droplets on the front steps. And why would they be on the front steps? And when he knocked, he got no answer. So he pushed open the door and he said he went inside. He saw more blood droplets that led into the dining room where he found the body of Zona Heister. Now, he checked her despite his absolute terror because he said he was, like, paralyzed with fear.

Starting point is 00:30:06 She was cold and stiff. Her eyes were wide open. And he ran home to tell his mother, Martha, and they ran over to the blacksmith shop and got Trout. So apparently Trout freaked out. He was like, all upset. What do you mean? Something's wrong with her. He ran to his home, and he just ran straight to Zona.

Starting point is 00:30:25 Now, he immediately, according to Martha and Andy, grabbed her in his arms when he felt, founder and he told Andy and Martha go and get George, uh, Dr. Knapp, who is Dr. George Knapp. And he was the like county physician and coroner. Okay. So he, they ran out. He's crying, holding Zona. They, so Dr.

Starting point is 00:30:47 Knapp actually ended up coming around 2 p.m. So there was a little bit of time because he, I think he was like in the middle of something else. Yeah, he's like in the middle of something. So, um, and when he got there, he didn't see anybody. What? Not downstairs. So when he walked upstairs, he found that Trout had carried Zona upstairs, washed her entire body, and changed her into a dress with a high collar, and placed a black veil over her face.

Starting point is 00:31:14 The fuck? He had literally washed her body. Why, though? Why, though? Why, though? Why? Why? Why would you do that?

Starting point is 00:31:23 Because you are getting rid of evidence, but like, what evidence is even to be found at that point? Well, the initial thought was that she, so when they walked in, he was like, this is strange, but okay. And the doctor was like, oh, I imagine she died of everlasting faint. I don't think so. Which is a heart attack back then. No, I think that we need to figure out why the blood is on the front steps. Well, so he came in here pretty quick and he's like, okay, this seems like that that is probably because a lot of people died of everlasting faint back then. But then he learned that she may have been pregnant.

Starting point is 00:31:55 And he thought, okay, maybe this is a complication with the pregnancy or a miscarriage that, like, went to Rye. But he couldn't check for sure. He went to go check. But Trout wouldn't let the fucking physician touch her. And it's like, so why did you call him here anyway? That's the thing. Why did he have him come? Right.

Starting point is 00:32:13 Him come. He then pushed her. He pushed him away. Like she went to, he was like, I need to check her. And he was like, don't touch her. And then he, when he came like near her neck, because he was like, can I just see her head? Like, I need to see if there's any injuries. Nope, can't touch her.

Starting point is 00:32:28 Literally couldn't check her. It's also like, dude, at some point this, you said because he's the coroner as well. So it's like he's going to have to take her. At some point, you can't just like call Panzram. Or no, not Panzeram. Who is the Hansram? Carl Panzeram? No, no.

Starting point is 00:32:42 Wait, wasn't him that kept his wife? No. No, you're thinking of a. Was it Carl? I think it was Carl. Panzer. Panzer. There it is.

Starting point is 00:32:53 Weird. So it was close. See? There you go. Yeah, exactly. It's like, you can't do that. No. But, you know, both the rest are like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:32:59 It's fine. You can't do that. But, you know, back then it was like different, though. It's not like. You could keep the body like view for a while. It was a very different. So he, but he grabbed the upper body. He wouldn't let the physician touch her at all.

Starting point is 00:33:13 So he was like, okay, I guess I just have to guess at the cause of death because I don't want to upset this fragile man in front of me who can't let me touch this dead body to find out what happened. Now, in fact, I looked it up. Her original cause of death is listed as childbirth. Oh. She did not give birth through a child. I'm like, where's the kid? Now, when her family was informed, they were devastated, obviously. Her mother was said to have yelled immediately that devil killed her. Oh. And just imagine, like, on top of how they already felt like losing her. They were estranged. They were estranged at the time. Exactly. Like, that's horrible. And she's like, I wasn't there. Like, I couldn't save her from him. And I'm sure the.

Starting point is 00:33:54 last words they exchanged like weren't great. Exactly because they were probably aggravated talking about him. Like sucks. Now they did have her body taken to the Heaster family farm and there was a funeral procession the next morning and Trout would not leave her body. He touched her the entire time. I hate it. He wouldn't let anyone up at the head of the casket. No one could come near her head. And there's a reason for that, my friends. Yeah. And that evening they did, you know, the ceremonial. sitting up with the dead. That was very common. It was common in a lot of places, but in the Appalachian area at this time, it was like, that was what you did. You sat up all night with the dead. You would make offerings, people would make food. I mean, it was a whole thing. I kind of love that. I think

Starting point is 00:34:42 it's nice. It's like awake. And you spend time with them. And you're all probably sitting there, like sharing stories about them. It really is like a wake. I think it's kind of nice. I like it's like, I feel like people, like, I feel like America especially got way too, like, precious with, like, what is appropriate and what isn't with death. And it's like, just to each their own. And it's like, that seems like a nice ceremony. I like, who gives a shit? Like, let people mourn how they want to mourn.

