Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Linda Burfield Hazzard
16 Plays23 days ago
Nym takes a peek at the demented side of wellness and the murders of Linda Burfield Hazzard.
Enter the Nightmare for show notes, sources, transcripts, and more!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Nim and Nyleen's Nightmare Cottage'
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome to Nim and Nyleen's Nightmare Cottage, where we explore history, mysteries, and other tales of the macabre. I'm Nim. And I'm Nyleen. Let the nightmare begin.
00:00:47
Speaker
disturbing and mature content to follow into the nightmare if you dare
00:00:56
Speaker
did you hear about that cruise that there's like ah apparently a cruise ship yeah with the hantavirus yes yeah so people just died just died on their cruise on their happy vacation because of rare hantavirus outbreak and from what i understand This happens when you breathe in the fecal matter of rodents.
00:01:19
Speaker
Yeah, it's like ah fecal matter, saliva. But they're saying that this might be a rare human to human transmission case. I feel like that's a lot of the cruise liner trying to save face. It could be.
00:01:32
Speaker
But in all fairness, I think like the people that got sick were like in close quarters together. So maybe that's the case. close quarters together with fecal matter. Well, that's why you never go ask them out.
00:01:48
Speaker
Oh God, never go ask them out. But yeah, no, they're saying, according to what I'm seeing, they're not sure how much person a person transmission occurred, but two of the people who died were married apparently.
Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship
00:02:02
Speaker
That's so sad. And they think that It's likely, they're saying, that it happened when they were docked in Argentina. Could have been exposure to rodents or pygmy rats. Somehow made it on the ship with supplies, including food, pre fresh produce, is likely how you have transmission. Yeah. So...
00:02:22
Speaker
Cruises have never appealed to me. i i mean, maybe, you know, the first part of it, you know, not having them within my means to consider an option, you know, for so long. But I don't know, man, going on a ship in the middle of the water.
00:02:35
Speaker
i don't know. Every time, like, I convince myself that I want to something crazy like this happens. Like, That ship that like got stuck out there with COVID or like that other one that like.
00:02:46
Speaker
That got just left out in the water forever. I don't even remember the circumstances on that one. But one of the chicks in one of my yoga classes was on that ship and was gone for a while. yes Like it was bad. It was really bad. Yeah. So every time that I even think about, I'm like, you know what? I could like, I've been on a, on a couple of ships just in general, like docked, not ever actually, I've been on a couple on the water. I've just, I, I get motion sickness.
00:03:14
Speaker
So I probably wouldn't do great on a cruise ship, but the idea of being in open water sounds kind of fascinating.
Nyleen's Cruise Ship Skepticism
00:03:20
Speaker
I don't know. There's enough people who have made me nervous about like maritime law and whatnot and I don't know.
00:03:28
Speaker
But could you imagine what the sky looks like out there? The emptiness. It's like being in space. But on a ship. I don't know. I'm on a boat. So what have you been up to? I've been pretty actually boring for once in my life, I think.
00:03:44
Speaker
Man, do you ever like are you plagued with songs that get stuck in your head? Do you have like an inner DJ that just. Yes, I have an inner one and an outer one. Both of them sound like ace.
00:03:55
Speaker
ah He is my literal earworm. Things will enter my brain for no reason. and like there's some things that have like continued to do this over years that I like I haven't heard. But like maybe some kind of natural sound that happens in my house or whatever is like the right rhythm or whatever yeah to make me like kick on to a certain song.
00:04:15
Speaker
And then it like plagues me for weeks and weeks. And it's it's just it's a horrible, horrible thing. Yes, for me, the past couple of weeks, it's been a very specific. I swear, guys, I am not like, OK, no, I am. I really do like Adventure Time, but I'm
Adventure Time Song and Personal Reflection
00:04:29
Speaker
not like super crazy. Like I'm not like sitting here wearing like full Adventure Time attire and like. running around like a psychopath. Like it just so happens that every time I talk to you this is what I think about. So, but yeah, there's been a very specific Adventure Time song stuck in my head. It's, I know we'll never grow old together. She'll never grow old to me. Yeah.
00:04:53
Speaker
Yeah, that song has been stuck in my head. Yeah, but that doesn't sound like torture. That sounds like having a lovely song you like stuck in your head. It doesn't because then I think about it and what it means. And then I'm like, hey, Ace, I think that it means that I know that you're going to die early if you keep double fisting burritos the way you are. So please stop.
00:05:13
Speaker
ay My heart. And his apparently. It's so bad. Like he's just he likes his sauces, man. And I'm like, there's so much sodium in his sauces. And I'm like, you need to stop.
00:05:25
Speaker
It's about moderation. Everything in moderation. No, i I have things that I can't control myself with, especially sweets. I don't know. I'm really big like chocolate and nuts.
00:05:38
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, those are like my my kryptonite. don't know. Nuts are kind of like my my savior. Like they are always there for me when I need them. No, because I'll eat too many. and then I'll get a heartburn really bad. Like especially almonds, almonds and walnuts give me really bad heartburn. Oh, that's sad. Yeah, it's a weird thing. Can we even digest nuts? Because I thought that's what technically was it the appendix or the gallbladder is for?
