Episode 696: Linda Hazzard & Starvation Heights (Part 2)

Summary

Morbid Podcast Episode 696: Linda Hazzard & Starvation Heights (Part 2) – Detailed Summary

Release Date: August 7, 2025

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Introduction to Linda Hazzard and Starvation Heights

In Part 2 of the two-part series on Linda Hazzard and Starvation Heights, hosts Alayna and Ash delve deeper into the horrifying true crime case surrounding Hazzard’s unscrupulous medical practices. Building upon the foundation laid in Part 1, this episode uncovers the extent of Linda Hazzard's manipulations, the tragic outcomes of her "miracle cures," and the eventual legal repercussions she faced.

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Background of Linda Hazzard

Linda Hazzard presented herself as a revolutionary healer, promoting fasting as a cure-all for various ailments. Despite her claims, Hazzard lacked any formal medical degree, instead relying on her self-proclaimed expertise to attract vulnerable patients seeking alternative treatments.

Notable Quote:

Ash [07:27]: "Her big idea, if you don't remember, was that fasting, quote, unquote, could solve any and all ailments afflicting patients. But her idea of fasting was really just starving people."

---

The Williamson Sisters’ Ordeal

The episode focuses on Claire and Dora Williamson, two wealthy British sisters grappling with chronic health issues who invested their inheritance in Hazzard's unorthodox health retreats. Upon arriving at Wilderness Heights in Washington in February 1911, their experience quickly turned nightmarish.

Hazzard subjected the sisters to extreme fasting regimens, including days-long fasts and intermittent meals consisting merely of small amounts of tomato juice. Additionally, patients endured hours-long enemas in bathtubs, a practice Hazzard amplified by installing canvas supports to prevent unconsciousness during these torturous procedures.

Notable Quote:

Alayna [15:02]: "So when the practice became too much on their bodies because it was torture and they would eventually pass out, instead of stopping, Linda had canvas supports installed on the tub to keep their heads from slipping underwater."

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Margaret Conway’s Intervention

Margaret Conway, the sisters' former governess and the closest maternal figure they had, became suspicious upon receiving a cryptic telegram about their arrival. Realizing something was gravely wrong, she traveled to Washington only to find Claire deceased from starvation and Dora emaciated, weighing merely 50 pounds.

Facing resistance from Hazzard and her husband Sam, who held power of attorney over the sisters’ estates, Conway struggled to free Dora from the clutches of Starvation Heights. It was only through external pressure, notably from Dora's uncle and additional victims willing to testify, that legal action gained momentum.

Notable Quote:

Ash [16:38]: "It is all money... They are diabolical with this. They really were."

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Legal Proceedings and Trial

In August 1911, Linda Hazzard was arrested for manslaughter in connection with Claire Williamson's death. The trial, commencing on January 15, 1912, garnered significant public attention. Prosecutor Thomas Stevenson aimed to establish criminal intent, presenting evidence of Hazzard’s systematic starvation of patients for financial gain.

The defense attempted to portray Hazzard as a misunderstood healer, with numerous witnesses claiming her treatments saved their lives. However, the prosecution's case highlighted inconsistencies, such as the altered appearance of the Williamson sisters' remains and testimonies revealing coercion and manipulation by Hazzard.

Notable Quote:

Ash [36:37]: "He [Stevenson] also accused several of them of having been coached by Linda in terms of what to tell the jury."

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Verdict and Sentencing

After intensive deliberation, the jury found Linda Hazzard guilty of manslaughter, though five jurors advocated for a first-degree murder conviction. Hazzard’s breakdown in court underscored her recognition of impending justice.

Sentenced to 2 to 20 years of hard labor at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary, Hazzard's legal troubles were briefly interrupted when Governor Ernest Lister granted her a full pardon in 1916, a decision shrouded in controversy given the severity of her crimes.

Notable Quote:

Ash [40:06]: "At least there's a fucking charge."

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Aftermath and Continued Malfeasance

Following her release, Hazzard relocated to New Zealand, continuing her fraudulent medical practices until her eventual re-arrest. Returning to Washington in 1920, she attempted to rebuild her sanitarium under new guises but ultimately met her demise in 1938, succumbing to starvation—the very fate she imposed on her victims.

Notable Quote:

Alayna [49:17]: "You stole all their shit. Lied to their family members. Possibly working with a corrupt mortician."

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Hosts’ Reflections and Conclusion

Throughout the episode, Alayna and Ash express profound horror and disbelief at Hazzard’s calculated cruelty and manipulation. They emphasize the tragic exploitation of desperate individuals seeking relief from chronic illnesses, highlighting the profound ethical breaches and legal failures that allowed Hazzard to continue her practices for years.

Notable Quotes:

Ash [50:54]: "It's awful. I really don't."

Alayna [51:08]: "You starved other people claiming it was a miracle cure."

The episode concludes with a somber reflection on the enduring impact of Hazzard's actions and serves as a chilling reminder of the depths of human depravity when combined with unchecked authority and financial greed.

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Key Takeaways

• Manipulation and Exploitation: Linda Hazzard exploited vulnerable patients by promising miraculous cures through starvation and torture.

• Legal System Challenges: Despite clear evidence of wrongdoing, Hazzard faced minimal sentencing initially, highlighting flaws in the early 20th-century legal system’s handling of medical fraud.

• Legacy of Fear: The case underscores the dangers of alternative medicine practices lacking scientific backing and regulatory oversight.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Ash [07:27]: "Her big idea, if you don't remember, was that fasting, quote, unquote, could solve any and all ailments afflicting patients. But her idea of fasting was really just starving people." [07:27]

• Alayna [15:02]: "So when the practice became too much on their bodies because it was torture and they would eventually pass out, instead of stopping, Linda had canvas supports installed on the tub to keep their heads from slipping underwater." [15:02]

• Ash [36:37]: "He [Stevenson] also accused several of them of having been coached by Linda in terms of what to tell the jury." [36:37]

• Alayna [49:17]: "You stole all their shit. Lied to their family members. Possibly working with a corrupt mortician." [49:17]

---

This episode of Morbid offers a harrowing exploration of Linda Hazzard's atrocities, blending meticulous research with the hosts' engaging commentary to shed light on one of history's most disturbing medical frauds.

Transcript

[Alayna]

Hey, weirdos. Alayna here. If you're looking to kick back and relax with Morbid, Wondery is the way to go. It's like having a cozy seat in our haunted mansion. No ads, just you and early access to new episodes. You can join Wondery in the Wondery app or in Apple podcasts or Spotify. You're listening to a morbid network podcast.

[Ash]

Listening on Audible helps your imagination soar. Whether you listen to stories, motivation, expert advice, any genre you love, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, and new ways of thinking. Listening can lead to positive changes in your mood, your habits, and ultimately your overall well being. Audible has an incredible selection of over 1 million audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible originals all in one easy app. Find the genres you love and discover new ones. Explore bestsellers like my sister's title, new releases, plus thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and originals that members can listen to all they want with more added all the time. I have been listening to the Martha's Vineyard beach and Book Club, which actually Elena recommended to me. She did not listen to it, but she said, girl, this title sounds so you. And let me tell you, it did. I've been listening to it while I walk and I am absolutely loving it. I love all the different narrators. I love Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30 day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.commorbid Think about the most disturbing government secrets you've learned from history.

