A ghosts testimony once helped convict a murderer (1 Viewer)

Ahsoka · 3 October 2025

In 1897, the testimony of a ghost made its way into a criminal court case in West Virginia. In January, Elva Shue was found dead in her home. Her husband washed her and dressed her in a high necked dress and veil (customary then to dress a dead person, but very uncustomary to have a veil or for any man to do it). He also requested that the autopsy be cut short.

About a month after her burial, Elva’s mother requested that her body be reexamined, claiming that she had received visions of her daughter visiting her and saying that Elva had actually been murdered. Her mother gave various details about the event, saying that Elva’s husband had actually strangled her, breaking her neck and crushing her windpipe, just because he was mad there was no meat as part of dinner. The body was dug up, and a second autopsy showed that Elva had a broken neck, crushed windpipe, and bruising on her neck and chest.

The case went to trial, and various pieces of evidence and testimony were brought up. This included medical records, the history of his past wives (one had said he was abusive and one had mysteriously died), witnesses saying he acted weird about anyone being near Elva’s head after her death, and of course the testimony of the ghost. The judge did tell the jury to review all evidence carefully, but the ghosts testimony was never officially struck from the record. Elva’s husband was found guilty of murder, and he would die in prison 3 years later.