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

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

At the dawn of the twentieth-century, major advances in science and technology brought incredible change to the field of medicine, enhancing and extending the lives of millions. Yet at the same time, a lax regulations and minimal oversight made it possible for countless medical grifters to get rich offering quack medical solutions to everything from whooping cough to cancer, sometimes at the expense of their patient’s lives.When Linda Hazzard opened her sanitarium, the Institute of Natural Therapeutics at Wilderness Heights, in Olalla, Washington in the first decade of the 1900s, she claimed her rigid fasting and elimination approach to dieting was a miracle cure for a variety of illnesses, both trivial and serious. For years, Hazzard operated what amounted to a health retreat for the wealthy, without any oversight from the state or federal agencies. In the end, Hazzard’s starvation cure resulted in the deaths of over a dozen people and her arrest and trial for manslaughter, but through all of it, she maintained it was a viable treatment—standing by her methods up until they ended her own life.Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesHines, Terrence. 1997. "Starvation Heights." Skeptical Inquirer. Lovejoy, Bess. 2014. "The doctor who starved her patients to death." Smithsonian Magazine, October 28.Olsen, Gregg. 2005. Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest. New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group.Seattle Daily Times. 1911. "Erdman diary tells method of treatment." Seattle Daily Times, August 14.Seattle Star. 1908. "Charged with starving eight-months-old baby." Seattle Star, January 30: 1.—. 1911. "Denies she 'fasted' 2 girls." Seattle Star, August 9: 3.—. 1911. "'Fast cure' woman is arrested." Seattle Star, August 7: 3.—. 1909. "Prosecutors think they can put a stop to starvation cure." Seattle Star, June 26: 1.—. 1908. "Sign doesn't make a doctor." Seattle Star, June 8: 6.—. 1909. "Woman starves to death under care of Dr. L.B. Hazzard." Seattle Star, June 24: 1.—. 1908. "WQeeden case leads to Dr. Hazzard's arrest." Seattle Star, January 31: 1.Tacoma Daily Ledger. 1912. "Dr. Hazzard has her first inning." Tacoma Daily Ledger, Janaury 28: 1.—. 1912. "Dr. Hazzard's trial begins." Tacoma Daily Ledger, January 16: 1.—. 1912. "Final arguments in Hazzard case." Tacoma Daily Ledger, February 3: 2.—. 1912. "Heiress testifies against Dr. Hazzard." Tacoma Daily Ledger, January 20: 1.—. 1912. "Mrs. Hazzard breaks down, and is attended by a dcevoted follower." Tacoma Daily Ledger, February 5: 1.—. 1904. "Samuel Hazzard sent to Minnesota prison." Tacoma Daily Ledger, March 16: 3.—. 1912. "Witnesses deny state's charges." Tacoma Daily Ledger, January 30: 1.—. 1912. "Woman bathed by young men." Tacoma Daily Ledger, January 23: 1.—. 1911. "Woman meet before judge." Tacoma Daily Ledger, October 22: 1. Stay in the know - wondery.fm/morbid-wondery.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey weirdos, before we unleashed today's macab mystery, we were wondering, have you ever heard of Wondery Plus? It's like a secret passage to an ad-free layer with early access to episodes. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or an Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast. If you're shopping while working, eating, or even listening to this podcast, then you know and love the thrill of the hunt. but are you getting the thrill of the best deals? Racketon shoppers do. They get the brands they love with the most savings and cashback, baby, and you can get it too. Start getting cash back at your favorite stores like Uniclo, Best Buy, and Expedia, and even stack sales on top of cashback. It's easy to use

and you get your cash back through PayPal or check. The idea is simple. Stores pay Rakuten for sending them shoppers, and Rakuten shares the money with you as cashback. Download the free Rakuten app and never miss a deal. Or go to racketon.ca to start getting the most bang for your buck. That's r-a-k-u-t-e-n-racketon. Morbid is sponsored by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all-in-one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Who doesn't want to stand out and succeed? Get you a girl who can do both. Every dream needs a domain. Squarespace domains make it easy to find the best name for your business at one fair, all-inclusive price. No hint. and fees or add-ons required. Every Squarespace domain comes with advanced privacy and security

