In 1897, the death of Elva Zona Heaster was deemed accidental, but her mother’s grief would not subside. When Zona’s ghost appeared, it revealed a shocking truth that no one could ignore. Based on a chilling true event, Elva Zona’s Last Act explores a haunting tale of love, betrayal, and justice from beyond the grave.

Born in 1876, Elva Zona Heaster,

Of her youth, only fragments reside.

In Greenbrier County, where love did deceive her,

She met Edward Shue, and became his bride.

 

Edward, a drifter with charm in his speaking,

To Zona, he promised a life renewed.

Her mother, Mary Jane, saw danger peaking,

Yet Zona followed him, by love subdued.

 

January days brought grief unspoken,

A message came, a boy in despair.

He found her still, her neck was broken,

At the stair’s foot, in silence laid there.

 

Edward, too quick, with trembling devotion,

Prepared her body, with a high collar bound.

A fainting spell was the doctor’s notion,

But doubts began to gather around.

 

Mary Jane prayed with relentless yearning,

Four weeks passed, then Zona returned.

A spirit of anguish, her torment burning,

The truth of her end was harshly learned.

 

She spoke of cruelty, the truth made clear,

A broken neck, her life cut short.

Edward’s rage, no mercy near,

Revealed her death, his violent report.

 

The grave unearthed, a truth uncovered,

The autopsy spoke where the spirit tread.

Edward’s lies and cruelty hovered,

The cervical fracture told of the dead.

 

Prison’s chains held Edward’s ambition,

Seven wives his gruesome desire.

But death in a cell was his life’s fruition,

Zona’s justice brought her mother peace to aspire.

 

The ghost spoke once; it spoke with meaning,

Its spectral proof of violence and dread.

Elva’s fate, her truth redeeming,

Her voice exposed the crimes he’d fled.