by Hal Erickson
synopsis
This Thanhouser three-reeler opens as a young district attorney makes plans to wed a beautiful heiress. The girl's treacherous uncle, who stands to inherit her fortune should anything happen to her, busily plots her demise, intending to make murder look like suicide. Uncle accomplishes his goal, leaving the DA to grieve over his beloved's sudden death. But the girl's spirit (the "phantom witness" of the title) is conjured up via hypnosis to force the uncle into confessing. Newcomer Edwin Stanley made his film debut in the role of the determined attorney.