00:06:07
Speaker
I swear I'm remembering my biology classes. Can humans digest these nuts? yeah Humans can digest nuts, but not entirely. Because nuts have tough, fibrous cell walls, the body often fails to break them down completely, meaning some fat and protein pass through undigested. And there's more information on that. that's your That's your nut fact for the day. Yeah.
00:06:40
Speaker
Hold on, wait. You started that whole thing. What song has been
Wellness and Beauty Industry Critique
00:06:44
Speaker
stuck in your head? Like what's been stuck in your head lately? No, nothing specific. I don't have one right now. Oh, i yeah. I unfortunately I know. And actually right now I don't have them because I've been so tired. So i know it was like preloaded without a yeah gunshot, but sorry.
00:07:07
Speaker
Most people are not immune to the pool of like the wellness and beauty and nutrition industries and their manipulative ways and how convincing they are about making you feel like you need a thing or that something will be the thing that finally works for you on this, that or the other.
00:07:28
Speaker
To the extent you're willing to talk about, what is the farthest you've either gone or considered going or or like what's the most ridiculous thing you've done in the name of like beauty or wellness or health, nutrition, anything like that?
00:07:41
Speaker
I mean, i wouldn't really say like ridiculous. I feel like. I mean, I do feel like growing up, I grew up in apartments. And so, you know, we didn't really have a lot of room for like, you know, home gym stuff. so So I will say that my mom did get a few interesting contraptions when I was younger. Like the Thighmaster kind of stuff? like like There was this one that was like...
00:08:11
Speaker
It was like supposed to be like an ab thing, but like it would hold your legs and would turn you completely upside down. Okay. And like sometimes I was so afraid, like, because she would like go completely in half. And I was like, oh my goodness, like I'm so afraid that like going get stuck upside down or like as a child, it looks like, you know, she's completely like, like walk-a-walking. Pac-Man? Yeah, like Pac-Man. Yeah.
00:08:35
Speaker
I don't know. i will say I have fallen into that fad of like the weird fitness equipment. So like I have and a like a full body and it's almost like a seesaw thing. It doesn't do shit. And then i have another one that's like.
00:08:51
Speaker
Like almost like it's supposed to be like ah an elliptical thing. Like it's supposed to be easy on your knees. Bullshit. That is not easy on your knees. That hurts so bad. Oh, no. But um but yeah, like I will say most of the stuff that I've done is like that, like trying to find that that fitness machine that that fits my goal of the moment.
00:09:09
Speaker
And then, you know, and in terms of like cosmetic, I mean... I did grow up with pretty strict parents. So I think I ended up like I wasn't a allowed to dye my hair or anything like that. So I would use like cinnamon, boiled cinnamon to like give my hair more of a red tint. Or I would do like the lemon juice and in the sunlight to give it, you know, the highlights in the summer. And like I did that kind of stuff.
00:09:36
Speaker
But. I think what we see is lemon juice to make her like body hair lighter too or something like our arm hair and stuff like that when we were little. That that sounds familiar. Yeah. What about you?
00:09:48
Speaker
Man, I wasn't into makeup when I was a kid. I just didn't. It wasn't around. So I wasn't like it just wasn't like I had some like kiddie kind of makeup. Yeah. But I never learned how to like same be one of the makeup girls. Yeah. And I even to this day, I cannot with eyeshadow. So it's like I'm just I'm an unequipped and I've always been that way. But um i am definitely a sucker for like creams and like serums. Oh, yeah. I can't. I can't with all that. I i can't. I always have a very specific, i i fight feel like i finally like tuned it because there's so many things that do not work with my skin.
00:10:25
Speaker
I'm always looking for like the correct version of this vitamin C. Yeah. Like the correct one of this or that. And I feel like I finally nailed it. But like, I love, I love my products. Yeah. I don't understand. Like, I cannot.
00:10:38
Speaker
i wish I could be like, um like a structure girly, like ah with a full like routine and like no hate to anyone who can like none at all. Like I just cannot like it's just I lose patience and tolerance for it after a few minutes. And it's like I don't get it.
00:10:56
Speaker
Oh, mine is not like... I know, but like some people are like, okay, well, you know that like I do first I a wash and then I scrub and then I do this mask. Oh, yeah. i definitely light definitely don't have like the 12-step bullshit. No, I wash my face.
00:11:10
Speaker
I have one serum and then moisturizer and it's just a different serum if it's morning or night and a different moisturizer it's morning or night. I have definitely... It's not See, that's still a step further than I... multiple steps I have one cream I use no matter what happens. I just got out of the shower. Just slather that bitch on. That's pretty much where I am on on that stuff. and And that's the only extremes is I've spent like Way more than I care to admit on a tiny jar of cream, you know, like moisturizers and stuff. And especially if you're going for something that doesn't piss off your skin.
00:11:41
Speaker
So what about fasting? Have you ever done a fast? Oh, gosh, no. Like for religious reasons or like? No. Like, no. This is going to sound ah so sacrum. Thank God i am not religious. Because, goodness, I could not like I get hangry. And if I'm hangry, one is happy. i need to eat.