[Alayna]

Now imagine discovering one that begins in.

[Ash]

A hospital room and leads straight to classified military. Military operations that were buried for decades. Listen to a redacted medical mystery, a special episode from redacted and Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries, available now wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, weirdos. I'm Ash.

[Alayna]

And I'm Elena.

[Ash]

And this is morbid.

[Alayna]

This is morbid. In the late morning. Yeah, early afternoon. Early afternoon.

[Ash]

What have you.

[Alayna]

Yeah, I had food poisoning last night.

[Ash]

Ew.

[Alayna]

So that's cool. Got some funky chicken from takeout. Luckily, no one else did do the funky chicken, so I was not doing it last night. It was a rough night. But I'm here now.

[Ash]

Hey, you survived and I survived.

[Alayna]

And I'm. I'm literally drinking. This is not an ad. I'm drinking Liquid IV currently.

[Ash]

If you, like, felt like the night before or like you lost a lot of whatever. Whatever you had. Yeah, Liquid IV is the go to it. Really?

[Alayna]

And again and again. This is not an ad. I'm literally just Saying this. I am currently. That's my glass. I'm drinking liquid iv.

[Ash]

I got a little bit car sick the other day on the way home.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

And I had a liquid IV after.

[Alayna]

And it helped cured me.

[Ash]

This has not been evaluated by the fda.

[Alayna]

I'm drinking the orange Creamsicle or Dreamsicle flavor.

[Ash]

I need to try that.

[Alayna]

One of those. And it's really good.

[Ash]

I love, like, creamsicle flavored anything.

[Alayna]

I. I fully recommend it. It's helped a lot because I felt very, very obviously, this morning when I got up, I felt super dehydrated. And I also. And it's like, I got up and kids were up. So it's like, you have to be on. On. You can't just be, like, slugging around. So I downed some of that, and I was like, you know what? I don't feel that bad. Boom. Yeah.

[Ash]

That's great.

[Alayna]

So here I am. It vacated the premises, and now we are back in business.

[Ash]

Back in business. I know. You threw that off really quick. That was actually very impressive because I've had food poisoning before and been down, like, the very next day as well.

[Alayna]

Yeah. It's just one of those.

[Ash]

I mean, you're also living that mom life.

[Alayna]

Yeah. You're just not. You can't be. It's just, like, one of those things. Obviously, there's things off quickly, though. Yeah. I was gonna say. I usually do. Yeah. But. Yeah.

[Ash]

Well, that was bad news. Do you guys want some good news?

[Alayna]

Let's go.

[Ash]

There's so much good news to come, but for now, we'll just give you one piece. We are doing a live show.

[Alayna]

What? And then, like, a real one in person.

[Ash]

You can buy tickets. We are going to be at the Wilbur in Boston. Like, for real this time. Nobody send a pandemic through the fucking air.

[Alayna]

Yeah. Don't do it.

[Ash]

Just let us have one goddamn live show. Universe.

[Alayna]

It's been a while. It's been a long while. It's been a while. It's literally been, like, five years.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Alayna]

So remember when we were gonna do.

[Ash]

A whole tour and then Covid just said.

[Alayna]

Yeah. Covid said, absolutely not. But we're doing this one live show for now, and we're so excited about it. We've been planning it, and it. We're gonna make it, like, a little different. Yeah. But really fun.

[Ash]

We want to make it, like an experience. Yes, exactly. I was gonna say an event, but Experience.

[Alayna]

An event.

[Ash]

We're gonna make it an event.

[Alayna]

It is. I'm very excited. We're gonna Meet you guys.

[Ash]

Yeah, we're gonna do a meet and greet that. We're gonna do 50 meet and greets. So definitely, if you want to meet us and greet us.

[Alayna]

Yeah, we want to meet and greet you.

[Ash]

Get those tickets. Tickets are gonna go on sale August 8th. I don't know what time I can update you. Keep an eye on socials.

[Alayna]

Yeah, we'll make sure to UPD update.

[Ash]

You guys and the link for tickets, obviously we will be posting on our socials, so keep an eye out for that. And that's going to be fun. The countdown is on. We're excited. And it's going to be fall.

[Alayna]

It's going to be fall, everybody. I'm so excited for it.

[Ash]

We went to TJ Maxx, so you should go.

[Alayna]

We did. We stopped there because they have out.

[Ash]

Their fall decor and we just summoned Halloween this morning. We did.

[Alayna]

It felt so right.

[Ash]

Felt so good.

[Alayna]

Got some pumpkin pillows. I.

[Ash]

You just. I felt like you were disassociating into a blip. I got some pumpkin pillows. You just looked zooted off your rocker.

[Alayna]

My guys, I just went to a place of. I went to a place of Halloween.

[Ash]

I know. You know, I wanted the. The Diet Coke ghost, but I can't find it.

[Alayna]

The viral Diet Coke ghost.

[Ash]

I'm looking for the viral Diet Coke ghost. I'm gonna try another home goods later. Cause I'm iconic like that.

[Alayna]

Go for it, man.

[Ash]

But yeah, I got some pillows. I got. What else did we get? Oh, I got a candle.

[Alayna]

Of course I got a candle.

[Ash]

But of course I have a stockpile right now of Halloween packages. Like just decorations that are just in my dining room just waiting. I'm like, come on.

[Alayna]

Waiting to be torn open.

[Ash]

September 1st.

[Alayna]

Let's go.

[Ash]

It's on.

[Alayna]

It is. All right. September 1st. It's on.

[Ash]

It's on.

[Alayna]

So on.

[Ash]

It's on site.

[Alayna]

It is on site.

[Ash]

So this is part two of Linda Hazzard and Starvation Heights Horrific tale so far. Yeah. Thank you. That's correct. Yeah. This has been awful. And it's only gonna get worse.

[Alayna]

Yay.

[Ash]

So in part one, we introduced you to the woman who called herself Dr. Linda Hazard.

[Alayna]

She's even a doctor. That's the thing.

[Ash]

Thank you. You're taking the words out of my mouth. She had no medical degree to her name.

[Alayna]

None.

[Ash]

But you know, she called herself her doctor. We went over her strange ass partner husband, Sam, and all the drama surrounding there getting together between him being like a big old bigamist, leaving her, coming back, leaving her again, and Then showing back up again once he realized that she had an idea that was going to make some money.

[Alayna]

Yeah. People be people, and people be people.

[Ash]

And philanders be philandering.

[Alayna]

It's true.

[Ash]

But unfortunately, that money making idea was pretty bogus, Because Linda's big idea, if you don't remember, Was that fasting, quote, unquote, could solve any and all ailments afflicting patients. But her idea of fasting was really just starving people.

[Alayna]

Yeah, it definitely wasn't fasting.

[Ash]

No. And I don't want to hear it.

[Alayna]

Starving.

[Ash]

I don't want to hear it.

[Alayna]

I don't want to hear it.

[Ash]

I'm not talking about fasting. I'm talking about starvation here. But that's why she opened the clinic wilderness heights, which eventually, like we remember from part one, the locals started calling starvation heights. Right.

[Alayna]

Which is really horrifying.