tools included to ensure that your domain remains online and protected. Plus, Squarespace provides everything you need to bring more of your dream to life, whether that means building a website or adding a professional email service. Squarespace gives you everything that you need to offer services and get paid all in one place, from consultations, events, and experiences, showcase your offerings with a customizable website designed to attract clients and grow your business. streamline your workflow with built-in appointment scheduling and email marketing tools. Head to Squarespace.com slash Morbid for a free trial, and when you're ready to launch, use offer code Morbid to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash, and I'm Elena, and this is Morbid. This is morbid in the late morning. Yeah, early afternoon. Early afternoon. What have you? Yeah, I had food poisoning last night. Ew. 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. Hey, you survived. And I survived, and I'm literally drinking. This is not an ad.

I'm drinking liquid. currently. If you felt like shit the night before or like you lost a lot of whatever you had, Liquid IV is the go-to. It really, 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. I got a little bit car sick the other day on the way home. Yeah. And I had a liquid IV after and it helped. Look at. This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. I'm drinking the orange cream

or dreamsicle flavor? I need to try that. One of those. And it's really good. I love like creamsicle flavored anything. 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. That's great. So here I am. It vacates. the premises and now we are back in business 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 yeah it's just one of those i mean you're also living that mom life 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 going to say i usually do yeah but yeah well that was bad news do you guys want some good news. Let's go. There's so much good news to come. But for now, we'll just give you one piece. We are doing a live show. What? And then like a real one. In person. 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. Yeah, don't do it. Just let us have one goddamn live show universe. It's been a while. It's been a long while. been a while. It's literally been like five years.

Yeah. So remember when we were going to do a whole tour? Yeah. COVID just said, yeah, COVID said absolutely not. But we're doing this one live show for now. Yeah. And we're so excited about it. We've been planning it. And we're going to make it like a little different, but really fun.

We want to make it like an experience. Yes, exactly. I was going to say an event, but experiences. We're going to make it an event. It already is. I'm very excited. We're going to meet you guys. Yeah, we're going to do a meet and greet that we're going to do 50 meet and greet us.

So definitely if you want to meet us and greet us. Yeah, we want to meet and greet you. Get those tickets. Tickets are going to go on sale August 8th. I don't know what time. I can update you. Keep an eye on socials. Yeah, we'll make sure to update you guys.

And the link for tickets, obviously, we will be posting on our socials. So keep an eye out for that. That's going to be fun. The countdown is on. We're fucking excited. And it's going to be fun. It's going to be fall, everybody. I'm so excited for it.

We went to T.J. Max, so you should go today. We stopped there. Because they have out their fall decor, and we just summoned Halloween this morning. It felt so right. Felt so good. I got some pumpkin pillows. You just said that like you were disassociating into a blitz. I got some pumpkin pillows.

You just looked zooted off your rocker, my guys. I just went to a place. I went to a place of Halloween. I know. You know. I wanted the diet Coke ghost, but I can't find it. The viral Diet Coke ghost. I'm looking for the viral Diet Coke Ghost.

I'm going to try another home goods later because I'm psychotic like that. Go for it, man. But yeah, I got some pillows. I got, what else did we get? Oh, I got a candle. Of course. I got a candle. 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. Waiting to be torn open. September 1st. Let's go. It's on.

It is. All right. September 1st, it's on. It's on. So on. It's on site. It is on site. So this is part two of Linda Hazard and Starvation Heights.

A horrific tale so far. Yeah, thank you. That's correct. Yeah. This has been awful and it's only going to get worse. Yay. So in part one, we introduced you to the woman who called herself Dr. Linda has.