Starting point is 00:35:09 Now, preparing the body for burial was a whole different thing. Trout insisted on helping and not just helping, but really taking control of preparing the body for burial. and not letting anyone else touch her. She was not embalmed, which was not a strange thing back then. It was kind of new back then. It was very common that you weren't going to be embalmed. But what he wanted to, he was like, I want to dress her. I'm the only one that's allowed to touch her.

Starting point is 00:35:37 No one else is. Because I don't want you to see where I killed her. Exactly. He also put a knotted and folded up sheet on one side of her head and clothing on the other to keep it straight and steady. He said he believed this would help her, rest easier. Yes, definitely. And he insisted on putting a very thick scarf around her neck. Yeah, you know, keep her warm. And when people were like, hey, it's June. Why are you doing that? He said,

Starting point is 00:36:04 this is Zona's favorite scarf and she had asked to be buried with it specifically. Remember, they were only married three months. I don't know why that would have been in the discussion. And also her family was like, no. That wasn't her favorite scarf. No, that's not a thing. No. But okay. Guys, you know that I love hanging poolside. And, I like the sun sometimes this time of year. But when it comes to protecting my skin from it, man, that's a whole other story because some sunscreens leave me feeling like sticky and greasy after applying and I just like genuinely hate being at a place of that. But thanks to native sunscreen, I get both face and body protection that is lightweight and does not leave me feeling yucky, sticky

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Starting point is 00:38:22 Now later, according to the Greenbrier Independent newspaper, they wrote this about it. He, quote, "'Assisted in dressing the body, "'and in doing so put around the neck a high collar "'and a large veil several times folded "'and tied in a large bow under the chin, "'that the head was observed by a number of witnesses "'to be very loose upon the neck

Starting point is 00:38:44 "'and would drop from side to side when not supported. "'Did he strangle her?' "'I don't know. "'Yes, you do.' "'Now, throughout the night of sitting up with the dead, "'trout, he wouldn't stray away from her head, like I said, he would not let it go. People were, and according to the book that I am going to link here, they said that

Starting point is 00:39:01 everybody was kind of like nodding off and falling asleep. Of course. He was vigilantly staying up. He would not leave the room. And I imagine it's because he didn't want anybody to touch her and find anything else. So he had to watch everybody. He had something to hide. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:39:16 So that's who he is. And the next morning, she was buried at the Sewell Chapel Cemetery, which is the church that the family attended. Now, her mother kissed her one last time on the, the cheek and then removed all the pillows and sheets from the casket. Fuck, yeah. He offered, so she was, she said that, like, her head, like, I think she was on a pillow, so her head did kind of, like, fall, but, like, it wasn't so much that she was, like,

Starting point is 00:39:40 super alarmed. Well, and she probably expected it moving the pillow anyway. Yeah, and she doesn't know what to look for. Slate movement, yeah. Now, she offered the pillow and sheet to trout. That was very kind of her. Like, do you want to keep these? He seemed annoyed at the offer.

Starting point is 00:39:53 He was like, ew. Like, why would you offer those to me? And he was like, no, I don't want those. I'd be like, cool. I didn't want you to have them anyway. And then she said he ran out of there. As soon as the grave was filled in, he literally, she was like, I watched him. And a bunch of witnesses said they watched him, watched that last thing of dirt go over her.

Starting point is 00:40:10 And then he went and he just left. Like, he wanted to make sure, like, she is underground. Yeah, I don't have to worry. No one's going to find what I did. And I can get out. Yeah. And I'm on my way to find my fourth wife. I'm all the way to seven.

Starting point is 00:40:21 Now later, when the mom, Mary, washed that sheet because she was like, I just feel like I need to like wash it and put it away. Yeah. It turned the water pink like blood. Of course it did. Now, she would testify to that fact later. Soon, Mary started having dreams. Or what she said were hallucinations.

Starting point is 00:40:39 She was like, I was awake. They were not dreams. These were essentially waking nightmares, and there were four of them four nights in a row. They all had Zona appearing to her and telling her that her husband Trout had murdered her. Now, on one of the evenings, Mary was laying in Zona's bed in her bedroom.

