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The Power of Starvation
14 Plays3 months ago
Linda Burfield Hazzard ran a Washington sanitarium called Starvation Heights, promising miraculous cures through fasting, but her treatments often led to something far darker. When wealthy sisters Claire and Dora Williamson checked in for healing, only one would make it out alive. Claire’s shocking death exposed a web of manipulation, greed, and pseudoscience that stunned the world. Was Hazzard a misguided healer or a calculated killer? Tune in to uncover the truth behind Starvation Heights.
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If you or someone you know is struggling
If this story brings up feelings about food, medical abuse, or manipulation in care, please know you’re not alone. Support is available:
Patient Advocacy & Safety
- Washington State Department of Health – Health Systems Quality Assurance: File a complaint or learn about patient rights — https://doh.wa.gov
- The Joint Commission – Report a Safety Concern: https://www.jointcommission.org/report_a_complaint.aspx
Eating Disorder Support
- National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) Helpline: 1-800-931-2237 | https://nationaleatingdisorders.org/help-support/contact-helpline
- National Alliance for Eating Disorders: https://www.allianceforeatingdisorders.com
- Crisis Text Line: Text NEDA to 741741 for 24/7 support.
General Mental Health Resources
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988 (U.S.) — free, confidential support 24/7.
- SAMHSA Treatment Locator: Find local mental health and substance use support — https://findtreatment.gov
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Beneath the Evergreens'
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Beneath the Evergreens, where murder, mysteries, and mayhem lurk in the shadows of the Pacific Northwest. I'm Jess. And I'm Anna. From haunted forests and unsolved disappearances, to true crime cases buried deep in the moss and the mist, we're digging into the dark secrets hiding under the evergreens.
00:00:21
Speaker
Each episode will explore real cases, eerie encounters, and the legends that keep the Pacific Northwest up at night. So grab your flashlight, lock your doors, and join us beneath the evergreens.
00:00:57
Speaker
I love it.
00:00:59
Speaker
Episode five is in the house. His and he house. Woo woo. Woo woo.
Who is Ramtha?
00:01:06
Speaker
So I am going to admit after last week's episode, double partner, I did so much research on Ramtha and I like she is nuts.
00:01:18
Speaker
Like crazy that i I was like I was watching the interviews with her and I was like this has to be a joke. There's no way. There's no way this is real. Did you see the I think it's Merv Griffin show that one.
00:01:30
Speaker
I think it was that one. Yeah. Where she like was standing up in that pantsuit and then she did this weird like seizure esque dance thing and then sat down and she was like rolling her head and like laughing. Hello weird.
00:01:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Like it was weird. I also was like telling so many people about it. And yeah no, like no one knew that it was there. Like there's this whole cult in Yelm. And then people are just like, what?
00:01:56
Speaker
Really? Like I said, she is an entrepreneurial genius genius. Like, I don't know how she's been able to hide in plain sight for so long, but she's incredible at what she does. And she's making a killing.
00:02:12
Speaker
I, yeah, I, like I said, I think I did like 12 hours of research, eight to 12 hours. so And I cut out probably two hours of stuff that I wanted to say. And it was still like three hours of me talking at you.
00:02:25
Speaker
ah but She's, she's an interesting, so interesting. Yes. Like, i just, I, I still don't have really early have words to to like describe what I'm thinking.
00:02:37
Speaker
Cause like, Like, how? How? it Like, and the promotional videos, there's so many people that are taking part in these seminars. And, like, it gives yoga retreat vibe, not low-key occult vibes.
Ramtha's Teachings and Conspiracies
00:02:52
Speaker
It does. Like, she's really leaned into this, like, manifestation, visualizing your reality, and, like, and like I said before, what she's preaching, essentially,
00:03:08
Speaker
makes sense at the surface level. Like think positive positively, manifest, like do whatever you have to do to get to where you want to go and then stay in a positive light.
