In 1897, a young West Virginia woman named Zona Heaster Shue was found dead. The official cause was "an everlasting faint." Case closed. But then, her mother, Mary Jane Heaster, claimed her daughter's ghost visited her for four consecutive nights with a chilling accusation: Zona had been murdered by her husband, her neck broken.

This is the only known case in American history where testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer. But was it a spectral vision, a mother's desperate dream, or a clever ruse to ensure justice? Join us as we dig into the bizarre and compelling story of the Greenbrier Ghost, where folklore and true crime collide.

Topics & Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Introduction: The Chilling Roadside Marker

• 03:05 - A Marriage of Inconvenience: Meet Zona Heaster and the mysterious "Trout" Shue.

• 04:55- The Body of the Crime: The discovery of Zona's body and Trout Shue's suspicious behavior.

• 07:05 - Cause, Mode, and Manner of Death: Mary Heaster's crusade and the shocking results of the autopsy.

• 08:35- Trial and Testimony: The defense's fatal mistake and Mary Heaster's unforgettable day in court.

• 13:15- A Verdict, A Legend, and A Roadside Marker: The jury's swift decision and the mob that arrived too late.

• 15:10 - Recent Developments & The "Fisher's Ghost" Connection: How an Australian ghost story in the local newspaper might have inspired a legend.

• 18:45- Conclusions: Separating history from haunting—what really happened to Zona Heaster Shue?

Mentioned in this Episode:

• The Man Who Wanted Seven Wives by Katie Letcher Lyle

• The Unquiet Grave by Sharyn McCrumb

• The "Fisher's Ghost" legend from Australia

• Greenbrier Independent Article (Click Newspaper Articles PDF)

• Link to Substack post on "Fisher's Ghost"

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⁠⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Sources & Links⁠⁠⁠

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⁠⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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My Book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠Blood on the Blue Ridge on Amazon⁠⁠⁠ (written with Scott Lunsford)

We're heading down a dark trail into one of Appalachia's most enduring mysteries. In May of 1866, Laura Foster rode out on her family's mare and vanished into the North Carolina mountains. Her body was later found in a shallow grave, sparking a manhunt, a sensational trial, and a public hanging that would be immortalized in a folk song known around the world.

But what really happened to Laura Foster? Was Confederate veteran and "rock star" fiddle player Tom Dooley truly the killer, or was he protecting a deadly secret? In this episode, host Alfred Dockery is joined by folklorist and musician William Ritter to separate fact from folklore.

You can find more of William Ritter's work at https://www.songtoseed.com.

Podcast Sources

⁠⁠⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Sources & Links⁠⁠⁠⁠

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⁠⁠⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime YouTube Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠

My Book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Blood on the Blue Ridge on Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠ (written with Scott Lunsford)

Travel back to September 12, 1952, in the small town of Flatwoods, West Virginia. What began as a flash in the sky witnessed by a group of boys playing football quickly spiraled into one of America's most bizarre and enduring UFO encounters.

This is the story of the terrifying, ten-foot-tall Flatwoods Monster—a story of mass hysteria, Cold War anxiety, and the two fascinating paranormal investigators who turned a local legend into a national phenomenon.Visit the Blue Ridge True Crime Substack for articles and updates.

Check out the Blue Ridge True Crime YouTube Channel for video versions of episodes.

Buy my book, written with my friend Scott Lunsford:

Blood on the Blue Ridge

Everyone knows the story of the Salem witch trials. But a century later, accusations of witchcraft arose in the backcountry of South Carolina. This is the chilling, bizarre, and largely forgotten story of the Winnsboro witch trials, where an elderly man and two women were accused of levitating cows and turning people into horses.

We’ll examine the primary sources, explore a possible medical explanation, and investigate a second, possibly mythical, witch trial in Chesterfield, SC, in 1813, the strange case of Barbara Powers.