00:12:03
Speaker
Like if I'm telling you I'm hungry, that means... Everybody's in danger within the next 10 minutes. Yes. I need to eat. I am so dramatic. But no, i I don't know that I could fast. like And i don't I don't know how people can. like I've seen like a lot of like the nutrition and the old fad diets where it's like one hard-boiled egg and a grapefruit and a cup of black coffee. yes ah And I'm like, that sounds like something that you would do just for funsies. And I think you're a psychopath. Yeah. Because I could not deal with I know you like black coffee, though. Oh, I do. That's just how I like my coffee. But it's not like the only thing I'm consuming in a day. So, you know. i don't know, for a while there, it looked like that was all you were consuming, a giant pot of black coffee. I don't have the stamina for that shit anymore. I'm a cup a day Yeah, that was like a long time ago. but Yeah, yeah, it did used to be that way
00:12:59
Speaker
I ask you those things to kind of lead you into what we're talking about today. story time. It's story time. Are you familiar with Linda Hazzard? Listen, Linda.
00:13:09
Speaker
No. As usual, I want to say it sounds familiar. like Because we listen to a lot of shit like this. and Yeah. like She's either a cult leader or she's a murderer, which she's actually both. She's actually a little bit of both. ok Yeah. In her own way, she's a little bit of both. But we're a recent one or is this an older one? This is an older one. and It takes place in 1910 is the where our story begins.
00:13:36
Speaker
So oh dang. Yeah. So that's a for a female. That's pretty impressive. be a cult leader in the early 1900s. Well, I mean, I know, do you, I mean, you remember Kate Bender? She kind of had her cultish kind of pull with her, her Ouija board stuff. That's true. Yeah. So she, you know, it's, it was a way that women could, or well, wield their, power, which, you know, I hate to both be a proponent of and poopoo on at the same time, but but but that was a legitimate tactic they used. So getting into it, we're going to start our story with sisters Claire and Dorothea Williamson.
00:14:12
Speaker
These girls were known by their families to be the kind of girls that chased the fads, the wellness fads, the nutrition fads. Okay. They were a bit obsessed with alternative
The Williamson Sisters and Linda Hazard's Fasting Practices
00:14:20
Speaker
medicine. It was just kind of their thing. And they were actually, they actually had the means to follow that kind of thing because they were unfortunately orphaned at a very early age, but they were left in control of a very massive estate with a lot of wealth. So these are...
00:14:34
Speaker
two women in the early nineteen hundreds that have that are orphaned young they are in their mid-30s okay okay so they're so so are they spinsters at that time then i suppose yeah more or less yeah but but they don't i mean they they live for each other they were best friends yeah they weren't married they weren't married friends interesting i mean sisters i mean they were you know okay i didn't i didn't know if it was like sisters or sisters No, no, no. Sisters, and they were but they were very close. They traveled everywhere together. They had the same interests and things like that. sure So in September of 1910, like said, they were both in about their mid-30s, and their wellness journey was never ending. It was just always something that they were in pursuit of, looking for whatever heres or treatments that they were going to find. While they were in Vancouver in 1910, they spotted an ad in a newspaper for a book promising the answers to great health. Oh. And even more, the author of the book, Linda Burfield Hazard, ran Hazard's Institute of Natural Therapeutics, which was an inpatient treatment center using Hazard's wellness methods.
00:15:33
Speaker
They purchased the book and began to correspond with Hazard right away. They made arrangements to move to Alala, Washington, which is where her institute was. They moved from where to Washington? So they had homes. they Their family primarily lived in England and Australia. ok they had They had homes all over the world, honestly, but those were the the two primary bases where they I know. They were wealthy. And so they went to the U.S., to Washington to try to...
00:15:58
Speaker
Yeah, they were they were traveling in general. They had landed in Vancouver, which is north of Washington, and and came across this ad, found this book and sealed their fates. OK, so they didn't inform their family of their plans since they always gave them shit about whatever their treatments were that they were searching.
00:16:14
Speaker
So they just they just didn't want to hear it. So they went ahead and decided to do this without telling anybody what they were doing or where they were going. Yeah. And they got their buddy with them. Who cares? Yeah. So right away when they get here, things are a little off. The Institute wasn't actually ready for patients yet, but Hauser agreed to treat Claire and Dora at their apartment in Seattle while accommodations were being prepared. um Despite being used to much finer living conditions, the sisters were actually just happy to be getting treatment at all. Like they were, they wanted to get started on this magical miracle treatment that was going to improve their health forever. Like improve their health. How did it say like, what were they aiming for?
00:16:50
Speaker
So just being young and beautiful, like Claire had, i don't have this anywhere in my notes, but Claire had early in life a problem with like a tilted back uterus. So she had so some problems with that growing up. ye And Dora, I don't believe she had any underlying problems, but she wanted to yeah just be healthy. Yeah. I mean, I guess if you're orphaned young or orphaned, yeah, I mean, 30, that's young. I believe their parents passed away actually quite a bit earlier because they're actually raised by their governess, Margaret Conway, who i'm going to bring up here in a bit.