Starting point is 00:40:58 Oh, wow. And she, because she would go in there and just lay in her bed. And she said she would just, like, pray to God that, like, she would find out what happened to her and that, like, everything was okay. And she said she was laying in Zona's bed in her bedroom. And she was pleading with a higher power to tell her what happened to my daughter. This is when Zona appeared to her, she said. And she went on to explain in great detail how Trout had murdered her.

Starting point is 00:41:21 And what did she say? She said, the day she died, she was in fact. not feeling well, but she spent the morning getting ready for trout because she said otherwise he would hurt her and fly into a rage. So she said, even though mom, I felt like shit, she was terrified. She said that she was like, I had to get up and I had to at least prepare him a meal because if he came home and it wasn't there, he would have hurt me. Yeah. So he came home. She had prepared a meal. She had prepared a meal of like fruit, jellies, and bread. I think she said. He came home. he was pissed

Starting point is 00:41:57 because that there was no meat with his meal and he flew into a fucking rage. He choked her until blood poured from her mouth. Oh my God. And she said that he had also taken all of her I think she'd, um, the way she says it is like he had taken all my pretties and he ripped them off the wall and out of things and he ruined them.

Starting point is 00:42:18 Like all her decorations. Like everything she loved. Like he just took them and destroyed them. And later, and the letter, that the mom writes to a researcher, she wrote, like, we discovered that was true. Like, we found that basket that he had, like, destroyed all of her things. She then told her mother that he hid her dress that had blood on it over around Martha Jones's home.

Starting point is 00:42:42 And she said, you should check, like, in the house. There's going to be blood in the house. And she also said check in a field near a fence. But she didn't give her exactly what she would find there. now one of the last time she visited her mom in her dreams because mary's now in there her room every night being like come back to me tell me more now one of the last time she said zona turned to walk away but turned her head completely around to look back at her showcasing her completely broken neck oh my goodness she looked at her and then disappeared yeah so it was literally her being like this is what happened Holy shit. Now she finally, so Mary at first was like, what the fuck just happened to me? Yeah. Am I losing my mind? And I was just going to say she's probably terrified to even tell anybody that she's having this point. She's like, they're going to throw me in like the place where they throw their wives when they say crazy shit. They're going to burn me at the stake. Like what the fuck's going to happen? Right. Oh no. But she finally, so she brings it to Jacob, her husband. And Jacob knows. And her sons. She's like, I have to tell you guys something. You're going to think I'm crazy.

Starting point is 00:43:51 Like, please don't throw me. anywhere. Jacob and her sons were like, we believe you. Of course. We know it. And Jacob was like, no, you saw Zona. And they all knew what an asshole Edward was. Exactly. So then she tells her, she tells them, and they encourage her, you have to tell some of the neighbors and our friends, because they're going to back you too. We know it. So she tells, she was so scared. Right. So she tells her friends around the area what Zona had told her. And they all were like, yep, we believe you. Like, we believe you. They all thought Trout was a horrible man. Also, like you have to be like the shittiest person for like neighbor your 1800s neighbors to believe that a

Starting point is 00:44:30 ghost came to you in the night and said what this man did like you have to be the shittiest person for them to be like yeah yeah i'm not going to question that at all because like if you were like a little shitty they'd be like okay i think she's like you know she had one too many she's grieving like maybe she's just having a moment like you're a piece of shit if everybody believes this with no questions and as you'll see most people in his life agreed that he was a piece of shit. It seemed to be everybody's consensus here. Now, they all were like, oh, yeah, he was a horrible man. We are not shocked that he had murdered Zona. And he murdered a wife. I'm sure, like, then, like, Ali got brought up and his other wife as well, who he actually

Starting point is 00:45:07 probably did kill. Uh-huh. You definitely abused her. So is that. Now, they all told her to, they were like, you need to tell authorities and we will back you up. Like, they were like, we'll back you up with whatever you need. I love this community. We're going to be here to, like, if you need dates, we'll tell them dates. Like, we will help you. They were like, we will motherfucking rally. Exactly. So Mary Heister went to Louisburg prosecutor, John A. Preston. And she knocks on his door and she's like, I have to tell you a story. He was like an older guy, apparently. And he sat down, he listened to her. At first, he was like, hmm, girl what? And like, so he was like, let me just ask you. So he starts speaking

Starting point is 00:45:44 more with her. He's interviewing her asking her questions. And according to her, he never acted judgey for her. Like he was never like, bitch. Like he was literally, he was like, what, what now? Like, are you kidding? So then when he was asking questions, he was really asking questions. Like, he wanted to know more. She tells him the whole story again. After hours, he's like, I believe you. Okay. Uh-huh. So she called, so, so he called the deputies in the county. And he tells them, I want you to go out and I want you to question neighbors. And I want you to question anyone who knew this guy, Trout. what they see.