She's not even a doctor. That's the thing. Thank you. You've taken the words out of my mouth. She had no medical degree to her name. None. But, you know, she called herself her doctor. We went over her strange-ass partner, husband, Sam, and all the drama surrounding they're 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. Yeah. People be people in. People be people in. And philanders be philandering. It's true. 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. Yeah, it definitely wasn't fasting. No, and I don't want to hear it.

I don't want to hear it. I'm not talking about fasting. No. 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? Which is really horrifying. 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. That's when shit feels like it's going to get really shenanagony. Because it's like once you start signing over property and money. Yeah. Yeah. 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 continued to put their faith

and their money into her big idea. 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. Yeah. 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. It's desperation, man. It is. Anybody with chronic illness or pain that they're going through? That's a 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?

But if you don't have chronic pain or chronic illness or anything like that? Then you can't really understand that kind of desperation. You just can. 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. Okay. And they invested a significant amount of money in traveling and experiencing the latest in health trends. That was like their big thing. Okay. They were like health gurus before health gurus. I was just going to say they were like health TikTok girlies

Yeah. Before that was a thing. Yes, exactly. They were trying all the latest things. Yeah. 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-unquote, revolutionary methods. Oh, no. Quote-unquote. Quote-unquote. Isn't that fun to say

like that? Quote and quote-unquote. Neither were ever seriously ill up to this point, but they both had a tendency to indulge in hypochondria a little bit. It can happen. Sure can. You've all seen people like that. And they constantly sought out new fast cures for whatever was ailing them. According to author Best Lovejoy, Dora complained of swollen glands and rheumatic pains, while Claire had been told that she had a dropped uterus. Damn. Which I haven't heard of. Yeah. Yeah. 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 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. Well, Wilderness Heights. 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 an apartment on Seattle's Capitol Hill, and she would just go there daily to quote-unquote provide treatment. Okay. Quote unquote. Quote and quote. Thank you. 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 S. I don't know if I remember that. But it's like tents and candlelights and like it's very like everyone's, you know, dressed in white. I think I actually. Is that when they jump off the thing the next day?

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 going to be fancy. Yeah. We're going to be in these like beautiful tents and candles and bougie tents. Where they're like massive and they have like queen beds of them. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, I want to go to one of those. I was always very jealous of that Life and Death Brigade party. Yeah. Like I want to have a party like that. Invite me. I would go. Yeah, I'll find a wooded area. And you're all invited.

Awesome. All right. So get ready. She just didn't say whether or not it would be haunted. Exactly. Come at your own risk. In every great true crime story, there's always that turning point, the moment somebody decides to change course, most of the time. Well, here's your chance for a turning point of your own.

Meet Fume, the flavored air device designed to help you ditch the bad habits and feel good about what you're reaching for. No nicotine, no vapor, no batteries, just an awesome design and flavors like crisp mint, peach blush, and cinnamon hearts. Let me tell you about this new alternative to smoking and vaping called Flavored Air. Springs, Fing, Shing, Shing, that's my sound effect. Our sponsor Fume have created an award-winning flavored air device that helps people ditch the bad habit of smoking. It was founded on the idea that if we stick to good habits, making change feels easier and less

pressurized. Fume has already helped over 400,000 people take steps towards. better habits, and now it's your turn. Use our Code Morbid to get a free gift with your journey pack. Head to Tryfume. That's tryfum.com. Use Code Morbid to claim this limited time all for today. Yay! The latest installment of the hit Audible Original series, Oracle, is out now. Oracle 3, Murder at the Grand View. Agent Nate Russo is back on the case. When a reunion of friends at an abandoned island hotel ends in tragedy, Nate must unravel the truth. Was it an accident or a cold-blooded murder. And what else is lurking at the Grandview Hotel?

Narrated by Joshua Jackson, it is a bone-chilling and thrilling performance. If you love thrillers and dabble in the supernatural, Oracle is for you. It's the perfect time to start the series. You can listen to one, two, and then three on Audible right now without having to wait. Don't let your fears take hold. Listen now on Audible. her care, Claire and Dora were subjected to days-long fasts with intermittent meals of one cup of the juice from a tomato a couple times a day. Oh. Yeah.