00:17:26
Speaker
They were orphaned and so they were raised by their governess. They were very close. like And the only reason she's not with them right now is because she had this prearranged trip to go visit her sisters in Australia. so that's the only reason why she's not with them at the time. Okay. Okay.
00:17:37
Speaker
So they go to this Hazard's place and it's not ready for human consumption, but they do it anyways. Right. Yeah. they So they get apartments in Seattle, which is basically across the bay from Olala. They're not real far. okay Linda Hazard has offices in Seattle, so she's able to to treat them daily. And so what is this magical treatment, you may ask?
00:17:57
Speaker
It's fasting. Oh. But it's not like intermittent fasting. I just want to say, what are we considering fasting? It's extended fasting. The first round is a 40-day process. Okay, but fasting in the sense of like we're not eating for few hours in a day? The only thing they were allowed to eat.
00:18:15
Speaker
was vegetable broth and it was and she told them that it was made from the fresh produce grown on the land of the institute but it was actually made from canned tomatoes and asparagus tips being boiled and strained down to a broth oh my gosh and it's not be good for you what Not on its own.
00:18:33
Speaker
In addition to the fasting, they were also subjected to daily internal baths, um which are enemas. Enemas, exactly. these These baths could last for hours and were apparently extraordinarily painful. Yeah.
00:18:47
Speaker
The last bit of the treatment were, and I'm putting Benny quotes on this, therapeutic massages. And the Benny quotes are doing very heavily lifting here because what she was actually doing was pounding her fists on various parts of their body, shouting, eliminate!
00:18:59
Speaker
Oh, my God. Yeah. This chick is ah intense. Oh, my gosh. So after arranging daily treatments for the sisters and she's still getting Alala ready, Hazard graciously offered to keep their valuables, any jewelry, land deeds or, you know, whatever in her safe.
00:19:18
Speaker
At one point, they even signed over power of attorney to Hazard's husband, Sam. Oh, no. Which i'm not going to get into it, but there's this whole fucking story about Hazard and Sam. Like, it's like it was this whole massive story with lawsuits and stuff before any of this stuff happened. It's crazy. So as the sisters progressed through their fast, as you might imagine, their mental health began to deteriorate. This obviously made them very easy to manipulate. With power of attorney and control over their bank accounts, the Hazards were set up quite nicely.
00:19:48
Speaker
Luckily, this operation couldn't be run without some help, and there were some nurses that worked with Hazard that were able to later report what was going on. one nurse, Nellie Sherman, couldn't continue to stand by as she watched their conditions deteriorate so rapidly. They were supposed to be being healed, and they were clearly not well. Yeah, and heck, how much are they paying for this? To be, like, starved to death? I don't have the numbers, but quite a bit. Not only that, but they they were...
00:20:15
Speaker
definitely tapping into their bank accounts for non-them related things. Okay. So the nurse like was watching them deteriorate basically. Yeah. But like, I mean, how she had, she had been a part of it for this long. I mean, were these the first patient she had? So no there had been patients.
00:20:34
Speaker
Before the sisters, there have been previous patients that had actually healed from the treatment and several others that's that passed away. So it was kind of a mixed bag, but she had seen beneficial things happening with Hazard's treatment.
00:20:51
Speaker
And also she needed work. Yeah. she You know, it was just... Yeah. A place for her to make money to pay her bills, you know? So she got a doctor on the down low to come out and check out what was going on, and he was obviously very concerned. Yeah, because what... I mean, what does she have... Is she not a real doctor? Well, I mean, I guess... a Can a woman be a doctor in the nineteen hundreds So she...
00:21:15
Speaker
Does get certified at one point, so she can technically call herself a doctor. I'm sorry, I'm blowing up your heart. But most people refuse to call her doctor, even when that happened. But it made it to where she was legally able to practice in the state of Washington with her treatment.
00:21:28
Speaker
m So... Nellie had tried to feed the sisters raisins and other small things, but they refused anything that weren't prescribed by the by Hazard. they they They were going for it. They believed in the treatment. They wouldn't do anything that was outside of what Hazard told them that they could do. That's crazy.
00:21:46
Speaker
Even when you feel like you're dying, that's crazy. Yeah. And it got to the point where they had to be carried everywhere because they were too weak to support themselves. Like they were starving. They were malnutritioned. On April 21st, 1911, sisters were taken to Alala via ambulance and then by ferry.
00:22:01
Speaker
At this point, they both weighed 70 pounds or right around there. While in the ambulance, Hazard directed Claire to write her former governess, and Margaret Conway.
00:22:13
Speaker
And in the ambulance, there also happened to be a lawyer present because he would also be signing this letter because it was actually her will. yeah I'm just going to read it. Oh, no. Dear Margaret, in the event of my death, my books and jewels are hereby given to you for disposition by you according to your own judgment and discretion.
00:22:33
Speaker
This is intended as a bequest to you, as if contained in a formal will, and to be treated as a codicil to my will already made. ah I also hereby give 25 pounds sterling per year to the Hazard Institute of Natural Therapeutics in Olala, Kitsap County, state of Washington, USA, also be treated as a codicil to my said will.
00:22:53
Speaker
My remains are to be cremated under the charge and of and direction of Linda Burfield Hazard of said Olala. This letter is also intended as directions to my solicitors in London.