[Ash]

People were dying left, right, and center. And as I said, at the end of part one, things were going to take a much darker tone. When people started signing over their estates and power of attorney to Linda and Sam.

[Alayna]

That's when feels like it's going to get really shenanigany. Because it's like once you start signing over property and money. Yeah, yeah.

[Ash]

Money is the root of all evil. It really is, truly. So given the number of patients who died as a result of Linda Hazard's supposed miracle cure, it would be reasonable to wonder why so many people continue to put their faith and their money into her big idea.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

But there aren't many more things powerful than the fear of illness and death. And for a lot of people living with those fears, the hope that wilderness heights represented outweighed the skepticism and reason.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

So people all over the world continued to read the books of Linda hazard and would travel to Washington to seek out her miraculous cure.

[Alayna]

It's desperation, man.

[Ash]

It is any.

[Alayna]

Anybody with chronic illness or pain. Yeah. Going through.

[Ash]

That's the thing, like, on its head, you can say, oh, my God, why would anybody ever go there? Like, why would you subject yourself to that?

[Alayna]

But. But you.

[Ash]

If you don't have chronic pain or chronic illness or anything, then you can't.

[Alayna]

Really understand that kind of desperation.

[Ash]

You just can't. So among those who sought the help out of Linda Hazard in 1911 were Claire and Dora Williamson, two wealthy British sisters who had actually just gotten a large. Or not just gotten. When they were younger, they received a large inheritance after their parents had died pretty early on.

[Alayna]

Okay.

[Ash]

And they invested a significant amount of money in traveling and experiencing the latest in health trends. That was like their big thing.

[Alayna]

Okay.

[Ash]

They were like health gurus.

[Alayna]

Before, I was just going to say they were like health TikTok girlies. Yeah, before that was a thing.

[Ash]

Yes, exactly. They were trying all the latest things.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

So the sisters had seen an ad for one of Linda's books while they were staying in a hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. And once they finished the book, they were enamored with the so called doctor and her quote, unquote, quote revolutionary methods.

[Alayna]

Oh, no.

[Ash]

Quote unquote, quote unquote. Isn't that fun to say like that? Quote unquote, quote unquote. Neither were ever seriously ill up to this point, but they both had a tendency to indulge in hypochondria a little bit.

[Alayna]

It can happen. Sure can. We've all seen people like that.

[Ash]

And they constantly sought out new, fast cures for whatever was ailing them. According to author Bess Lovejoy, Dora complained of swollen glands and rheumatic pains, while Claire had been told that she had a dropped uterus.

[Alayna]

Damn.

[Ash]

Which I haven't heard of.

[Alayna]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ash]

But as enthusiastic followers of the alternative medicine movement, they had both invested lots and lots of time and money into chasing products that claimed to provide relief. But up to this point, nothing had worked. So from what they read, the sisters envision envisioned this beautiful lakeside retreat in Wilderness Heights where they could rest and receive treatment for their chronic conditions. But when they arrived in Washington in February 1911, they were very surprised to find Wilderness Heights an unfinished and putting it nicely, very rustic location.

[Alayna]

Well, Wilderness Heights, wilderness.

[Ash]

It wasn't at all the exclusive modern camp that they had envisioned. Instead of housing them at the sanitarium, though, Linda arranged for them to stay at an apartment on Seattle's Capitol Hill. And she would just go there daily to, quote, unquote, provide treatment.

[Alayna]

Okay.

[Ash]

Quote, unquote, quote, unquote. Thank you.

[Alayna]

I feel like they were probably picturing if I can always bring it back to Gilmore girls. Let's go. If you ever see the first life and death brigade party that they have that's like in the woods and it's very, like, Great Gatsby esque.

[Ash]

I don't know if I remember that.

[Alayna]

But it's like tents and candlelights and, like, it's very like everyone's, you know, dressed in white.

[Ash]

I think I actually. Is that when they jump off the thing the next day.

[Alayna]

The next day, yeah, yeah. And so I feel like that's what they were picturing when they heard, like, Wilderness Heights. They were like, oh, this is gonna be fancy. Yeah. We're gonna be in these, like, beautiful tents.

[Ash]

Yeah, the bougie tents, where they're, like, massive and they have, like, queen beds in them.

[Alayna]

Yeah, exactly.

[Ash]

Y. I want to go to one of those.

[Alayna]

I know. That was. I was always very jealous of that Life and Death Brigade party. Yeah, Like, I want to have a party like that.

[Ash]

Invite me. I would go.

[Alayna]

Yeah. I'll find a. I'll find a wooded area, and you're all invited.

[Ash]

Awesome.

[Alayna]

All right, so get ready.

[Ash]

She just didn't say whether or not it would be haunted.

[Alayna]

Exactly.

[Ash]

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[Alayna]

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[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

When they weren't resting, the sisters would receive. Are you ready?

[Alayna]

Am I ready?

[Ash]

Hours long enemas in a bathtub.

[Alayna]

Hours long enemas.

[Ash]

Hours long enemas.

[Alayna]

No part of me can conceive of that.

[Ash]

I can't even conceive of, like, one enema. I don't even know how long they take. I know it's not supposed to be hours.

[Alayna]

Hours feels insane.

[Ash]

Ours feels like torture. Like I'm not even being hyperbolic. That sounds like fucking torture.

[Alayna]

No, it literally does.

[Ash]

So when the practice became too much on their bodies because it was torture and they would eventually pass out, instead of stopping, Linda had canvas supports installed on the tub to keep their heads from slipping underwater. When she could continue the enemas. And they're passed out at this point. Yeah, yeah.

[Alayna]

To me that sounds like torture. Torture. And that she's going to above and beyond to torture.

[Ash]

And she's like, depraved.

[Alayna]

Yeah, yeah, that's depraved. Exactly.

[Ash]

After two months of treatment like this in Seattle, Linda transferred Claire and Dora to Wilderness Heights now for continued treatment. By that time, they weighed about 70 pounds each. These are grown women that weighed 70 pounds each. And they were so emaciated that neighbors actually took notice of their poor condition.

[Alayna]

Wow.

[Ash]

Others would have been concerned for their safety, too, if they had any idea what was going on over in Washing. But according to Lovejoy, quote, the sisters were used to their family disapproving of their health quests and told no one where they were going when they left for the United States a few months earlier.

[Alayna]

Damn.

[Ash]

So no one knew where they were. Given past disapproval from their friends and the discouragement from Linda Hazard, Claire and Dora never contacted anyone during their ordeal until it was too late.

[Alayna]

Oh, that's awful. Yeah.

[Ash]

So their horrifying experience was finally discovered when their former governess, which is kind of like. It's like a nanny and a teacher.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

From, like way back when. But Margaret Conway, she received a mysterious telegram on April 30, 1911. Margaret had been the girl's primary caregiver since their parents had passed away at a young age. So she was super close with them. She was like the closest thing to a mother that they had. So they always stayed in touch after Claire and Dora had grown and Margaret returned home to Australia. Actually, the sisters were planning to visit her in a few months. So when she got this strange telegram that read, come SS Marama May 8th. First class. Claire. So she assumed that it was a note informing her they would be arriving later than they expected. Because, remember, they already had a trip planned.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

She would have set the note aside and probably forgotten all about it if it hadn't been for the strange phrasing. She wondered why Claire would have mentioned that they were traveling first class. Because she knew that the girls were. She knew them practically their entire lives. And they had never really been the type to flaunt their wealth. So it seemed out of character for Claire to mention that they were, you know, traveling in luxury, Being bougie.