Starting point is 00:46:20 I want you to get Dr. Knapp. So they got Dr. Knapp in. Dr. Knapp is like, yeah, that was hell of weird. Dr. Knapp was like, yeah, I literally didn't get to do my job. So he, and he was questioned. And he was eager to say, like, I've been, this, because he was like, this has been bothering me. I was actually surprised that he didn't call the police.

Starting point is 00:46:37 That's, I think it was, I don't know if it was like. Things just works differently. I know one of the things was he didn't, he said he was worried that he was interfering with grief. Okay. By pushing. So he was like, I didn't want to, like, push too hard. And I think maybe he's just like, he's, I'm assuming he's a very overworked doctor.

Starting point is 00:46:54 So he was probably like, I'm just tired and I didn't, I didn't know what I should do here. And I'm sure in his career, he learned to like maybe not ask questions all the time. Yeah, hopefully that's like, yeah, exactly. So, but he told them, he said, I felt intimidated by him. Yeah. And I felt very uneasy about his actions towards Zona's body. I felt like something was wrong here, but I didn't know how far to push this. And he told them, and he had also heard that Trout was kind of an aggressive guy. And I'm sure he was like, I don't want to get in the fucking middle of this. True. But he told them, he said, I didn't get to conduct an autopsy, because I was not allowed to even go near her body. So he was like, I just said she died of that.

Starting point is 00:47:28 I'm assuming she did. That's all I know. I don't know anything else. So they declared she needs a fucking autopsy. And we need to know how she died. Because they were relying on the like, I guess she died from this cause of death. Like that's not good. And well, and it's like there's nothing to show that she did have a child or, you know. Exactly. Now, this is when they also started digging into his past. Because now they're like, why does everybody think he's an asshole? What's going on? Once they saw the stints in prison, the previous marriages, and him being an asshole, they were very intrigued. Then they found out that one of his previous wives had died strangely not long ago, and it was taking the investigation into the next level. They were like, yeah. Okay, we might have something here. So, of course, a coroner's inquest was assembled, and an exhumation was ordered by marriage. Mary, wow. Mary was like, oh, yeah, let's go. Like, bring her up. I want to see what's going on. Trout was pissed. Of course. To say the least. Yeah, because he walked away and he took that little, like, sigh of relief. But now he's stressed. And he wasn't even going to go to the coroner's inquest, which you're supposed to. Of course. Like, loved ones are supposed to show up at this inquest because they want to answer. No, he was like, I'm not going. And I guess one of the sheriffs was like, you have to. It would be in your best fucking interest to show up at this. Like, I guess the

Starting point is 00:48:48 sheriff was like, we have your number fucker. Like, you better show up here or we're going to use this against you too. Right. And so I guess he was like, there'll never be able to prove I did it. Wow. Which automatically means you've killed someone. Obviously, he knows she was murdered and he just willingly let that information out the first time with that statement.

Starting point is 00:49:07 So he's a dumb ass on top of being a murderer. So prosecutor John Preston secured a warrant to disturb a body, which is the exhumation, and to keep trout behind bars until the autopsy was. completed. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. So we can't flee. So she was exhumed on February 22nd and they did the autopsy. I found this fascinating in a tiny log cabin schoolhouse named Nickel's schoolhouse next to the chapel cemetery. Yeah, so like I don't know about that. Gets better. Literally had to cancel classes for the tiny children that day so they could autopsy a potential murder victim in their classroom. They used school tables pushed together to perform the autopsy. All righty. And then the kiddies

Starting point is 00:49:48 went back to school the next day and did their stuff on those tables. I hope there's a little wipe down. A little magic erase. 1800s. Wild. Crazy. Yeah. I feel like a conversation that we're having more frequently is like how do we do sustainable fashion? How do we buy things that are going to like, you know, last a while, but they're also ethically sourced. And I'm going to tell you exactly how we do that. We shop at Everlane because, guys, I freaking love Everlane. And one of the things I love most about them is that they're committed to doing the right thing from start to finish. That means partnering with more responsible factories and ensuring every piece of clothing looks and feels great for years to come. Everlane denim, I don't know where they get it. I don't know where they make it.