00:23:04
Speaker
Claire Williamson. my gosh. Yeah. So at this point, Claire was very weak, but still a bit lucid. Dora was fucking gone. Just completely listless and nonverbal. They were separated from each other as soon as they arrived at the Institute.
00:23:18
Speaker
They stayed in their own cabins and were not permitted to interact with each other lest they inhibit their treatment. So they were okay with it. Oh my gosh. So I'd mentioned Margaret. She was, she very much filled the mother role for them and they were all very close. Like I said, she was just visiting family at the time. Otherwise she would have been with them when all this was going on.
00:23:36
Speaker
and from previous communications, she'd been expecting them back in Australia soon. On April 30th, 1911, she received a telegram that said, Come SS Marama, May 8th, first class, Claire.
00:23:49
Speaker
At first, she thought that this meant that they would be arriving later than expected, but she was weirded out by the mention of first class. The girls had always been wealthy. They wouldn't have typically specified first class. It's just something you assume, you know. When she checked on the Marama arriving on May 8th, she realized it was a departing ship and that she needed to go.
00:24:06
Speaker
Oh, her spidey senses were tingling. So she made it happen. She packed her shit and set sail for Australia to Washington. She did not get first class. There was nothing but like third class available to her. But at least they were telling her to get on first class if that was them. Right, right. They're like, get here immediately. Right.
00:24:25
Speaker
So when she stopped over in Honolulu, there was a telegram and a letter waiting for her. The telegram said, Margaret Conway arriving SS Marama Honolulu.
00:24:36
Speaker
Ask agent for letters, both quite well. Williamson. The only letter present was from Claire. Margaret was really concerned because while the letter was in Claire's handwriting, it was sloppy and the words were kind of written on top of each other.
00:24:48
Speaker
So like it looked like her handwriting, but like like like like she wasn't fully there. Right, right. Like it had it it had enough tells that she could tell that she had written it, but it was like... It seemed rough.
00:24:59
Speaker
um So the letter reads as follows. My dear, dear Tootie, which is her pet name for Margaret. How we are looking forward to your arrival, it would be hard to say.
00:25:10
Speaker
i felt I couldn't wait any longer for you, and as we were going to stay here until sometime in July, it seemed the best thing to do. In fact, I had other reasons as well as I will be able to tell you when you come. She went on to sing praises of dr Hazard. and I put quotes on doctor because, you know, fuck that bitch. She went on to sing the praises of Dr. Hazard and her husband and how wonderful their stay had been so far. She expressed concern for Dora in saying that the doctor says it may take months to get her mind right. This is also concerning because what the fuck was wrong with Dora?
00:25:38
Speaker
Like there was nothing wrong last time they talked. And what was this about staying through July? Like none of this was part of any plan she knew about. The only thing that put her at ease was that the telegram was dated two weeks after the letter and that that had said that they were both well. So she was hoping that that kind of superseded any of that. But like with a telegram, obviously it's not in a person's handwriting. you Anybody can kind of do anything with that.
00:25:59
Speaker
She arrived in Vancouver on June 1st, 1911 and was preparing to board a bus when she was approached by a refined looking gentleman that identified himself as Sam Hazard. Oh, Linda has her husband. Yes. Okay.
00:26:10
Speaker
So, and she'd recalled him from the letter. So this kind of put her at ease that this like, you know, well-to-do refined man was taking care of her in this situation. um When she asked about the sisters, he replied that Dora was fine, but he would need to talk about Claire. Oh, this was put as a quote in the book that I used for my main reference. So I'm going to present it here that way.
00:26:31
Speaker
Quote, Ms. Conway, i have something I must tell you. Quote
Margaret's Alarming Discovery
00:26:35
Speaker
from her. Yes, sir. Quote. Miss Claire has died and Miss Dora is helplessly insane.
00:26:41
Speaker
I'm sorry. oh my goodness. Like. Yeah. How matter of fact. How. if If that is truly how that conversation went, what the fuck? Yeah. When she arrived in Seattle, she was finally able to meet Linda Hazard, this this woman that had so captivated her girls. Hazard insisted that both sisters were in bad health when they first met.
00:27:01
Speaker
She also described in pretty graphic detail what was found in her autopsy, which she, of course, performed herself. Yeah, because she was cre she was cremated. yeah no she's not um well that according to the the what's it called the will right i don't remember if she's cremated yet at the no she's not recremated yet at this point um but she will be as a yeah here we go uh they then offered to show margaret claire's body which was shocking um in england and australia embalming wasn't really practiced at this time oh no bodies were buried pretty immediately claire could have been dead for weeks at this point She agreed to view the body, but she wasn't entirely convinced that the body she saw even belonged to Claire. Oh, no.
00:27:39
Speaker
I mean, they were probably really emaciated at that time, too. They were. it was finally time to head to Alala and reunite with Dora. Hazard led Margaret to Dora's small cabin. Margaret took in the skeletal figure with bluish skin stretched across the bones and realized that it was Dora.
00:27:54
Speaker
oh The first words whispered from Dora's mouth to Margaret were, You have the power to take me away, haven't you? yeah It was agreed that Margaret would stay in Hazard's home while waiting for Dora's health to improve enough for her to travel.