[Alayna]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ash]

So, unable to shake the strangeness of the telegram, Margaret called the steamship company to inquire about the boat's arrival. And she was surprised to learn that the SS Marama wasn't sailing to Sydney, Australia, on May 8. It was sailing from Sydney to the United States.

[Alayna]

Oh, damn.

[Ash]

So she was still confused by the telegram, but she was sure it was some kind of indication that something was wrong and that Claire and Dora needed help. So she booked the only ticket that she could on the boat as a third class passenger and left for Washington.

[Alayna]

What a badass.

[Ash]

On May 8th.

[Alayna]

Yeah, that's a. That's somebody who loved them.

[Ash]

When I say she's the closest thing to a mom they had, this woman was essentially their mother.

[Alayna]

Yeah. That's like love.

[Ash]

Yeah, big time. So when she finally arrived in the U.S. margaret was met by Sam Hazard at the train station.

[Alayna]

Oh, no.

[Ash]

And they traveled by bus to Margaret's hotel in Seattle. It was during the bus ride that Sam told Margaret awful news. Claire had died.

[Alayna]

Holy.

[Ash]

So she had just got this telegram from Claire. Couldn't shake it. Figured out that, like, something was up, got there. And by the time she got there, Claire had already died.

[Alayna]

And according, she didn't even have any health problems before.

[Ash]

No. No health problems. She starved to death.

[Alayna]

Wow.

[Ash]

She literally starved to death. According to Sam and Linda, Claire's death had been caused by a, quote, course of drugs she had been given in childhood, which had, quote, shrunk her internal organs and caused cirrhosis of the liver.

[Alayna]

No. Yeah.

[Ash]

By the time the sisters had reached the clinic, Linda said Claire's illness was too far advanced for the, quote, beautiful treatment to be of any use.

[Alayna]

Beautiful treatment. Yeah.

[Ash]

So when Margaret finally reached the mortuary Where Claire's body was on display. She was shocked by what she saw in death. A once vibrant young woman who she had known since childhood was a shadow of herself. Claire was alarmingly emaciated. There are photos if you do that.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

It's horrible. And they're of her living.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

And her features, like her face, her hands, the color of her hair had all become distorted to the point that everything just looked wrong. Margaret did not recognize this girl. It's true.

[Alayna]

It's horrifying. Yeah.

[Ash]

So the horrifying revelations continued, unfortunately, once they arrived at Wilderness Heights, where Margaret was taken into Dora's room. To her horror, Dora looked like she also might die at any minute.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

By that time, she weighed 50 pounds. Dora.

[Alayna]

Wow.

[Ash]

And according to Lovejoy, quote, her sitting bones protruding so sharply, she couldn't sit down without pain.

[Alayna]

Oh, my God.

[Ash]

So she was so small that she couldn't sit down because her bones were protruding through her skin.

[Alayna]

Holy shit. And there's a picture of her, too. Yeah. Living, obviously. And it is horrifying.

[Ash]

No, it's scary. To Margaret, everything about what the Hazards told her seemed wrong, though she knew these girls since they were little, and she didn't remember them ever having any kind of medical treatment that would have caused chronic problems like they were saying. And although she wasn't a doctor, she could easily see that Dora was starving to death.

[Alayna]

Absolutely.

[Ash]

And she suspected that Claire's death might have also been related to the treatments that she was getting from Linda Hazard. But despite all of that, Dora remained committed to staying with Linda in Washington. In fact, to Margaret's continued horror, even if Dora had wanted to leave Wilderness Heights at that point, it seemed unlikely that she could. Because at some point during their time in Washington, both girls made Linda Hazard the executor of their estate. And Dora signed over power of attorney to Sam.

[Alayna]

You will never tell me that these people, the Hazards, are not fucking diabolical evil.

[Ash]

Fuck diabolical evil.

[Alayna]

You will never convince me if that if they are having people sign over their estates and making them have power of attorney over their estates. You're fucking evil.

[Ash]

And just slowly killing people and watching them torture away like she is. This is so, like, all forms of murder are obviously, like, unthinkable.

[Alayna]

This is such a different.

[Ash]

This is on another level. Like, this is slow, methodical, prolonged creature. Yeah, it's so Margaret wants to do something, but she's technically a servant, or what was considered a servant at that time. So she lacked the confidence or the authority to remove Dora from The sanitarium herself.

[Alayna]

She must have felt so helpless.

[Ash]

She did. But she wasn't just gonna leave Dora there to die.

[Alayna]

No way.

[Ash]

So it just seemed that she wasn't really a match for Linda Hazard. Because Linda was also known to have a very dominating personality. But in the days that followed, Margaret stayed in Washington. And she just sat there, Trying to come up with a plan to save Dora.

[Alayna]

Margaret. Yeah, Margaret. Yeah.

[Ash]

That's a real one. During that time, she was keeping in regular contact with the Hazards, too. And she started to notice some shocking things. It appeared since Claire's death that Linda and Sam had helped themselves to Claire's personal items. Clothing, jewelry, Just all of her stuff, which totaled nearly $6,000 then. And would be over $200,000 today of personal belongings.

[Alayna]

They are evil fucking assholes. Holy shit.

[Ash]

And, oh, evil assholes. To add insult to injury, Linda Hazard even gave Margaret an update on Dora's condition While she was dressed in one of Claire's robes.

[Alayna]

Shut the up.

[Ash]

Yeah, she's evil. No, she's truly evil.

[Alayna]

She's straight up evil. She.

[Ash]

I don't think she ever had the plot to begin with, but if she did, she lost the plot.

[Alayna]

That is evil.

[Ash]

Evil. So, knowing there was nothing she could do to help Dora herself, Margaret decided to reach out to the girl's uncle, John Herbert, who luckily lived in nearby Portland, Oregon, at this time. When he received word, he immediately traveled to Alala and was equally shocked to find Dora in the state she was in. But when he demanded that he be allowed to take her away, he was met with the same challenges that Margaret had run into. Dora was technically there of her own free will. And even if they argued that she was in no condition to make that decision for herself, Sam Hazard had power of attorney.

[Alayna]

Oh, yeah. They made sure they covered every base. Yeah.

[Ash]

In the end, after much arguing, Herbert agreed to pay the Hazards a thousand dollars in order to be allowed to remove Dora from Wilderness Heights and take her to a proper hospital. So this is all about money.

[Alayna]

That's the thing. These are adults. Yeah. The fact that they have to pay these people a thousand dollars to take another adult out of their care Shows you how diabolical they are.

[Ash]

And shows you not only how diabolical they are, but the fact that this is just all about money.

[Alayna]

It's all money.

[Ash]

It's all money.

[Alayna]

Yeah. The fact that she's wearing her Claire's clothing. Yeah. Like, get the out of here.