00:03:19
Speaker
I get that. That makes sense. But then it's like, a slippery slope because once you buy into that, then you're like, then you're going to start like edging into the lizard people and how not to be a lizard person. And then it's like, Oh, they're coming for you. Oh, QAnon.
00:03:34
Speaker
And then it's just, you keep going downhill and into this weird wine night situation where you're up for 16 hours sloshed. And then you're like, yes, lizard people are coming to get me. And then you end up with a ah garage full of unperishable items and water. And when do you snap out of it and say, Hmm, something may be amiss.
00:03:55
Speaker
the right she's she's really good at what she does. like Props to her and that regard. Yes. And have you seen the difference between like her Ramtha alter ego and then herself? I saw like a bit of the shift. There wasn't too much non-Ramtha though.
00:04:13
Speaker
and Okay, I might send you a video where you see the huge difference because there's one in particular where she's laying it on thick and it's slightly creepy.
00:04:24
Speaker
It's slightly creepy. I don't like it. She's like, and then, i don't know. I can't even do that. accent The accent is wild. It's like, you heard it. It's a weird. Yeah. Yeah. Like transatlantic Englishman.
00:04:39
Speaker
Like super specific. And I'm honestly kind of sp surprised she's able to keep it up. Like I kind of, I want to watch more interviews, like quick succession just to see if it's the exact same accent or not. Cause I feel like it's like low key, really hard to replicate.
00:04:52
Speaker
Totally. Also, did you see the mass amount of lip filler she's gotten? Like no shade to lip filler, but the evolution of her lips is something to really be remarked upon. I might have to cut this out because that's kind of rude, but it it is, it is a story of its own.
00:05:08
Speaker
We could do a whole story just on the lip
00:05:13
Speaker
filler.
00:05:17
Speaker
And in 1988, they developed the first lip filler and subject number one. Just kidding. Oh my gosh. She's a pretty lady. Especially for like 80 years old. She's a stana.
00:05:30
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
Who is Dr. Linda Hazard?
00:05:33
Speaker
Alrighty. So talking on the topic of um interesting women in Washington, the topic that I have for today is dr Linda Hazard.
00:05:46
Speaker
Have you heard of her before? I feel like I want starvation Heights. Yes. Yes. I have heard slightly about her. This was a topic that I was thinking about doing, but it's like a monster topic.
00:05:59
Speaker
Yes. It's yes. It's so old and there's so much information. Yeah. It's super, it's super interesting. Yes. So I'll jump right into it. and so excited because I know like high level. I'm so okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
00:06:17
Speaker
So I do want to give a little shout out before I start this episode. The Washington State Digital Archives were amazing for just researching this topic and looking up some of the like older like death certificates and data. like That archive is absolutely incredible and highly recommend anyone check it out. like I was able to go back and like distant family members and look up like school schoolit records and like census data.
00:06:44
Speaker
which I just think is amazing. I love history like that. You know, when you're like back in school and you're like, man, history is so boring. But now that I'm older, I'm like, it's so fascinating. it History really is just like kicking in with your friends, but about really cool old stuff. I don't know. I love, I love it. So I'm to be definitely checking out for my research stuff.
00:07:05
Speaker
Yeah. Highly, highly recommend. Alrighty. So let's jump right into, to, to Dr. Linda Hazard. And I'm only going to call her doctor for the beginning of this episode because um little bit of a jump ahead, but she technically has a medical license, but she never had any formal training.
00:07:27
Speaker
Like she did not have a degree in medicine. She, it kind of seems like she was grandfathered into a license because she had some alternative medicine training.
00:07:38
Speaker
training maybe the term grandfathered into a medical license i feel like is the first red flag of the story that is ah washington in 19 early 1900s for you some hills have my shit okay yes so linda hazard she is a huge proponent of fasting fasting Nicer term for starving.
00:08:07
Speaker
um um Fasting as a way to cure whatever ailments you may have. And I'm not talking like intermittent fasting like we have today. like you know Fast for 20 hours. You have ah four hours a day where you eat.