00:28:08
Speaker
Despite Claire's death, Dora still believed in Dr. Hazard's treatment. What? I know. Then why did she have Because it's argued she's not in her right mind. That's fair. Oh, gosh.
00:28:20
Speaker
She sided with Hazard when Margaret wanted to stay in Dora's cabins, insisting that it might interfere with her healing. She also refused to let Margaret inspect her body under the clothing and and under orders from Dr. Hazard. Hmm.
00:28:31
Speaker
Her excuse was that would only worry her for nothing because she was getting better every day. No. Margaret was obviously super confused because it was totally different from Dora's initial response to seeing her. Maybe there was some t truth to the reports of Dora's insanity. I mean... Yeah, she's going back and forth, but that's crazy.
00:28:49
Speaker
Now, backing up a bit, three days after Claire's death, the girl's uncle, John Herbert, who lived in Portland, Oregon, received a telegram that stated, Your niece Claire Williamson is dead. Would you like to come to Seattle to attend the funeral on Thursday? Dora is with me, Dr. Linda Burfield-Hazard.
00:29:05
Speaker
Aw. When he got there, he was super pissed to find out that Hazard had waited three days after her death to notify him. He demanded to know what the cause of death was and what treatment the doctor was providing. um Hazard claimed that the cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver and even showed him some hardened organs that she had removed from his niece in the autopsy. my gosh.
00:29:25
Speaker
Which, of course, like I said, she performed. yeah She also explained that she was licensed by the state of Washington as a fasting specialist. He asked about Dora, Hazard replied that she was mentally incompetent and ah unable to care for herself or her business.
00:29:40
Speaker
Okay, well then she shouldn't be here. Correct. She should be somewhere else. I know you're a doctor, but you're a doctor of fasting. And they also have power of attorney. Oh my gosh. So she insisted it would be dangerous to talk to her about business as it would be too much of a strain on her fragile mental state.
00:29:56
Speaker
In the brief meeting that he had with Dora and Alala, he found that she was quite lucid and thought maybe the doctor was mistaken or her condition was improving. yeah Dora was not allowed to attend Claire's funeral as she was too weak to travel to Seattle.
00:30:09
Speaker
When their uncle was able to view the body, he instantly rejected it as Claire. The hair was the wrong color and the face was entirely different. And this corpse wasn't near as emaciated as he would have expected after having seen Dora. oh my gosh.
00:30:22
Speaker
I'm going to say right now that I don't, I did not find any resolution to this. No answer to if that was actually her or Yeah. they do at that point? So after the funeral, Sam Hazard presented a typed and unsigned letter that was basically saying that she and Dora thoroughly researched Dr. Hazard and her methods and that Dr. Hazard never claimed that her treatment was a cure-all and that sometimes something lurks in your blood that can't be detected that'll go awry, treatment or no.
00:30:46
Speaker
Basically saying that she absolved Dr. Hazard of any liability regarding her condition. Yeah. Using language that was quite untypical of Claire. Yeah. So when the uncle questioned the the validity of the letter, Sam claimed that Claire was too weak to write it. So he, so she dictated it. No. Yeah. Yeah.
00:31:02
Speaker
hey You can't dictate something about yourself. No, I'm sorry. You can't write something. You know what I'm saying? Right. There needs to be there needs to be like some kind of legal witness there. Yeah. It's just like when you're notarizing. Right. Like you can't notarize something for yourself. Right. Like that should be the same thing in this situation. Exactly. Especially being a doctor. You should know the ethics of that.
00:31:25
Speaker
I will, you know, spoiler alert. That is helpful to this case. Everything about this situation felt fishy to John Herbert, but Dora insisted she wanted to stay and the hazards had power of attorney as it were. So he didn't know what a fight would accomplish.
00:31:40
Speaker
So he just left. and Okay. So back with Margaret now, she stayed in Alala at the Institute for weeks. Eventually, one of the nurses left and Margaret was able to take over the daily feeding and caring of Dora.
00:31:52
Speaker
She tried to get her to eat more, but Dora was very insistent on following the doctor's treatment. god She began adding bits of flour and rice to the broth to sneak it in. Good. And eventually she managed to move into Dora's cabin where they were finally able to really connect again.
00:32:06
Speaker
She began uncovering just more and more fuckery. The power of attorney that was signed over had been presented as a signature needed to make a bank withdrawal. uhuh a withdrawal Sam claimed he was still unable to make, but they found the bank slip.
00:32:19
Speaker
And so he did take that money. He did not give it to the family member she wanted it sent to. Wow. um Dora started to remember. Surprise, surprise. Exactly. She started to remember more and more shady behavior out of Sam. I wonder if they were drugging her too, or if it was just starvation that was like making her so foggy. No proof of any of that, but I would not be surprised. yeah But, you know, it may not have taken that much. yeah One of the nurses that worked at the Institute, Sarah Robinson, had worked with Dr. Hazard in the past.
00:32:45
Speaker
When she found her chance to do so, she warned Margaret of one of Hazard's former patients, Earl Erdman. Earl was 24 years old and complained of indigestion. Regular doctors weren't helping, so he sought out Hazard's fasting treatment.