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Starting point is 00:51:19 Everlane strives to use the best materials with the least impact on the planet, so they prioritize sourcing raw materials from transparent, recycled, organic, and renewable sources. If you want to do things differently from your core to your closet, shop Everlane. Go to Everlane.com slash morbid and sign up for 10% off your first order. That's 10% off your first order when you go to Everlane.com slash morbid and sign up. Everlane, helping people live their best lives with the least impact on the planet. was performed by Dr. George Knapp, Dr. Lorenzo Houston McClung, and Dr. Liency, I think it is, Rupert. They were the three doctors who performed the examination and autopsy. They were chosen,

Starting point is 00:52:07 like specifically chosen because of their like expertise. Credence. Now, there was also the five men of the jury and just of the jury inquest. There's obviously 12 members of jury, but there was five men for the inquest. And Justice Hallin McClung was there. And of course, Troutchew was there under the watch of a constable because he was told by the constable, I'm going to be fucking watching you. He was like, I'm literally on you, bitch. Now, he literally wouldn't stop talking the entire time. Like Trout was just babbling. And he kept saying, she fell down the stairs. And they were like, well, how do you know that? You weren't there? Right. I thought. Weren't you not home the whole day? And he was like, yeah, she died of everlasting

Starting point is 00:52:46 faint, I think. Isn't that what they said? And he was like, I thought she fell down the stairs. And he was like, I don't know. She fell. And he kept saying that. And they were like, you never said that, bro. You told us you weren't home. Right. So how would you know this? Exactly. Now, the winter weather had preserved the body. Oh, shit. We love a perfect storm. We love it. That we love when the universe helps us out. We love when the universe says to Edwards who are shitty, honey, you got a big storm. You got a big storm coming and it's going to preserve your not-embalmed murder victim's body in the ground. Thank you. She was in remarkable condition. And that has something to do with her. I just know it. It does. She's now, she was found not to be pregnant.

Starting point is 00:53:26 Good. She was not pregnant. They then removed the collar around her neck and her head fell to the side like a bowling ball. So when she had, the mom had removed the sheet and the clothing, it had moved slightly but in a very natural way. Like I said, so it didn't alarm her. When they removed that collar and that thing that was tied like a bow under her chin, bowling ball just fell right down. Oh my goodness. So there were also noticed immediately bruises and the shape.

Starting point is 00:53:53 of fingers were very visible around her neck as well. The doctors, finally being able to touch the neck, found that the neck was indeed broken between the first and second vertebrae, which were the C-1 Atlas and the C-2 axis, which are at the base of the skull. Can I ask you, like, maybe a dumb question? Why did blood pour out of her mouth when she was strangled? Because her windpipe had been crushed. Oh, my God.

Starting point is 00:54:20 Her ligaments were shredded and ruptured, and her windpipe. was crushed, or as they later described it, mashed. Oh, my God. Which they said could have been him strangling her with his hands and then maybe even kneeing on her neck or stomping on her neck. Jesus Christ. Yeah. So it was a very, very brutal death.

Starting point is 00:54:42 They stated in no uncertain terms that she had been murdered by manual strangulation, and he immediately screamed when they said that. They can't prove I did it. I'd be like, why don't we just. bring your hand over here and just match it right up. I'd also be like, that proves you did it. Yeah, exactly. That right there.

Starting point is 00:54:59 You saying that proves you did it. Right. Well, Trout was arrested immediately by Sheriff Hill Nickel and was charged with murder in the first degree. Yeah, I'd say so. He was placed into Lewisburg jail until trial in June. Now, in March 9th, they released a statement and they said, quote, the discovery was made that the neck was broken and the windpipe mashed. On the throat were the marks of fingers indicating that.

Starting point is 00:55:23 that she had been choking. The neck was dislocated between the first and second vertebrae. The ligaments were torn and ruptured. The windpipe had been crushed at a point in front of the neck. Wow. Now, April 22, 1997, the evidence was presented to the jury, and they found that he had likely caused the death of Zona. So he was held for trial for more until June.

Starting point is 00:55:45 Now, June 22, 1897, the trial began with Judge Joseph Marcellus presiding. Mary was going to be called to testify and was taking this so seriously that she rented a room to stay by the courthouse for the trial. Good for her. Because the farm was like kind of far away. And the whole family couldn't come every single time. They had to tend to the farm. Because they had to tend to the farm. They couldn't leave it.

Starting point is 00:56:10 So she stayed in a rooming house like near the courthouse. She's a bad bitch. She was like if you call me, I'm there. Is there any movie about this? I feel like there has to be. I don't know if there is actually. I got to look that up. Well, if not TM.

Starting point is 00:56:21 T.M. We're going to make a movie about it. Now, she was eventually brought up to testify, but the prosecutor Preston, John Preston, didn't ask her about the dreams or visions of seeing Zona because he was worried, he was like, I don't want to make her seem off her rocker. So, like, I'm just going to ask her the very, like, clear questions. Yeah. Now, instead, the defense came up and they did.