00:08:21
Speaker
No. like These are multiple day fasts. When you're like you're really only drinking some broth and you're getting enemas done. You're in hot baths for hours on end. like You are just...
00:08:34
Speaker
not you're starving yourself and the but the term fasting overhead. So like not great conditions. um But the alternative medicine game at the time, this was ah apparently all all all the rage.
00:08:49
Speaker
So okay yeah noted
00:08:54
Speaker
so The story is going to take place. We're going to start our story in Seattle. um So Linda had a couple offices in downtown Seattle, but ultimately she created her grand sanitarium of starvation or what what people called starvation heights over in Olala in Kitsap County.
00:09:16
Speaker
Mm hmm. So yes at the time, i mean, Kitsap County still is like relatively rural. Like you go like the drive to Gig Harbor, Bremerton, like there's a lot of trees, a lot of small towns.
00:09:26
Speaker
And I'm imagining in like 1910, like rural, rural. it's like rural rural and i mean 1910 there's not even i think the first car is our like it's that year isn't it never mind continue with this story um but it's like it's it's out there it is remote people aren't aren't getting out there so that's kind of how linda was able to build this this sanitarium of doom i'm gonna start calling it sanitarium of doom
00:09:59
Speaker
So Linda had actually written a book called Fasting for the Cure of Disease, which was kind of her, just her model. And one of the quotes that she actually had was, death in the fast never results from deprivation of food, but is the inevitable consequence of vitality sapped to the last degree by organic imperfection.
00:10:22
Speaker
What does that even mean? What? Right? It sounds really nice. Can you And so when I first heard it, I see it as kind of plausible deniability. Like in her mind, if someone were to die from the fast that she recommends, it's not the fast that's killing her.
00:10:40
Speaker
the food like the The lack of food is not is not hurting these people. It is whatever they already had. It was whatever they already ate. The imperfections that are already inside their body that are just festering.
00:10:53
Speaker
And they festered a little bit too much. And that's why they're they die. Interesante.
The Case of Claire Williamson
00:10:58
Speaker
Okay. Right. So the precursor to all this is her book. So she's written that before she really starts getting a lot of, a lot of patients in.
00:11:08
Speaker
um The patient that I'm really going to focus into on today is Claire Williamson. Okay. So Claire Williamson is one of her last patients. And actually the, the patient that the only patient that Linda was actually charged with her death.
00:11:27
Speaker
Nice. Okay. Yeah. Not nice, but wow. Okay. So Linda actually has quite a track record of 10 to 12. I'm seeing a lot of mixed numbers of people that were actually killed by Linda because the the death certificates don't always denote what the cause of death really was.
00:11:46
Speaker
Because a fun fact, I found this when was digging through all these all these ah records, but the the provider, whoever was providing care for the person that was sick, fills out that death certificate.
00:12:00
Speaker
Oh, that's convenient and cool. That makes total sense. Yeah. Of course. So, everyone that was under Linda's care, she's done a nice little signature on their death certificate and has claimed whatever their pre-existing condition was as their cause of death.
00:12:15
Speaker
Very convenient. Are all are these people people also very rich? um Quite a few, yes. Of course. Okay. Yeah. Cool. We'll dig into that in a sec. But... So before Claire Williamson and her sister Dora even set foot on Linda Hazard's property, Linda's already had a couple of run-ins with people that have died in her care.
00:12:38
Speaker
No one's ever ever able to prove it, though. And fun fact, one of her victims was actually the mother of a man named Ivor. who will eventually go on to create the Ivers seafood chain that we have. I was literally about to say Iver fish and chips, Iver?
00:12:55
Speaker
susan Yeah. Okay. Yes. Linda Hazard killed his mother or his mother was undergoing ah fasting with Linda when she died. That's so sad. That's tragic. Right? Yeah.
00:13:06
Speaker
But kind of a, don't a fun Seattle fact, if you will. For those you that don't know, Ivers seafood, they make the best clam chowder, fish and chips. They're awesome.