00:32:58
Speaker
He was under Hazard's treatment for three weeks before he died of starvation. my gosh. The March 29th, 1910 Seattle Daily Times headline read as Woman MD, in quotes, kills another patient.
00:33:10
Speaker
The shocking headline the next day, Dr. Hazard gets her license. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So Robinson warned Margaret that she- funny. Her last name's Hazard. That's insane. I know. Like, if you needed a sign. Red flag. Oh my gosh. Robinson warned Margaret that she needed to get Dora out of the Institute immediately.
00:33:29
Speaker
yeah When they made their plan to leave, Margaret confronted Hazard. She requested to be given Clara and Dora's belongings in the presence of a third party as they would be leaving. Hazard expectedly flipped out. She then comes out with it that she has legal guardianship over Dora and that she wouldn't be going anywhere. Oh my gosh. Yeah.
00:33:48
Speaker
So Margaret snuck out to send a telegram to John Herbert, the uncle. Yeah. and because he's next of kin, he can actually take guardianship over whatever the fuck this is. Right. He can have some power over something. And he was really ready to fuck some shit up. So he took off for Seattle immediately. That's good.
00:34:06
Speaker
So he confronts Hazard and she said, that's fine. But my lawyer has advised me that I should not allow her to leave until her balance is paid in full. yeah And then the bitch hands him a bill for $2,000. Which was how much? In 1911 money. um Would be about $70,000. my gosh.
00:34:25
Speaker
So the bill was not itemized, by the way. Of course it wasn't. It never is. yeah Even today. You have to ask. Yes. So stupid. So 52 days after Margaret arrived in Alala, she was finally getting Dora out.
00:34:39
Speaker
The Williamson sisters were by far not the Hazard's only victims, but Dora had the means to prosecute. We probably wouldn't even know about this story, and Hazard would have never gotten into any trouble at all had somebody not had the money for a lawsuit to properly get this convicted.
00:34:57
Speaker
Enough evidence was around that they were able to issue a warrant for Linda Hazard's arrest. The trial was sensational and the press ate up. The thing that ultimately buried Hazard was the fact that they were able to prove that she had forged Claire's will. She was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to two to 20 years.
00:35:13
Speaker
I'm surprised that they based her actions on on the money instead of them being separate things because she should have been charged with some kind of like theft and fraud and The trial was really sticky. But yeah, so she was sentenced to two to 20 years.
00:35:33
Speaker
She served. oh She was on parole. Two for manslaughter? Did they just charge her, just charge for players? Yes,
Linda Hazard's Tragic End
00:35:43
Speaker
I think so. Yeah. Yeah, because that's the only one that was on trial here because that was the only one that could prosecute. and attempted murder for the other one or I agree. But the county just didn't have the money to prosecute, so She was on parole after two years, and a year after that, the governor gave her a full pardon what on the condition that she moved to New Zealand, which she did.
00:36:02
Speaker
And then she opened another practice, fucked up a bunch more people, got really fucking rich, and then got sued for using the title doctor. She moved back to Alala, reopened shop, and did her shit again until the place burned down in 1935. My gosh. In 1938, she got sick and decided to go on a fasting treatment.
00:36:21
Speaker
Good. She died of starvation. Fantastic. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Linda Burfield Hazard was responsible for at least 17 known deaths, including four after Claire. 18 if you count herself. Oh my gosh.
00:36:36
Speaker
Yeah, but like how much was her husband involved? Was he ever charged for anything? Because, I mean, he was an accomplice in all this. He was an accomplice in all this. I you said it was sticky. He was not charged in this situation. But prior to any of this, he had been married to somebody prior to being married to Linda Hazard. And then he married Linda before him Being fully divorced? Yes. Yeah.
00:36:59
Speaker
And so that was like a whole thing. And his poor first wife, man, I just, I just feel bad for everybody involved. It was, it was a rough one, but that was like this whole big sensationalist trial that happened as well.
00:37:10
Speaker
And Sam went to jail for that and Linda waited for him. And then once he got out, they went and did this Institute thing and murdered a bunch of people there. So yeah. So, you know, it was both the kind of murder thing and the cult thing. I mean, she was fully convincing people that. Yeah, the fact that that she's literally in the the person in one breath is like, get me the fuck out of here. And also refusing to do anything but what the person says it's like this is stockholm like what is happening definitely drank the flavor aid man gosh that's crazy thanks for sharing that that's so scary i feel like i'd heard something similar but i thought that was more recent i don't know well there's more cases thinking of the aluminum The aluminum, what was it?
00:37:55
Speaker
She was like taking like silver nitrate or something like that. And she turned blue. Did we? In the desert. We didn't do that No, no. I'm thinking of the radioactive cosmetics.
00:38:08
Speaker
Did you have any nightmare fuel? I do, actually. So I just watched a movie, which I think you need to watch too It's called Night Shift. Okay. think it's on Hilo. I feel like that sounds familiar. What is it? Yeah, it's Night Shift. It's basically a woman who shows up at a hotel and and starts working the night shift and weird things start happening.