Starting point is 00:56:47 Oh. And do you think they're trying to make her look off her rocker? 100%. They were trying to make her look foolish. I don't even know why I said, do you think that's what it was? Or do you think they were trying to help? No, they were definitely trying to make her look foolish. And since newspapers at the time were going wild for this case since the exhibition had happened,

Starting point is 00:57:04 there was a transcript of this exchange printed in the Greenbrier Independent and a discussion about how truly, like, fucked that trial was on July 1st, 1897. Now, first, in the newspaper, they stated, quote, the evidence of medical experts, Dr. Knapp, and others who conducted the post-mortem examination, makes it quite clear that Mrs. Shue did not commit suicide. The post-mortem made it clear that her neck had been dislocated, but there was not mark upon her person or other evidence to show that she had subjected herself to any sort of violence. They also pointed out that,

Starting point is 00:57:43 She was in like a really good mood after her death. They wrote, quote, he showed no proper appreciation of the loss he had sustained. Wow. So again, he's just like, I don't care. Yeah. On to seven. So here's the questioning that was given to Mary on the sand. Okay.

Starting point is 00:58:00 Here's the question from the defense. I have heard that you had some dreamer vision, which led to this post-mortem examination. So she answered, they saw enough themselves without me telling them. It was no dream. She came back and told me that he was that he was mad that she didn't have no meat cooked for supper. But she said, she had plenty, and said she had butter and apple butter, apples, and named two other or three other kinds of jellies, pears and cherries and raspberry jelly. And she says, I had plenty. And she says, don't you think he was just mad and just took down all my nice things and packed them away and just ruined them?

Starting point is 00:58:39 And she told me where I could look down back of Aunt Martha Joneses in the meadow and a rocky place, that I could look in a cellar behind some loose planks and sea. It was a square log house, and it was hewed up to the square. And she said for me to look right at the right hand side of the door as you go in and at the right hand corner as you go in. This is talking about their home that this happened in. Okay. Well, I saw the place just exactly as she told me, and I saw blood right there where she told me. And she told me something about that meat every night she came, just as she did that

Starting point is 00:59:13 first night. She came four times and four nights, but the second night she told me that her neck was squeezed off at the first joint. And it was just as she told me. Now, later, she said the same exact thing and said there was a clear sign of a scuffle in blood where she was directed to go. Right. They never found the dress. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. Now, the next question was, now, I would like if I could to get you to say that these four, these were four dreams and not four visions or appearances of your daughter in flesh and blood. And she said, I'm not saying that. She said, I am not going to say that. Yes. For I'm not going to love.

Starting point is 00:59:48 lie. Yes. So this defense guy was like, defense attorney, the defense guy, you know, the defense attorney was like, I would really just like you to say that that like, what a dick. I'm like, no, she's not going to say that. She's like, I'm not going to lie. And also do you really think that she's going to say

Starting point is 01:00:04 it for you, defense attorney? Oh, I'm sorry sir. Of course. These were no. Like she's like, let me help you out, brother, no. Now, this testimony was allowed into the record and not argued as inadmissible by anyone in the court. Wow. It was the first and only time in the United States in a murder trial that a ghost testimony was entered into the record and

Starting point is 01:00:23 used as evidence. That's incredible. Yeah. Now later, Mary Heister put together a list of eight names of people she told about Zona's visit, all the neighbors and all that. And like the testimony before the autopsy. Now, she had told them exactly what Zona had told her before the autopsy was conducted. So she said her neck was broken. She said all that. They all wrote all eight of these people. wrote official letters testifying to the fact that she had indeed told them about Zona's broken neck before that autopsy was done. Wow. And it's crazy. So apparently Trout ended up taking the stand as well. Like why though? Yeah. No, I guess it didn't go very well. He looked like a dick. Yeah. Crazy. Before sending the jury to deliberate, the judge told them that they really needed to look at the

Starting point is 01:01:12 facts and not the circumstantial and truly spectral evidence in this case. He was, wasn't trying to be a dick. He was just being like, he's just doing his job. You can't really base it on the spectral evidence. You have to like go with the actual facts. Yeah. Maybe like think about it. Yeah. Just it's there. Now he said, quote, there was no living witness to the crime charged against defendant's shoe and the state rests its case for conviction wholly upon circumstances connecting the accused with the murder charge. So the connection of the accused with the crime depends entirely upon the strength of the circumstantial evidence introduced by the state. There was no middle ground for you the jury to take. The verdict inevitably and logically must be for murder

Starting point is 01:01:54 in the first degree or for an acquittal. Okay. So they were like, no second degree, get out there. Yeah. So like I said, spectral evidence was largely frowned upon since the Salem witch trials, that whole thing. Yeah. That little moment in time. I think that like maybe we've touched upon it before. We might have touched it. I might have mentioned it every once in a while. But so this was interesting that it was even being admitted into evidence. It was actually reverend. Reverend Cotton Mather, whose name you might recognize from the Salem Witch Routheral hysteria. I do. He was the one who argued that it was totally fine to admit spectral evidence into legal proceedings back in the 1600s.