00:13:16
Speaker
all over the place around here, mostly on like the pier. But I love Ivers so much. I honestly did researching. was like, I would go for some clam chowder right now. Can go on a tangent really fast?
00:13:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, of course. Okay. The tangent is I used to be obsessed with clam chowder and my father, knowing my obsession with clam chowder once was sent on a work trip to Seattle and he got a cup of clam chowder from Ivers just for me, put it in the cup holder in the back seat of our suburban and I wasn't home when he got home. And so he completely forgot about the clam chowder.
00:13:51
Speaker
And unfortunately, the Suburban is not one ah vehicle that we had that was driven on a regular basis. And so it was like couple weeks to maybe a month before we found it.
00:14:03
Speaker
And I don't know if you've ever let ah clam chowder go bad, but this is like worse than bad. And the smell... literally you open the door and it was like immediately vomit it was so bad that it tainted the interior of that car we had to like air it out for days we tried to vacuum and like get all of this stuff out of the car it would have come we had to sell it and we had like 25 of those trees like the scented trees in the car
00:14:35
Speaker
Anyway, so Ivor, great man, great c climb chowder, doesn't hold well in a vehicle, but his mother perished at the hands of lizard. ah lizard I'm going to call her lizard from now on. Lizard people, lizard. Got it.
00:14:46
Speaker
but No disrespect to your dad, but like, how do you just, how do you not bring it in inside with you when you go, like, I am not sure, but I'm sure he had 15,000 things on his mind. And I do this often. If I put anything in the backseat, it's staying in the backseat.
00:15:04
Speaker
I don't remember that. Like that is fair. I don't know. But especially when it's like a food, i like if you go to like a fast food place like Ivers, because Ivers is kind of a fast food esque.
00:15:16
Speaker
It's like a hybrid dining slash fast food. yeah If you get a cup of it and you put it in your backseat cup holder and then a drive back from Seattle was probably like an hour to our our abode. I would forget.
00:15:28
Speaker
i don't know. like think he actually I think he actually did it for the plot. That's what it was. he did it for the plot so that I had a cool story to tell this podcast. He wanted to get rid of the car, actually. He's tired of it.
00:15:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's what it is. That's what it was. Problem solved. I'm to call you Sherlock from now on.
00:15:50
Speaker
All right. So back to Linda. So, yeah. So the fun tidbit, Ivor, um that's kind of where that piece of the story ends. But we're going to dig into the Williamson sisters a little bit.
00:16:06
Speaker
Okay. So there's two sisters, Dorothea and Claire. They're two English sisters that are living up in um British Columbia, actually. They have read Linda Hazard's book and then they see an ad for her treatment in the paper.
00:16:24
Speaker
And these are two sisters that are pretty interested in alternative medicine at this point. They're kind of known for trying different fads. they They don't really have any illnesses per se, but they got your standard kind of aches, pains, like little things that kind of impact day today day-to-day life, but nothing particularly serious.
00:16:46
Speaker
But they got the time and the money, so they decide that they want to go down to Seattle and test out Linda Hazard's fasting protocol. Right? And like I said, theyre they're known for being interested in alternative medicine.
00:17:01
Speaker
So, they've previously told their family about it, and their family's been like, hey, guys, that's a little weird, like kind of kooky. yeah So, they decide not to tell their family that they're going to go try this new form.
00:17:14
Speaker
Which... Yes. We hit red flag number two. Okay. Exactly. Exactly. So they decide to go down to Seattle.
00:17:25
Speaker
um They get there in about 1911. Okay. And initially Linda's Olala property is not yet completed. So the sisters stay in Capitol Hill under Linda's care.
Margaret's Rescue Mission
00:17:39
Speaker
Okay. So while they're in Capitol Hill, they They start this fast where Linda's only giving them ah ah cup of broth made with canned tomatoes twice a day.
00:17:51
Speaker
That is the only. canned tomatoes? Yes. That is the only thing they are ingesting. So it's like water and tomato in it? Essentially, yeah. So it's not even like broth. It's tomato, like li tomato juice. I think, even i don't know.