When they weren't resting, the sisters would receive, are you ready? Am I ready? Hours long enemas in a bathtub. Hours long enemas? Hours long enemas. No part of me can conceive of that. 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. Hours feels insane. Hours feels like torture. Like, I'm not even being hyperbolic. That sounds like fucking torture. No, it literally does. 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. So she could continue the enemus. And they're passed out at this point. yeah yeah to me that sounds like torture torture and like and that she's going above and beyond to torture and she's like depraved yeah yeah that's depraved exactly after two months of treatment like this in seattle linda transferred clarendora 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. Wow. Others would have been concerned for their safety, too, if they had any idea what was going on over in Washington. 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. 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. Oh, that's awful. Yeah. So their horrifying experience was finally discovered when their former governess, which is kind of like, it's like a nanny and a teacher. Yeah.

From like way back one. But Margaret Conway, she received a mysterious telegram on April 30th, 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. own 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 ComSS, 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. Yeah. 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 Yeah, yeah So unable to shake the strangers of the telegram Margaret called the steamship company To inquire about the votes arrival And she was surprised to learn That the SS Marama wasn't sailing To Sydney, Australia on May 8th

It was sailing from Sydney to the United States Oh, damn. 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 on May 8th. That's somebody who loved them. When I say she's the closest thing to a mom they had, this woman was essentially their mother. That's, like, love. Yeah, big time. So when she finally arrived in the U.S., Margaret was met by Sam Hazard at the train station.

Oh, no. 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. Holy shit. 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.

And according to... And she didn't even have any health problems before. No, no health problems. She starved to death. Wow. She literally starved to death. According to Sam and Linda, Claire's death had been caused by a quote, quote, course of drugs she had been given in childhood, which had, quote, shrunk her internal organs and

caused cirrhosis of the liver. No. Yeah. 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. Beautiful treatment. Yeah. 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 want to see. Yeah. It's horrible. And they're of her living.

Yeah. 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. Oh.

Margaret did not recognize this girl. It's true. It's horrifying. Yeah. So the horrifying revelations continued, unfortunately, where Margaret was taken into Dora's room. To her horror, Dora looked like she also might die at any minute.

Yeah. By that time, she weighed 50 pounds, Dora. Wow. And according to Lovejoy, quote, her sitting bones protruding so sharply, she couldn't sit down without pain. Oh, my gosh. So she was so small that she couldn't sit down

because her bones were protruding through her skin. And there's a picture of her, too. Yeah. Living, obviously. And it is horrifying. 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. Absolutely. 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. You will never tell me that these people, the hazards,

are not fucking diabolical, evil fucks. Diabolical, evil. You will never convince me. If they're having people sign over their estates and making them have power of attorney over their estates, you're fucking evil. And just slowly killing people and watching them wither away. Like, she's, this is so, like, all forms of murder are obviously, like, unthinkable. This is such a different, this is on another level. Like, this is slow, methodical, prolonged torture.

Yeah. It's fucked. 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. She must have felt so helpless. She did, but she wasn't just going to leave Dora there to die. No way. 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. Margaret. Yeah.

Margaret. Yeah, 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. They are evil fucking assholes. Yep. Holy shit.

Mm-hmm. 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. Shut the fuck up. Yeah. She's evil. No, she's truly evil.

She's straight up evil. She? I don't think she ever happened. the plot to begin with, but if she did, she lost the motherfucking plot. That is evil. 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. Oh, yeah, they made sure they covered everybody.

Yeah. In the end, after much arguing, Herbert agreed to pay the hazards $1,000 in order to be allowed to remove Dora from Wilderness Heights and take her to a proper hospital. So this is all about money. That's the thing. These are adults. Yeah. The fact that they have to pay these people, $1,000.

to take another adult out of their care shows you how fucking diabolical they are. And shows you not only how diabolical they are, but the fact that this is just all about money. It's all money. Yeah. The fact that she's wearing Claire's clothing. Yeah. Like, get the fuck out of here. While she's sitting there telling a loved one about Claire's sister's condition.