Starting point is 01:02:30 To fit his whole narrative. He also said it should not be the sole reason for conviction. And his reasoning for that was because the devil can take the shape of an innocent person. So that's when it gets hairy. Not like because that's like wild. Cuckoo to like completely convict someone based off of spectral evidence. evidence. But he was like, well, no, the devil can just take the shape of an instant person. That's why. Good. Okay. Okay, cotton mother. All right. He had a lot going on. He had a lot going on.

Starting point is 01:02:57 It was later thought to be bad to even admit it at all into evidence. Like, it changed because demons can shape shift. Yeah, they can. Not because people can lie about seeing ghosts, because like in the witch trials, but, you know, just because demons can shape shift. So the process of taking it out of proceeding started in 1692. with Massachusetts royal governor William Phipps telling the coit of the quoit telling the court of Oyer and Terminer to stop admitting spectral evidence at all. So that's very, it's just very interesting that like late 1800s we now have it. I know. But I think it's kind of this a similar thing where they're saying this can't be the conviction based on it. Yeah. It can be admitted into evidence

Starting point is 01:03:43 because this ghost had it sets. But don't like only sit with that. Yeah. With my schedule and how I am just constantly go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, and then go some more, I don't have a ton of time to do the things that I really love to do. And one of those things is reading. Guys, I used to read all the time constantly. But guess what? That's why I love Audible. Audible offers an incredible selection of audiobooks across every single genre.

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Starting point is 01:05:18 Visit audible.com slash morbid or text morbid to 500500. That's audible.com slash morbid or text morbid to 500 500 to try audible free for 30 days. Audible.com slash morbid. Now after an eight-day trial, the jury found Trout. Guilty. Guilty after deliberating for only one hour and 10 minutes. Wow, I was surprised you even took that one, you know. They claimed that actually Mary's.

Starting point is 01:05:48 his ghost story had very, like, really nothing to do with the verdict. I mean, his handprints are on her neck, guys. They were like, honestly, it was the facts that we looked at. And then he, like, screamed out in the courtroom, you can't prove I did it. Exactly. I'd be like, it was the thought for me. And they said, you know what? The defense didn't prove that he was innocent and actually gave them no reason to believe he was

Starting point is 01:06:07 innocent. And in fact, had pushed them further into believing that he was a murderer. So did they get new jobs after? So they were like, woof. Yeah, you're disbarred now. actually 10 of the jurors voted to have him executed. Wow. So they didn't have a unanimous decision with that, so he was sentenced to life in state prison.

Starting point is 01:06:24 I'd rather that. In the Greenbrier Independent, they said, quote, taking the verdict of the jury as ascertaining the truth, then we must conclude that Shue deliberately broke his wife's neck, probably with his strong hands, and with no other motive than to be rid of her that he might get another more to his liking. That's what they wrote in the newspaper. That's a lot. Now, on July 9th, the Pocahontas Times from his hometown basically roasted him. Fuck, yes. In the paper, they wrote at the end of the article, and I quote, She was a bad man and he has no sympathy from the neighborhood in which he was raised.

Starting point is 01:07:01 Amazing. Boom. Roasted. Like, they were just like, you're a bad guy. And the place where you were born doesn't give a fuck about you. They're like, we don't claim you. We do not claim you. We do not receive you.

Starting point is 01:07:13 Nope, we don't claim you, I don't receive you, and we're sorry we unleashed you onto the world. In the papers following the verdict and the sentencing, there were actually rumors printed that mob violence was going to be planned to take shoe from the jail he was being held at and hang him. Yeah. A lot of people were mad he didn't get sentenced to be executed, especially after all the information came out about him being abusive to all of his wives. And the fact that one of them had died strangely that he abandoned and threw his infant daughter out of the house. A few days later, an angry group of over 30 men met in a campground, hatched a plan, and they were going to attempt to hang him. Oh, dang. Like, rip him out of the jail.

Starting point is 01:07:55 Now, it was stopped by law enforcement who were alerted about these plans from farmers who had actually heard the meetings going on. The farmers agreed that they thought she got out too easily with life in prison, but they didn't want people dying during the commission of a vigilante act. Like they were worried about like everybody else. Things going really awry. And they were like, we can't. Which they will. Exactly. And they said like with we can't in good conscience allow this plan to happen and no people

Starting point is 01:08:22 might die and not say something. Yeah. Wow. What good farmers. I love this commune. Yeah. So they ended up stopping it. And actually, I guess the law enforcement was able to like convince the mob to like calm down.