Sources

⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Sources & Links⁠⁠

Explore More Content

⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠Blue Ridge True Crime YouTube Channel⁠⁠

My Book⁠⁠⁠

⁠Blood on the Blue Ridge on Amazon⁠⁠ (written with Scott Lunsford)

In this episode, we explore the surprisingly dramatic history of the pocket watch. These intricate machines have been silent witnesses to historic moments, from a secret message hidden inside Abraham Lincoln's watch and the sunken submarine that changed naval warfare, to a deadly train wreck that revolutionized timekeeping, and a stolen watch that brought down a terrifying highway killer.

Sources

⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Sources & Links⁠⁠

Explore More Content

⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠Blue Ridge True Crime YouTube Channel⁠⁠

My Book⁠⁠⁠

⁠Blood on the Blue Ridge on Amazon⁠⁠ (written with Scott Lunsford)

In the summer of 1927, the murder of a 15-year-old mill worker named Gladys Kincaid plunged the town of Morganton, North Carolina, into chaos. It triggered the largest manhunt in Western North Carolina history for a suspect named Broadus Miller.

In the conclusion of this two-part story, host Alfred Dockery is joined by historian Dr. Kevin Young, author of The Violent World of Broadus Miller, to discuss the ballads of Gladys Kincaid, as well as the aftermath and legacy of the crime and manhunt.

Sources

⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Sources & Links⁠⁠

Explore More Content

⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Substack

⁠⁠⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime YouTube Channel⁠⁠

Check out Dr. Young’s book.⁠

The Violent World of Broadus Miller on Amazon⁠

In the summer of 1927, the murder of a 15-year-old mill worker named Gladys Kincaid plunged the town of Morganton, North Carolina, into chaos. It triggered the largest manhunt in Western North Carolina history for a suspect named Broadus Miller.

In this first of a two-part episode, host Alfred Dockery is joined by historian Dr. Kevin Young, author of The Violent World of Broadus Miller, to unravel the details of the crime and the frantic, 11-day chase through the foothills of Grandfather Mountain.

We explore Miller's mysterious past, the racial hysteria of the era, and the shocking, archaic law that deputized an entire state to hunt one man down.

In Part 2, we discuss the aftermath of the manhunt and the ballads of Gladys Kincaid. Join us for the conclusion of this violent and tragic story.

Sources

⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Sources & Links⁠⁠

Explore More Content

⁠⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Blue Ridge True Crime YouTube Channel⁠⁠

Check out Dr. Young’s book.

⁠The Violent World of Broadus Miller on Amazon⁠

A dead man falls from a clear night sky, landing in a quiet Knoxville neighborhood. He was wearing combat fatigues, Italian loafers, and had a duffel bag of cocaine strapped to his waist. This is the bizarre, true story of Drew Thornton, a former narcotics officer, lawyer, and army paratrooper who became a legendary drug smuggler.

In this episode, we unravel the mystery of his final, fatal jump, explore the dark world of ‘The Company,’ and uncover how a single flight led to a multi-state cocaine hunt, an infamous ‘Cocaine Bear,’ and a tale so strange it had to be true.

(00:00) - Intro

(00:15) - The Body in the Driveway: An 85-year-old man finds a parachutist's corpse in his gravel driveway on a quiet September morning in 1985.

(03:00) - A tale of two epigrams: Thornton saw himself as a warrior poet.

(06:00) - Bill Leonard, a Lexington, KY, bodybuilder and martial arts instructor, realized he was in over his head when the Cessna touched down in a swamp in Colombia.

(09:00) - Thornton graduates from Sewanee Military Academy in Tennessee.

(12:00) - An arsenal in a Philadelphia hotel room. Bradley Bryant is arrested when police discover fake IDs, guns, a telephone scrambler, and a radar jamming device.

(14:40) - Did Thornton fake a shooting to stay out of jail?

(15:20) - Thornton steps over the edge.

Sources

⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Sources & Links⁠

Explore More Content

⁠Blue Ridge True Crime Substack⁠⁠

Blue Ridge True Crime YouTube Channel⁠

My Book⁠

Blood on the Blue Ridge on Amazon⁠ (written with Scott Lunsford)