Yeah. 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. Hell yeah. Take them down. 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 where we really can't do anything about this but he was like yeah fuck that fuck that so after getting nowhere with the district attorney he went to the british consulate hell yeah and sought the advice of councillor luci and after doing

some digging agassi 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 Exactly. You can't ignore that. Not even immediately, right before they died, 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. That they're like, oh, yeah, like, okay, I'll sign. That's part of torture. Like, that's literally part of torture's like lack of sleep, which is going to come with being starvation, like deprivation of all those things that you need because it makes you loopy and will make you eat. either say things you don't actually mean, or sign away things that you don't know what you're even signing. Exactly. Like they did, they were diabolical with this. Yeah. They really were. They were diabolical and methodical. Very methodical. Hey, weirdos. We need to tell you about something that has completely blown our minds collectively. There's a new show called Lawless Planet. that's uncovering true crime stories so massive,

they're affecting the entire planet. Post-Zat Goldbaum is investigating real cases where environmental destruction meets murder, conspiracy, and cover-ups. We're talking about activists who disappear in the Amazon rainforest, whistleblowers who risk everything to expose deadly corporate secrets, and communities being silently poisoned while powerful people profit. What makes these stories truly terrifying? They're happening right now.

This isn't history. It's a massive criminal conspiracy unfolding, in real time, with consequences that affect us all. Each episode feels like opening a case file into the darkest corners of corporate and government power. Trust us. Once you start listening, you will not be able to stop thinking about these stories. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can listen to new episodes of Lawless Planet, early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. 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 a mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting. I am the Archangel Michael.

The whole town has been thrown into chaos. As the mayor is unable to carry out his duties, I would like to address. you all. Legal proceedings have been initiated. Join me, Anna Richardson and journalist Leo Sheik 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 Wondry Plus. Start your free trial in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or the Wondry app. 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. Yes. Go girls. On August 6th, 1911, Linda Hazard was finally arrested this time for manslaughter. Good. 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 to get me out of the way, but they won't do it. Oh, go fuck yourself. Also charged in connection with the case was ER Butterworth, the owner of a local

mortuary who was alleged to help Linda cover up their crimes. ER. ER. ER Butterworth. Emergency. You don't. You don't deserve that last name. No, you don't. That's a cool last name. You're not sweet like syrup. No. You're gross. You're the meanest rude. I love. I'm too tired. I'm going to come up with the... She had food poisoning and I'm in the middle of this story, okay? Yeah, so fuck that. 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 Doris Cair. Claire wanted this, she said. Oh, yeah. She said, Claire wanted to be sure I would be paid for my services if she died. Okay. Are you kidding me?

Yeah. Who gives a shit about that? Yeah. After I die, I don't care what happens. I don't care what happens to you, 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 asshole. During Dora's testimony, she eventually became well enough where she could give testimony, she gave detailed descriptions of the horrors that she and her sister suffered at the hands of Linda and Sam. And during that, Linda would quote, blaze hate and defiance at her prosecutor, her voice shrill and high ringing through the courtroom. Oh, she must have been such, oh. Yeah, she was definitely, I can just hear it.

Definitely domineering. But after hearing the extent of. of the testimony and witnessing Linda's behavior. She really didn't do herself any favors there. No. The judge allowed the case to move forward to trial. Hell yeah. So the trial started on January 15th, 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

yeah because this isn't just negligence no once it's like we've been it's pure criminal intent it's like we've been saying all along once you get the money into this yeah it's clear what you're doing it's clear what was happening 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 their 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 thanks to her. Oh, stop. Which most hadn't. No. The most compelling testimony came a few days into the trial when Dora Williamson told her story of life under 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 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. Starvation and hydrotherapies where female patients were bathed by young male attendants. Oh, so now we're getting even worse here. Yeah. Cool, Linda. Yep.