Starting point is 01:08:34 But some of them did get charged for like planning this. It was probably the ones who really wouldn't settle down. Yeah. Now, so Shue was actually taken out of the jail. a short time because they were worried. But they brought him to Moundsville prison to stay. None of his family ever visited him. Good. I hope nobody visited him. In fact, no one ever visited him at all. I'm glad I got my wish. And they all like, they didn't claim him after that. They were like, no. Why would you? Now, apparently at some time in prison, shoe started drawing. He like took up drawing as a, as a, you know,

Starting point is 01:09:03 hobby. He would draw for hours. And at one point, he drew a picture of himself and Zona, beneath a really shitty drawn tree. He was not a good artist. And he is sitting in this nice chair and she's standing. Of course. And then also in the same picture, on top of the picture, on top of them like sitting in this tree or under this tree, he drew them both in coffins and never explained this.

Starting point is 01:09:28 He then asked the guards to mail this picture to the owner of the blacksmith shop where he had worked and originally met Zona. What? The picture, which we will. post a copy of is now property of the Greenbrier Historical Society and it's displayed at the North House Museum in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Because it's just an interesting, like, what did that mean? Because people think, was this him admitting it? Yeah. Why was this like,

Starting point is 01:09:57 why was he in a coffin too? Well, that's what, because he's being like sentenced, I guess, like terminally sentenced. Yeah. I don't know. That's the thing. I think that's why it's historical. It's like, we need to know why he drew this. I want to know why he drew that. What was the meaning behind that? Was that a confession? Yeah. Or was it not? I'm just mad that people have to look at his artwork. It's shitty. So it's funny to roast it. Um, so he actually stayed in that prison until he died in March 1900. He was only in prison for three years. Oh, wow. He fell to a flu epidemic that had spread across the area and had really like, um, I hope it sucked. It had like gnarled through prison communities and like killed a lot of inmates. Now, no one came and claimed his,

Starting point is 01:10:38 body when he died. So he was buried in Whitegate Cemetery, which was specifically made for prisoners whose bodies were not claimed by their families. There is a plaque up where Zona Hester Shoe is buried. And it says, interred in a nearby cemetery is Zona Hester Shoe. Her death in 1897 was presumed natural until her spirit appeared to her mother to describe how she was killed by her husband, Edward. Autopsy on the exhumed body verified the apparitions account. Edward found guilty of murder was sentenced to state prison. Only known case in which testimony from ghost helped convict a murderer. That is so crazy. And that is the tale of Zona Heaster Shoe. And she never, her mother never saw her again. Her mother said she never came to her again.

Starting point is 01:11:24 Wow. But she said it was, I think it was because, at least that's what I read, that she, that she had told her what she needed to tell her. She believed she was happy and that justice was served. She moved on. And that's why she was able to move on. Wow. What a? wild case. And the mom, Mary, she maintained this for, and everyone who knew her said she was not this, like, woman who was prone to fanciful, like, exaggeration. She's a very, like, logical, very level-headed, very down-to-earth, level-headed, very fair and very honest woman. Yeah. And she testified to it. And she was right. I mean, I believe her. Yeah, just the fact that, like, she knew everything before the body was being exhumed. It's wild. That's crazy. And it's true. It's all

Starting point is 01:12:05 True. And I also just like love a mother daughter bond like I do too or just like even like a sisterhood bond. Because yeah like I feel like Zona came back and was probably like you know because they had that like a strange relationship. They had unfinished business. It was only months that they had been apart from each other. So it's like you know those months were probably fucking terrible. And she just and on top of that like the mom had never been in their home because she had never come to the home because they were a strange. She wouldn't come visit her. Right. So when she said, she told me in this corner of the house, this is what it's going to look like, you're going to find blood. And they found it. Right. She'd never been in that house. That's crazy. Like, that's insane. Yeah. Yeah. That's a crazy case, Elena. That's the story of the Greenbrier ghost. And we hope you loved it. And we hope you keep listening. And we hope that you keep it weird. But it's the way that's the horrible person. And I don't even know about like his whole entire life. Like, what were you even doing? and you suck and I don't like you, but do keep it so weird that in the afterlife, if your murder

Starting point is 01:13:08 is unfortunately unsolved, like, appear to your mom or someone you love and tell them what happened, and, like, maybe it'll happen again in the U.S. There you go. Bye. Bye.

Morbid - Rodney Alcala: The Dating Game Killer (Part 1)

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