[Ash]

While she's sitting there telling a loved one about Claire's sister's Condition.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

So in the past, legal challenges to Linda's treatment had failed, like we know, because the prosecutor couldn't get past the protections that Linda and Sam were hiding behind. And it seemed like the death of Claire Williamson wasn't going to be any different. But this time, there was an element that Sam and Linda hadn't counted on. Claire and Dora Williamson weren't her typical patients. Nope. They were extremely wealthy. And while Dora herself might not have been able to mount a campaign to get any kind of justice, there were several other powerful people behind her who were now very eager to pursue this.

[Alayna]

Hell, yeah. Yeah. Take them down.

[Ash]

So the uncle, John Herbert went to the district Attorney to see what could be done about this. And he received the same answer that everybody else had. We really can't do anything about this. But he was like, yeah, that, that. So after getting nowhere with the District Attorney, he went to the British Consulate.

[Alayna]

Hell, yeah.

[Ash]

And sought the advice of Counselor Lucien Agassi. And after doing some digging, Agassiz discovered the large number of deaths connected to the hazards. And the suspicious detail that several of those patients had signed over their estates to Hazard right before they died.

[Alayna]

Exactly. You can't ignore that.

[Ash]

Not even immediately right before they die. Which goes to show you, she's starving these people to tell them that they're going to be cured of their ailments, but they're getting so foggy in their mind because they have no fucking sustenance.

[Alayna]

Exactly.

[Ash]

That they're like, oh, yeah, like, okay, I'll sign.

[Alayna]

That's part of torture. Like, that's literally part of torture is like, lack of sleep, which is going to come with being starved, starvation, like. Like deprivation of all those things that you need because it makes you loopy and will make you either say things you don't actually mean. Yep. Or sign away things that you don't know what you're even signing.

[Ash]

Exactly.

[Alayna]

Like they did. They were diabolical with this. They really were.

[Ash]

They were diabolical. And methodical.

[Alayna]

Very methodical.

[Elena]

The town of AGDA in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex. But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn. The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption. His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant. Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.

[Alayna]

I am the Archangel Michael.

[Elena]

The whole town has been thrown into.

[Alayna]

Chaos as the mayor is unable to carry out his duties. I would like to address you all legal proceedings have been initiated.

[Elena]

Join me, Anna Richardson, and journalist Leo Scheek for the mystic and the Mayor, as we investigate a story of power, corruption and magic. Binge all episodes of the mystic and the Mayor, exclusively and ad free right now on Wondery. Plus, start your free trial in Apple podcasts, Spotify, or the Wondery app.

[Ash]

So, obviously the problem was, in order to push for an investigation, Agassi would need a living victim to make a complaint, and Dora wasn't in any condition to do so. She weighs 50 fucking pounds at this time, and she's sitting in a hospital bed. But luckily, within a few days, he ended up finding the wife of a man who almost died at Wilderness Heights. And the two of them were willing to make a complaint.

[Alayna]

Yes. Go, girls.

[Ash]

On August 6, 1911, Linda Hazzard was finally arrested, this time for manslaughter.

[Alayna]

Good.

[Ash]

In the death of Claire Williamson, and she was placed in a holding cell in Seattle. She told her reporter, I'll get $10,000 bail, all right? The doctors have been angry because I've been successful with my cure. And when Claire died, they thought they had a great chance out of the way, but they won't do it.

[Alayna]

Oh, go yourself.

[Ash]

Also charged in connection with the case was E.R. butterworth, the owner of a local mortuary who was alleged to help Linda cover up their crimes.

[Alayna]

Er.

[Ash]

Er.

[Alayna]

Emergency.

[Ash]

Butterworth Emergency.

[Alayna]

You don't. You don't deserve that last name.

[Ash]

No, you don't.

[Alayna]

That's a cool, sweet, like syrup.

[Ash]

No, you're gross. You're the meanest, rude.

[Alayna]

I'm too tired.

[Ash]

She had food poisoning, and I'm in the middle of this story.

[Alayna]

Okay, yeah, so that.

[Ash]

So after her arrest, Linda and Sam did everything they could to dominate and control the narrative. She said that Dora was mentally incompetent. She claimed that Claire explicitly asked the Hazards to take over care of Dora once she was gone, and even signed over the estate to cover any costs associated with that. Claire wanted this. She said.

[Alayna]

Oh, yeah.

[Ash]

She said. Claire wanted to be sure I would be paid for my services if she died.

[Alayna]

Okay. Are you kidding me? Yeah. She even gives a about that.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Alayna]

After I die, I don't care what happens. I don't give a. I don't care what happens.

[Ash]

And also, Linda, I doubt Claire said that even if she did, she was delirious because she was starving. Yes, but of course, Linda even tried her usual tactic of domination during the grand jury, but it proved ineffective on them. They were like, yeah, we're not starving, and we think you're An During Dora's testimony, she eventually became well enough where she could give testimony. She gave detailed descriptions of the horrors she and her sister suffered at the hands of Linda and Sam. And during that, Linda would, quote, blaze, hate and defiance at the. At her prosecutor, her voice shrill and high, ringing through the courtroom.

[Alayna]

Oh, she must have been such.

[Ash]

Oh, yeah, she was definitely.

[Alayna]

Oh, I can just hear it.

[Ash]

Definitely domineering. But after hearing the extent of her. Of the testimony and witnessing Linda's behavior, she really didn't do herself any favors there.

[Alayna]

No.

[Ash]

The judge allowed the case to move forward to trial.

[Alayna]

Hell, yeah.

[Ash]

So the trial started on January 15, 1912, to a courtroom packed with curious spectators. And the Hazards critics who had been around for years at this point. Just fucking waiting for something to happen. Among the 39 witnesses planned by the defense, more than a quarter were medical experts who would testify the harm caused by Linda's fasting program. The state's case was led by Thomas Stevenson. And it was pretty simple. It was designed to demonstrate criminal intent rather than just negligence alone.

[Alayna]

Yeah, because this isn't just negligence.

[Ash]

No, Once you.

[Alayna]

It's like pure criminal intent.

[Ash]

It's like we've been saying all along. Once you get the money into this. Yeah, it's clear what you were doing.

[Alayna]

It's clear what was happening.

[Ash]

And he argued that. He said Linda and Sam Hazard lured the two young women to Washington with the intention of swindling them out of their inheritance and just allowing them to starve to death. The defense, on the other hand, had nearly twice as many witnesses, but mostly patients who had received care from Linda and would provide a counter narrative about how their lives had been saved.

[Alayna]

Thank.

[Ash]

Thanks to her.

[Alayna]

Oh, stop.

[Ash]

Which most hadn't.

[Alayna]

No.

[Ash]

The most compelling testimony came a few days into the trial. When Dora Williamson told her story of life under Liza Linda Hazard's care. She told the jury, I was quite well before going to Washington, except for a slight attack of indigestion. And am, as a rule, very healthy. Claire was also very well, except for a weakness peculiar. Peculiar to a woman which had troubled her for more or less than five years. And she went on to explain that Linda's methods were unlike anything she had ever experienced. And involved, quote, unquote, vigorous slapping.

[Alayna]

Oh, yeah.

[Ash]

Starvation and hydrotherapies. Where female patients were bathed by young male attendants.

[Alayna]

Oh, so now we're getting even worse here. Yeah. Cool. Linda. Yup.