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. Oh, my God. What an asshole.

Yeah. What an asshole. And what is scary individual? What an... Dr. Linda Hazard, you're an asshole. Cross-off doctor. Linda Hazard. Yeah.

Nobody. Quack. Quack. Linda Hazard. Quack. Quack. Quack, asshole. Like, you suck.

Yeah. Like harsh because they're crying because she's torturing them. Like, what the. You have to be... I'm not shocked, though. Didn't she, like, abandon her children? She just, like, had no intention of taking care of out.

And who knows what happened to her first husband? I don't see any instinct of being kind to another human being there. No. So, 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. Whoa. 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. The being in the coffin? The being in the coffin. So her hair is lighter now? Her hair was lighter. And remember, Margaret said that too.

Shit, maybe it wasn't. It might not have been. And if you think about it, she had a deal with somebody at the mortuary. Yeah. Yeah, they might have just been... Oh, damn. I think they were doing that.

Yeah. That makes sense. But it's also like, why? That's the thing. I'm like, where is she? Where is she? Did she look worse? Probably.

like there might have been evidence of more abuse on her. I think so. Yeah. 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 suspected them of having stolen much of their wealth with a plan to steal more once Dora died.

Hell yeah. That was their plan. Because they got half of that inheritance. Remember, she was, Dora was 50 pounds when somebody finally got there. Oh yeah, they were working on that. As expected, the defense denied the charges against Linda, offering several witnesses, many of whom worked at the sanitarium. Yeah, that's not a conflict. So it's like, 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 even giving the patient too much food. Wow, let's look into your background too now. One extra cup of tomato. Are you fucking kidding me right now? That's really going to, that's going to tick them over? How do they find this many fucking assholes 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. It's insane. And people are dying left and right of being starved to death

and you're like, I thought I was overfeeding them. How did they find you? How did you all find each other? Shit. You can't even conceive of it. No, I can't. I can't conceive of that way of thinking. I really can't. I've never met anybody who's capable of this. No, it's so scary. 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. Oh, yeah. 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.

Weir, wah, wah. Wow. Call the ambulance. Because she's not part of the medical industry. Exactly. You want to be part of the medical industry. Go get your fucking degree.

Yeah, you're a scam artist. You're not doing shit medically. 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'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. Yeah. 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. What else do you need to know?

Yeah. What else? Yeah. Wow, they're so fucking evil. And so, and again, so methodical. And the worst part is these are, they are praying 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 these people and scamming them like

what the fuck how do you do that? And she claims that her whole thing was that she wanted people to be relieved from these you didn't want that shit at all it's like no you didn't you wanted their money 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 Williamson's all over the U.S. who may fall into the clutches of a woman such as this. When Dorothea and Claire first came to Mrs. Hazard, 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. Yeah, she's evil. She's a monster. She is. As expected,

Linda's lawyer, E.D., she has a thing for like E. E. Bairway. Names Carr 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. Take every single fucking seat in the courtroom, sir. Like, shut up. Every single fucking seat. This is not a snobby. She doesn't have her medical license and that's where we're mad. She's literally actively torturing and killing and starving people.

and stealing their money. And it's being proven. Like, can we not pretend that we're just, poor fucking Linda didn't get a degree? Shut the fuck up. Stop it. It's also been proven at this point that she's coached her witnesses on her side of the thing. And that she hired people to get personal information to use and hold over the heads of people she's stealing from. Exactly.

Like, we're really pretending poor fucking Linda she didn't get a fucking degree. Yeah. Too bad. I think it's okay, Linda. Be so for real. Be so for real. right now. Holy shit. He went on to address the charges though, saying she's lost some

patients, 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. Wow. I'm like speechless. Okay, dokey-dokey. Cool.

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. Bye. In fact, when the jury was polled, five members were in favor actually of finding her guilty of first-degree murder. I would have been counted among those five, to be quite honest. Same. I would have been counted among all five.

