Premiere of Greenbrier Ghost documentary set for tonight
Christian Giggenbach
CNHI News Service
? LEWISBURG ? Justice from beyond the grave or did the testimony of a ghost send an innocent man to jail? The tale of the Greenbrier Ghost is alive and well in Greenbrier County as two Shepherd University students host the premiere tonight of their documentary about the county?s most famous murder trial.
In a Greenbrier court in 1866, Trout Shue was convicted of murdering his 15-year-old wife Zona, largely based on the testimony of Zona?s mother who claimed her daughter appeared to her as a ghost and explained how her enraged husband broke her neck.
The unusual events surrounding the trial have spawned several books on the subject, theatrical plays and are still a topic of conversation in the county. Shepherd students Catherine Daniel and Anna Lafferre, both of Huntington, have now added their perspective to the legend and lore of the ghost tale.
Daniel and Lafferre produced the 15-minute film for a documentary journalism class after learning about the tale from a friend. The two budding filmmakers shot on location and interviewed several people from Greenbrier County after reading two books on the subject, ?The Greenbrier Ghost and Other Tales? and ?The Man Who Wanted Seven Wives.? Interviews with officials from the West Virginia Department of Archives and History rounded out the film.
?We interviewed Mason Preston, who is the great-grandson of John Preston and is a lawyer in Greenbrier County,? Lafferre said Monday. ?John Preston was the Greenbrier County prosecutor at the time of the trial.?
Apart from the mystery of the trial, how Shue met his death is not readily known and adds to the intrigue of the story, Daniel said. Some say Shue died while in prison, but another story says he befriended the warden, who released him early.
?The most surprising thing to us was that no one really knows what happened to Trout Shue after he went to prison,? Daniel said. ?There is no clear record of a death certificate or him being released from prison.?
With one documentary behind them, Lafferre and Daniel are now considering filmmaking as a profession and gave some of the credit to Professor Nerissa Young, who taught their journalism class. Young also writes a weekly column for The Register-Herald.
?As a native of the area, I am familiar with the tale of the Greenbrier Ghost. However this film goes beyond what I knew about the legend,? Young said.
The documentary is being sponsored by the Greenbrier County Visitor?s and Convention Bureau at the Lewis Theatre in downtown Lewisburg at 7:30 p.m. this evening. Admission is free and will be followed by a question-and-answer period with the filmmakers.
? E-mail:
cgiggenbach@register-herald.com
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