[Ash]

According to Dora, the sisters told Linda that they were planning to leave in late April or early May. And that they had intended to Go on a visit with their former governess in Australia. And Dora said. She told us that her treatment would do us a great deal of good and that we would be wonderfully benefited. But it became clear to both of them that things at Wilderness Heights were not what they expected them to be. And that was when Dora said, I began to live in fear of Dr. Hazard. Often she was harsh and unkind to me, Especially when I cried because of my weakness.

[Alayna]

Oh, my God. What an. Yeah. What an.

[Ash]

And what a scary individual.

[Alayna]

What an. Dr. Linda Hazard.

[Ash]

You're an cross off Dr. Linda Hazard.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Nobody.

[Alayna]

Quack, quack. Linda Hazard. Quack, quack.

[Ash]

Like, you suck. Like, harsh.

[Alayna]

Because they're crying. Because she's torturing them.

[Ash]

Like.

[Alayna]

What the.

[Ash]

You have to be.

[Alayna]

I'm not shocked, though. Didn't she, like, abandon her children? She just, like, had no intention of taking them away.

[Ash]

And who knows what happened to her first husband.

[Alayna]

Any instinct of being kind to another human being there. So.

[Ash]

Testimony was also offered by the girl's uncle, John Herbert, who told the jury that he had serious concerns that the body in Claire's coffin wasn't even her body. Whoa. Wasn't even her.

[Alayna]

Whoa.

[Ash]

He told the jury the body in the coffin did not resemble Claire and Claire's in life. Claire's hair was brown. The being in the coffin had hair and eyelashes of a lighter hue.

[Alayna]

The being in the coffin.

[Ash]

The being in the coffin.

[Alayna]

And so they. So her hair is lighter now.

[Ash]

Her hair was lighter. And remember, Margaret said that, too.

[Alayna]

Maybe it wasn't.

[Ash]

It might not have been. And if you think about it, she had a deal with somebody at the mortuary.

[Alayna]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ash]

They might have just been.

[Alayna]

Oh, damn. I think they were doing that. Yeah, that makes sense.

[Ash]

But it's also, like, why?

[Alayna]

That's the thing. I'm like, where is she?

[Ash]

Where is she?

[Alayna]

Did she look worse?

[Ash]

Probably.

[Alayna]

Like there might have been evidence of more abuse.

[Ash]

Absolutely.

[Alayna]

On her.

[Ash]

I think so.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

But he also explained that he was prevented from taking Dora away from Wilderness Heights by the Hazards, who managed to get her to sign over power of attorney. And how he expected, suspected them of having stolen much of their wealth with a plan to steal more once Dora died. Hell, yeah, it is. Remember, she was. Dora was £50 when somebody.

[Alayna]

Yeah, they were working on that.

[Ash]

As expected, the defense denied the charges against Linda, offering several witnesses, Many of whom worked at the sanitarium.

[Alayna]

Yeah, that's not a conflict.

[Ash]

Hello. And they testified that the young women were not being starved or mistreated. One nurse told the jury, we felt sometimes that we were being. We were even giving the patient too much food.

[Alayna]

Wow. Let's look into your background too. Now.

[Ash]

One extra cup of tea. Are, you know, kidding me right now? That's really gonna. That's gonna tick them over.

[Alayna]

How do they find this many to work in one place and sit there and be like, yeah, I thought I was overfeeding them. When this grown woman is 50 pounds, it's insane.

[Ash]

It's insane.

[Alayna]

And people are dying left and right of being starved to death. And you're like, I thought I was overfeeding them.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Alayna]

How did they find you? How did you all find each other?

[Ash]

You can't even like, conceive of it.

[Alayna]

No, I can't. I can't conceive of that way of thinking.

[Ash]

And I really have never met anybody who's capable of this.

[Alayna]

No. It's so scary.

[Ash]

But the defense wasn't just looking to reject the charges. They were actually looking to frame Linda as a victim of the state. She was the victim here.

[Alayna]

Oh, yeah.

[Ash]

According to them, she had offered life saving treatments to patients who suffered long term from previously untreatable illnesses. And for that, she was being persecuted by the medical industry. Wow.

[Alayna]

Wah, wah, wah, wow.

[Ash]

Call the wambulance.

[Alayna]

Because she's not part of the medical industry.

[Ash]

Exactly.

[Alayna]

She's a big. If you want to be part of.

[Ash]

The medical industry, go get your degree.

[Alayna]

Yeah, you're a scam artist. You're not doing medically.

[Ash]

But she and her defense attorney explained that Claire had not died from starvation, but from a previous illness. So it was impossible to hold Linda accountable for something when it was well beyond her control. Wrong answer. Thomas Stevenson had expected the tactics used by Hazard's lawyer, and he was ready for cross examination. And not only did he highlight the ways where the defense. The defense's witnesses testimony was directly contradicted by the evidence, he also accused several of them of having been coached by Linda in terms of what to tell the jury.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

And in the case of Watson Webb, a patient and sometimes assistant at Wilderness Heights, it was revealed that he had been instructed to form friendships with other patients to get personal and sensitive information from them which could later be used to keep them compliant.

[Alayna]

What else do you need to know? Yeah, what else? Yeah. By the beginning, they're so fucking evil.

[Ash]

And so. And again, so methodical.

[Alayna]

And the worst part is these are. They are preying on people who are suffering and suffering, like, desperate in pain, sick, and just like desperate to feel better. Yep. And they're having like they're going this far into manipulating and torturing and hurting people and scamming them, like, for money. What the.

[Ash]

And she claims that her whole thing was that she wanted people to be relieved from these.

[Alayna]

You didn't want at all.

[Ash]

It's like. No, you didn't.

[Alayna]

You wanted their money.

[Ash]

Exactly. By the beginning of February, though, both sides had rested their case and prepared for closing statements. And Stevenson told the jury, this case is of unusual significance. We are not here to avenge the death of Claire Williamson, but to protect the public, not only from Mrs. Hazard, but from others like her. There are other Claire Williamsons all over the US who may fall into the clutches of a woman such as this. When Dorothea and Claire first came to Mrs. Hazzard, she thought they were just ordinary patients coming to be plucked. But when she found out they were women of great means and she had them in her power, she developed the criminal intent. She allowed Claire to die friendless and alone. But she could not get rid of Dora. So she did the next best thing. She had herself appointed as Dora's guardian.

[Alayna]

Yeah. She's evil. She's a monster.

[Ash]

She is, as expected, Linda's lawyer, Ed. She has a thing for like E. Yeah, E. Names, car. Argued against nearly everything the prosecution said. He told the jury. The real reason for this prosecution is that Mrs. Hazard is not a college graduate. Her offense consists of not having been educated in the school of hard knocks.

[Alayna]

Take every single fucking seat in the courtroom. Sir.

[Ash]

Shut up.

[Alayna]

Every single fucking seat. This is not a snobby. She doesn't have her medical license.

[Ash]

And that's why we're mad.

[Alayna]

She's literally actively torturing and killing and starving people and stealing their money.

[Ash]

And it's being proven.

[Alayna]

Can we not pretend that we're just. Poor Linda didn't get a degree. Shut the fuck up.

[Ash]

Stop it. It's also been proven at this point that she's coached her witnesses.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

On her side of the thing. And that she hired people to get personal information to use and hold over the heads of people to get compliant. Exactly.