Me, I would have been all five of them. Would have taken up all five of them? Yeah. But unfortunately, they were in the minority. Wild. So the lesser charge was applied. At least there's a fucking charge. Thank goodness there's a charge, but like kind of kooky that it wasn't a higher charge.

Truly. When the verdict was read, Linda had a complete breakdown in the courtroom. Get the fuck over. Linda. 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. I have never heard of that. I have never heard of that. And who applies for that job? Now I'm very interested in that. I feel like that would be so many implications come with that. Absolutely. Are you going to hold me hostage? Who's this local woman? She's brave. Someone should

interview her. Brason, in fact. She's probably fucking, she's probably like a brick shit house. Like, don't fuck with her. She's got to be. Like, you got it. Like, she can kick your ass. I guarantee you. She's not scared of anything. Yeah, she's not, she's not frail. Or flail.

Or flail. She won't flail in, she's not frail. Fair. Quarred. I've lost the ability to speak. I don't. Same. Save me as well. I'm just very interested in this local woman now. No, so was I. We need to give her a backstory. I need to learn more about her. Local woman? Who are you?

Who are you? Show yourself. So later that day, reporters were told that Linda was in no condition to speak. Oh, no. Us either. Poor Linda. So her husband, Sam, spoke on her behalf. Briss. 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.

Oh, no, it was the consequences of her very fucked up actions. Can you imagine? I'm so sad for her. He added, 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, she stole them from the people that she's been starving to death. Exactly, yeah. I also love that he was like, the most upsetting thing was that they said she was poor.

Yeah, they said she didn't have a lot of money. She has so much money from those dead people. Like, damn. Jesus Christ, Sam, get it together. Get it fully together. 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. Yeah, unreal.

Yeah, he doesn't give a fuck. He's like, we are not poor. A few days later, Linda Hazard was back before the judge where she was sentenced between two and 20 years 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.

Hi, Mitch. 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 I 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, don't spread that around. Don't put that around. I'm going to go out and date now. She's gone for a while. I'm out. My girl's at hard labor. Yeah, that's Sam for you. 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. Babe, no one believes that. Was that when you were vigorously slapping them? Yeah, none among us. She would say that death was to be expected in a sanitarium. And in fact, she had lost far fewer patients than most surgeons. She has some gall. She has the most insane complex about actual medical professionals. She sure does. I'm like, you should stop

because it's so obvious how jealous you are. And how inferior you feel to actual medical professionals, like you should stop. You got a stop girl. She's like, surgeons kill people all the time. It's like, and so do you. They're not starving people though. No, they're not. It's a little different. They are actively trying to save people's lives. There are accidents. Yeah. And then there's straight up starvation. Yeah.

And vigorously slapping people and giving them hours long enemas. And allowing them passing out. Young female patients to be bathed by male attendance. Like, let's not. Do you want to keep talking about surgeons some more? She did. She sure did. She said any financial compensation she received directly or indirectly

was merely to cover the costs of patients. health care. No. Or given as thanks for having provided them relief where others had failed. Of course. Doctors had failed. You should always tip your doctor for saving your life. Yeah, totally.

That's how that works. Yeah. 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. Go ahead, girl. Yeah. Go ahead, girl. Yeah, get down.

Linda Hazard was released on parole on December 26, 1915. after serving only two years. What the fuck? Two years. Yep. 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. What was going on with them? Big things. What was going on? That was my immediate thought as well. What the fuck? was going on with them.

Luckily, though, he was unable to return her medical license. Ernest, what the fuck is wrong with you? Yeah, something was definitely going on. Why give this random ho a full pardon? Like, literally. Like, I'm sorry. I reserve those words for women like this. Yeah.

What? What? I need to. That's one of those times when you go, you come out here and you explain. You explain to me. It was fukin. You explained 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. Yeah. Come on. If you weren't fucking, that's canon now. Because you made it certainly seem like you were.

You made it so weird. There was no conceivable reason. Ernest be so for real right now. Truly earnest. You were not earnest. No. 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.