00:38:29
Speaker
so That sounds like... um Sundown senddown Motel by Simone St. James. Yes. So Sundown Motel, which we read recently. And what's very interesting. Okay.
00:38:41
Speaker
So this one led me down a little bit of rabbit hole and it made me kind of mad because I looked all over Reddit and I couldn't find anything. And usually if you can find something, it's on Reddit, right? So I read Sundown Motel recently.
00:38:53
Speaker
And a lot of the, there's a lot of like weird pieces of this movie that I feel like were taken from that book. But the problem with that is I think the original Night Shift movie was made in the early 90s. I haven't seen that movie.
00:39:10
Speaker
So I don't know if it's just the remake that has similar pieces or the book that was written after was based off Night Shift. Is it the original one from 1982 with Henry Winkler and Michael Keat? Yes. Yes. That's 82. So I imagine that's before a Sundown Motel. I think that's. But that's what I mean. Like, I'm almost wondering if like, you know, like sometimes on a remake isn't like one for one. It's just like they use the same storyline, but not.
00:39:36
Speaker
It's like the tropes that were in the movie. There's just one neon sign that says pool. And it leads to this rundown broken pool that is very significant in the Sundown Motel book. Right. And also is very significant in this movie. Right. It's just a lot of the stuff that's the same. So if anyone has read Send Down Motel or anyone can, please read Send Down Motel, watch this movie. Tell me what you think because I cannot find anything online and I am about to like become a full psychopath and start like highlighting passages and just putting a tinfoil hat on because this is driving me crazy.
00:40:16
Speaker
Nightmare Cottage at gmail.com. Please. Someone talk to me about this. Save Nyleen's sanity, please. Did you have any nightmare fuel? I do. i was going to recommend um a book called Natural Beauty by Ling Huang. And it is about a girl who gets roped into working for this wellness brand and using their products, she kind of starts to almost genetically change. And it's like the whole crazy ass ride that goes with that. So Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang.
Legal Issues of Pointing Lasers at Planes
00:40:58
Speaker
I always thought it was a legend, I guess. did you Did you ever hear about like don't point lasers up in the sky because like it could like blind a pilot or yeah something like that? Yeah, 100%. You don't do it. And like they can like track you down or whatever. it's I never knew that was a true. Like I've pointed a laser at the sky because didn't.
00:41:20
Speaker
Didn't know. I mean, I was a kid. Right. I would never do it now. I'm pretty sure that around the time little handheld lasers like that became commercially available, like easily to the masses that whatever.
00:41:33
Speaker
One of my step siblings probably made me feel stupid about it or something. And so now I got afraid that I was going to get like arrested or something if I did it. So... Yeah, like apparently it's a real thing and like they will actually go, go like track you down track you down for it. Like it is a real thing. and Apparently there is a penal code that's 247 that states that any person who willfully or maliciously, so if you're maliciously pointing a laser at an aircraft, whether in motion or in flight while occupied,
00:42:09
Speaker
Fines can include up to $2,000 or imprisonment up to three years. Wow. So that's crazy. But I didn't know that it could actually cause problems. Like it can actually reach the pilot, cause blindness, distract them, glare. Yeah.
00:42:24
Speaker
And that flash blindness, which pretty much, you know, like when you're in a dark room or at night and you accidentally turn the light on when you go to pee and then you suddenly have just flash banged yourself. Right. it's like that. Yeah. Yeah. And you don't want the person who's flying, clan you know, many, many lives. Yeah. That's it's pretty terrifying. Yeah. So definitely a fuck around and find out situation.
00:42:48
Speaker
So not suggesting that anyone do this. I do wonder, like. Can you like pinpoint specific windows? Like if I like had binoculars, like could I just. I'm officially saying do not find out.
00:43:02
Speaker
Do not fuck around. Do not fuck around and find out. This is your official message. Yeah. the cottage. Yes. Tonight. But yeah, i don't know.
00:43:14
Speaker
All right. right. I think that's a good place to wrap it up. Thank you for joining us, everybody. Yes. And please let us know if there's something that you guys want to hear next or um if you have any feedback, comments or anything you want to talk about, please someone watch this movie and read that book and let me know because I need someone to freak out with.
00:43:34
Speaker
Sweet dreams. Good night. So actually, yes, some of the songs that I get stuck in my head that are on repeat are like living on a prayer.
00:43:46
Speaker
I always have to think of what the actual name is because I always think of lemon in a pear. First, so I don't know when the last time was that I heard that song, but I'll get it stuck in my head. um Yellow Submarine is one that happens.
00:43:56
Speaker
Just something in the cadence of whatever. Oh, and and I think we're alone now. The Tiffany version. i think we're alone. yeah Yes, that one. So and those are three of the ones. Now there's others that are like repeat asshole songs that just show in my head. And sometimes it's just like something I only know one line of. So that same line will repeat over and over again. So anyways, it's my own personal Helen. I can't get away from it.
00:44:19
Speaker
Sweet dreams. Night-night. If you have topic requests, book or movie recommendations, or just want to say hi, email us at nightmarecottage at gmail.com or visit our website at nightmarecottage.com.
00:44:33
Speaker
sweet dreams. Bye-bye.