[Alayna]

Like we're really pretending. Poor Linda. She didn't get. She didn't get a degree. Yeah. Too bad.

[Ash]

I think it's okay.

[Alayna]

So for real.

[Ash]

Be so for real right now.

[Alayna]

Holy.

[Ash]

He went on to address the charges, though, saying she's lost some patience. But where is the physician who is not indeed punishment, should it be necessary at all, could be handled by the market itself. If she isn't doing good, her practice will dwindle and she will have to go back to that garden.

[Alayna]

Wow. I'm like, speechless.

[Ash]

Okie dokie.

[Alayna]

Cool.

[Ash]

Anyway, the jury deliberated for 20 hours, which is far too long, in my opinion, before emerging to finally find Linda Hazard guilty of manslaughter.

[Alayna]

Bye.

[Ash]

In fact, when the jury was pulled, five members were in favor actually, of finding her guilty of first degree murder.

[Alayna]

I would have been counted among those five, to be quite honest. Same.

[Ash]

I would have been counted among all five. Me, I would have been all five.

[Alayna]

Would have taken up all five of them. Yeah.

[Ash]

But unfortunately they were in the minority. Minority. So the lesser charge was applied. At least there's a fucking charge.

[Alayna]

Thank goodness there's a charge. But like, kind of kooky that it wasn't a higher charge, truly.

[Ash]

When the verdict was read, Linda had a complete breakdown in the courtroom.

[Alayna]

Get the. Over it, Linda.

[Ash]

And she was removed. This is so interesting to me. She was removed from the courtroom and placed in the home of a local woman who had been approved to care for female prisoners between verdict and sentencing.

[Alayna]

I have never heard of that.

[Ash]

I have never heard of that.

[Alayna]

And who now I'm very interested in that.

[Ash]

I feel like that would be. So many implications come with that.

[Alayna]

Absolutely.

[Ash]

Like, are you gonna hold me hostage?

[Alayna]

Who's this Local woman?

[Ash]

She's brave.

[Alayna]

Someone should interview her.

[Ash]

Brazen, in fact.

[Alayna]

She's. But she's. She's probably. She's probably like a brick house. Like, don't go with her. She's gotta be like, you got it. Like, she can kick your ass. I guarantee you she's not scared. Yeah.

[Ash]

She's not. She's not little or frail.

[Alayna]

Frail or flail.

[Ash]

Or flail.

[Alayna]

She won't flail. And she's not frail, Quote, unquote frail. I've lost the ability to speak. I don't.

[Ash]

The same. Same me as well.

[Alayna]

I'm just very interested in this local woman. I know.

[Ash]

No, so was I. We need to give her a backstory.

[Alayna]

I need to learn more about her.

[Ash]

Local woman.

[Alayna]

Who are you? Who are you?

[Ash]

Show yourself. So later that day, reporters were told that Linda was in no condition to speak.

[Alayna]

Oh, no.

[Ash]

Us either.

[Alayna]

Poor Linda.

[Ash]

So her husband Sam spoke on her behal. Sam told them that her collapse, quote, resulted from the shock of the verdict, since Linda had been fully confident that she would be acquitted.

[Alayna]

Oh, no. It was the consequences of her very up actions.

[Ash]

Can you imagine?

[Alayna]

So sad for her. He added.

[Ash]

The most unfortunate thing was the statement made in court tonight that Mrs. Hazard is at the end of her rope financially. She has ample Funds as soon as she can get at them. Yeah.

[Alayna]

She stole them from the people that she's been. Been starving to death. Exactly.

[Ash]

I also love that he was like. The most upsetting thing was that they said she was poor.

[Alayna]

Yeah. They said she didn't have a lot of money.

[Ash]

She has so much money from those dead people. Like, damn, Jesus Christ, Sam. Get it together.

[Alayna]

Get it fully together.

[Ash]

But of course, true to form, with his wife facing a very lengthy jail sentence, his biggest concern was the insinuation that they were poor.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Unreal.

[Alayna]

Yeah. He doesn't give a.

[Ash]

He's like, we are not poor. A few days later, Linda Hazard was back before the judge where she was sentenced between 2 and 20 years of. Of hard labor at the state penitentiary in Walla Walla, which is a fun place to say Walla Walla. And her license to practice medicine in Washington was permanently revoked. Bye.

[Alayna]

Bye. I also love her husband was also like. He's like, how dare you say we're poor? Because now I won't be able to get lots of ladies because they gotta think I'm poor. Like, that was his only thought there. I'm not poor. It was not even like, don't say my wife is poor. It was like, don't fucking say I'm poor. Yeah.

[Ash]

Don't spread around.

[Alayna]

Don't put that around. I'm. I'm going to go out and date. She's gone for a while. I'm out.

[Ash]

My girl's at hard labor.

[Alayna]

Yeah, that's Sam for you.

[Ash]

Exactly. He was out anyway, even the whole time they were married. So Linda would maintain her innocence forever and claim that she had always been working in the best interest of her patients.

[Alayna]

Babe, no one believes that.

[Ash]

Was that when you were vigorously slapping them?

[Alayna]

Yeah. None among us.

[Ash]

She would say that death was to be expected in a sanitarium. And in fact, she had lost far fewer patients than most surgeons.

[Alayna]

She has some.

[Ash]

She has some gall.

[Alayna]

She has the most insane complex about actual medical professionals.

[Ash]

Sure does that. I've like.

[Alayna]

I'm like, you should stop. Yeah. Because it's so obvious how jealous you are.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Alayna]

And how inferior you feel to actual medical professionals. Yeah. Like, you should stop.

[Ash]

You gotta stop, girl.

[Alayna]

She's like, surgeons kill people all the time.

[Ash]

It's like. And so do you.

[Alayna]

They're not starving people, though. No, they're not.

[Ash]

It's a little different.

[Alayna]

They are actively trying to save people's lives.

[Ash]

There are accidents.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

And there are.

[Alayna]

And then there's straight up starvation. Yeah. And vigorously slapping People and giving them hours long enemas and allowing them passing.

[Ash]

Out young female patients to be bathed by male attendants.

[Alayna]

Like, let's. Let's not. Do you want to keep talking about surgeons some more?

[Ash]

She did.

[Alayna]

She sure did.

[Ash]

She said any financial compensation she received, directly or indirectly, was merely to cover the costs of patients healthcare.

[Alayna]

No.

[Ash]

Or given as thanks for having provided them relief where others had failed. Of course doctors had failed.

[Alayna]

You should always tip your doctor for saving their life. Saving your life. Yeah, totally.

[Ash]

That's how that works.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

As a show of commitment to her own treatment, she frequently spent long periods fasting in her cell in Walla Walla in order to prove the value of the practice.

[Alayna]

Go ahead, girl.

[Ash]

Yeah, go ahead, girl.

[Alayna]

Go ahead.

[Ash]

Get down. Linda Hazard was released on parole on December 26, 1915 after serving only two years.

[Alayna]

What the fuck? Two years? Yep.

[Ash]

For reasons that remain unclear, everybody. Just one year after her release, the governor at the time, Ernest Lister, gave her a full pardon. She got a full pardon.

[Alayna]

What was going on with them? Big things. What was going on?

[Ash]

That was my immediate thought as well.

[Alayna]

What the. The was going on with them?