Yeah, no. And she continued to promote herself as a doctor there and offered services as an osteopath and a dietitian. Wow. Yeah, 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.

Awesome. Homegirl just spent forever in jail. Yeah. But not long enough at all. In 1920, she and Sam moved back to a little. Lala Washington, where she was determined to rebuild her sanitarium. Girl, give it up.

Which she dubbed a school for health. Give it up. She didn't. Just name 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. Cool. Yeah. Awesome. She oversaw operations of the Institute until 1935. would it burn to the ground due to unknown causes? I don't know if those causes are completely unknown, everybody. It burned to the ground.

I'm going to go out of a limb and say the causes are not entirely unknown. One thing about me is, I love that. One thing about me is, that's karma. One thing about me is as long as no one is hurt. Yeah, that's a-okay. Yeah. Get everybody out. Yeah.

See that building burn. Yeah. Bye. But then in her early 70s, Linda's health began to fail. Oh, no, but she knows how to fix it. Thank goodness. Yeah, she turned to the same treatments that she once provided her patients. Yeah, she has a miracle cure.

Long periods fasting and the hope of curing herself. Cool. But in the end, those hopes were dashed. What? On June 24th, 1938, in the most ironic twist of fate, Linda Hazard died from starvation. Linda Hazard. died from her miracle cure, which was really just starvation. That's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's just, that's just, that's just, that's just, that's, that's that's that's that's that's.

Yeah. That's what that is. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you, you, you reap what you sow, my friend, you sure do. You starved other people claiming it was a miracle care. You stole their shit. Stole all their shit. Lied to their family members. Yeah. Possibly, possibly working with a corrupt mortician. Yeah. Yeah. And the saddest thing is nobody even knows how many people died under her care

because not everything was documented. Yeah. And she got away with it a lot of the time. Yeah, that's why she was doing it for so long. That's why she continued to do it. So that is the story of Linda Hazard and her fucked up life. That is horrifying.

The fact that she died of starvation, though, is just like full-cirk. that's I mean I just I could never I could absolutely never no 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 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. Yeah, this was a nightmare facility. 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 to, like, that's even more pain and suffering that they dealt with on top of whatever conditions they have. Like, while they're already feeling horrible, now they're being tortured and starved on top of it. And abused. apparently like hit yeah and shit like what this whole i had never heard of this before this shook me to my core 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 yeah it's messed up yeah it's just so sad i just don't know how people are capable of these things i really don't yeah so yeah do something kind today. Yeah. Truly. Don't be a shit bag. Don't hurt people. Don't hurt people. It's true. And you're not hurt. You're not. You're fine. You're doing great.

You're good. You're awesome. I believe in you. You're going to be doing awesome things. Go get yourself a treat. Yeah. I had a donut this morning. Get yourself a treat. Yeah. Whatever a treat is to you, get it. Yeah. It can be anything. Anything. Yeah. If you think a fucking bowl of strawberries is a treat, go get a treat. bowl of strawberries is a treat it is especially fresh strawberries fresh strawberries you put a little

bit of sugar on top or a little whipped cream bitch you took the word out of my mouth again go get you some old treat and then just you know what on top of angel food cake oh just make it a strawberry yeah do that okay absolutely do that yeah 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 fucking project from nightmares. Yeah, she sucks. She is a cuckoo-hoo bitch. So to Sam.

Sam's the veil. Everybody's horrible. Yeah. Nobody's good except Margaret and Uncle. And Uncle. Yeah. And Uncle Herbert. Uncle Herbert.

Uncle Herbert. Uncle Herbert. Uncle Herbert to the rescue. Uncle Herbert. Oh, me. I'm going to be able to be. I'm going to be. I'm going to be able to be.

I'm going to be the I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to I'm and I'm going

Oh, I'm I'm going to be the I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to I'm

the the I'm going and I'm I'm If you're Mourn't 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. can listen ad-free on Amazon music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short

survey at Wondery.com slash survey.