[Ash]

Luckily though, he was unable to return her medical licensed.

[Alayna]

What the is wrong with you?

[Ash]

Yeah, something was definitely going on.

[Alayna]

Why.

[Ash]

Why give this random hoe a part.

[Alayna]

Of like, literally like.

[Ash]

I'm sorry, I would I reserve those words for. For women like this.

[Alayna]

Yeah. What? What I. I need to. That's one of those times when you go, you come out here and you explain. You explain to me. They was explain to me why the fuck you are not only fully pardoning her. Are you kidding me? But two, trying and failing to get her medical license back. Yeah. Yeah. Come on.

[Ash]

Yeah, come on.

[Alayna]

If you weren't, that's canon now. Because you made it certainly seem like you were.

[Ash]

You made it so weird.

[Alayna]

There is no conceivable reason.

[Ash]

Ernest, be so you would do well right now.

[Alayna]

Truly earnest.

[Ash]

You are not earnest.

[Alayna]

No.

[Ash]

So later that year, Linda and Sam moved to New Zealand. Probably because Sam was like, I can cheat on you, but you can't cheat on me.

[Alayna]

Yeah. No.

[Ash]

And she continued to promote herself as a doctor there and offered services as an osteopath and a dietitian.

[Alayna]

Wow. Yeah.

[Ash]

Awesome. When the authorities in Auckland became aware of the fact that she did not have an actual license and was not even a doctor, she was arrested again. And find in a scene that was reminiscent of her early days of practicing in Minnesota.

[Alayna]

Awesome.

[Ash]

Homegirl just spent forever in jail.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

But not long enough at all. In 1920, she and Sam moved back to Alala, Washington, where she was determined to rebuild her sanitarium.

[Alayna]

Girl, Give it up.

[Ash]

Where she dubbed what she dubbed a school for health.

[Alayna]

Give it up.

[Ash]

She didn't just ream it. What it is. And there she continued to treat patients through a quote unquote variety of alternative health practices, which remained a legal practice thanks to the various loopholes in law.

[Alayna]

Cool. Yeah. Awesome.

[Ash]

She oversaw operations of the institute until 1935. Would it burn to the ground due to unknown causes?

[Alayna]

I don't know if those causes are completely unknown, everybody.

[Ash]

It burned to the ground.

[Alayna]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the causes are not entirely unknown.

[Ash]

One thing about me is. I love that.

[Alayna]

One thing about me is. That's karma.

[Ash]

One thing about me is. As long as no one is hurt.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

That's a.

[Alayna]

Okay. Yeah. Get everybody out. See that building burn? Yeah. Bye. Bye.

[Ash]

Then in her early 70s, Linda's health began to fail.

[Alayna]

Oh, no. But she knows how to fix it. Thank goodness.

[Ash]

Yeah. She turned to the same treatments that she once provided her patients.

[Alayna]

Yeah. She has a miracle cure.

[Ash]

Long periods, fasting in the hope of curing herself.

[Alayna]

Cool.

[Ash]

But in the end, those hopes were dashed.

[Alayna]

What?

[Ash]

On June 24, 1938, in the most ironic twist of fate, Linda Hazard died from starvation. Linda Hazzard died from her miracle cure, which was really just starvation.

[Alayna]

That's. That's. That's.

[Ash]

That's prose.

[Alayna]

Period. That's just. Period. Yeah, that's what that is. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you. You reap what you sow, my friend.

[Ash]

You sure do.

[Alayna]

You starved other people claiming it was a miracle cure.

[Ash]

You stole their shit.

[Alayna]

Stole all their shit. Lied to their family members. Possibly working with a corrupt mortician. Yeah. Yeah.

[Ash]

And the saddest thing is, nobody even knows how many people died under her care because not everything was documented.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

And she got away with it a lot.

[Alayna]

Yeah. That's why she was doing it for the.

[Ash]

That's why she continued to do it.

[Alayna]

It.

[Ash]

So that is the story of Linda Hazard and her fucked up life.

[Alayna]

That is horrifying.

[Ash]

The fact that she died of starvation, though, is just like full cirque.

[Alayna]

That's. I mean, I just. I could never.

[Ash]

I could absolutely never.

[Alayna]

I could never.

[Ash]

No.

[Alayna]

I just can't. I can't. I can't imagine any of this. I literally can't imagine any of this. And again, the knowing that these people were, like, literally desperate to just feel even slightly better. Yeah. And they went to this place thinking that it was someone who genuinely wanted to help them feel better. And they put all their faith and all their, you know, everything into them and all their trust. And these people were the worst fucking people.

[Ash]

This was a nightmare facility.

[Alayna]

Like, to go through chronic pain, chronic illness, whatever they were going through, and then get to this place and be literally starved and tortured. That's the thing.

[Ash]

That's even more pain and suffering that they dealt with on top of whatever conditions they had.

[Alayna]

Like, while they're already feeling horrible, now they're being tortured and starved on top of it and abused apparently, like hit and shit. Like what?

[Ash]

This whole. I had never heard of this before. This shook me to my core.

[Alayna]

I had heard something very. I don't remember where I heard it, but I heard like a super quick, like, thing about it once. And I was like, what is that?

[Ash]

Yeah, it's messed up.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

It's just so sad. I just don't know how people are capable.

[Alayna]

It's awful.

[Ash]

I really don't.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

So that's crazy. Do something kind today.

[Alayna]

Yeah. Truly, don't.

[Ash]

Don't be a bag.

[Alayna]

Don't hurt people.

[Ash]

Don't hurt people. Hurt people. It's true. And you're not hurt.

[Alayna]

You're not. You're fine.

[Ash]

You're doing great.

[Alayna]

You're good. You're awesome.

[Ash]

I believe in you.

[Alayna]

You're gonna be doing awesome things.

[Ash]

Go get yourself a treat.

[Alayna]

Yeah.

[Ash]

I had a donut this morning.

[Alayna]

Get yourself a treat. Yeah. Whatever a treat is to you, get it. Yeah. It can be anything.

[Ash]

Anything.

[Alayna]

Yeah. If you think of bowl of strawberries as a treat, go get a treat.

[Ash]

A bowl of strawberries is a treat.

[Alayna]

It is. Especially fresh strawberries.

[Ash]

Fresh strawberries. You put a little bit of sugar on top or a little whipped cream. You took the words out of my mouth.

[Alayna]

Yeah. Go get yourself a little treat.

[Ash]

And then just, you know what? On top of angel food cake. Oh, just make it a strawberry shortcut.

[Alayna]

Yeah, do that. Okay. We're leaving you that. Yeah.

[Ash]

We love you and we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird. But not as weird as Linda and her starvation heights project from nightmares.

[Alayna]

Yeah, she thinks sucks.

[Ash]

She is a cuckoo.

[Alayna]

So does Sam.

[Ash]

Oh, Sam's.

[Alayna]

They all suck.

[Ash]

Everybody's horrible.

[Alayna]

Yes.

[Ash]

No, nobody's good. Except Margaret. And Uncle.

[Alayna]

And Uncle. Yeah.

[Ash]

And Uncle Herbert.

[Alayna]

Uncle. Uncle Herbert. Uncle Herbert to the rescue. Uncle Herbert. Oh, man.

[Ash]

If you like morbid, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.