00:18:06
Speaker
They might be taking the tomatoes out, like kind of like a tomato, ah a vegetable broth of sorts. Does not sound appealing either way. Like just flavored flavored water at this point.
00:18:17
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Yikes. They're also given hours long enemas and in bathtubs with warm water. And Linda had actually, Linda or someone around had built supports to go around. So like if let's say the water's too hot and you're a little bit lightheaded because you haven't eaten anything all day, you were to faint or fall forward, you wouldn't drown or hit your head on something.
00:18:42
Speaker
I'm sorry. You said hours? Hours long. Hours. Yes. So this is just torture from all different angles. I'm flabbergasted.
00:18:52
Speaker
This is... Wow. Okay. Yes. So they stay there for a while and then the Kitsap County property is complete.
00:19:03
Speaker
So they leave Capitol Hill and head over there. Okay. And at this point, these sisters are 70 pounds. They are adult 70.
00:19:17
Speaker
70 pounds. These are ah adult women in their 30s and they're 70 pounds. How tall are they? We probably don't know. Not not tall enough to be make 70 pounds because it's a good body weight.
00:19:30
Speaker
I'm like, are they three feet tall? Are they leprechauns?
00:19:36
Speaker
I do not believe so. So, like... they're all They're already pretty scarily, concerningly small. So, they ah they head over to Olala.
00:19:50
Speaker
And that that becomes their new home with the hazards. Before they leave, though, they send a note to their childhood nurse, Margaret Conway. So, Margaret is actually oh out in Australia.
00:20:05
Speaker
And she is kind of doing her thing. But then she gets this note and... alarm bells start going off it doesn't make a ton of sense it just it seems a little off and i mean i know when i get a text from like a family member that i we haven't talked to in a while and it's like yeah this it like you're saying it's you but it it really it's not following the path that i would expect it to and like the grammar's off like that kind of okay yes i'm following yes so margaret gets really concerned she concerned enough that she actually decides to
00:20:40
Speaker
Head to the Pacific Northwest from ah us Australia to go check on the sisters. Damn, go her. Yeah, which this is, again, 1911. Like, that's not an easy travel.
00:20:53
Speaker
that's Or cheap. Yes. So I think that speaks volumes to how concerned she actually was for the sisters at this point. So Margaret gets there. Okay. And when, so she takes a boat, she arrives in Vancouver and then Samuel hazard, Linda's husband actually picks her up and brings her down to Seattle.
00:21:15
Speaker
However, when he picks her up, he has some bad news for her. Claire has died.
00:21:22
Speaker
He tells her that Claire is no longer, no longer alive. But that it wasn't the starvation that killed her. It was um actually some cirrhosis of the liver that was caused by some medicine she took as a child.
00:21:41
Speaker
Likely le story, sir. Likely story. Right. Is that by order of the Peaky Blinders? God. um Okay, so you're saying Sam is the doctor, quote unquote, doctor's husband.
00:21:54
Speaker
Yes. Not... Okay, I think I'm getting names mixed up. Can't make sense. I'm tracking. You're good. You're good. There's a lot of names, a lot of new characters in this story. But yeah, so Sam is Linda, Dr. Linda Hazard's husband.
00:22:06
Speaker
Okay. Okay. And so when I actually pull up Claire's death certificate, it is written on there that cirrhosis of the liver is what caused her death. And we can see Dr. L.B. Hazard signed off on it.
00:22:20
Speaker
But she's 30. That doesn't even make logical sense. Right? Yeah. Yeah. 33 years old. Wow. Okay. And she's so young. oh I mean, back then, maybe not super young, but I feel like that's still very young.
00:22:35
Speaker
The other interesting thing I can see from the death certificate is how long um Linda Hazard said that she was in her care. Yeah. So she certifies that she attended Claire from February 27th of 1911 to May 19th, 1911.
00:22:51
Speaker
to may nineteenth nineteen eleven so And she died within that time frame? Three months. It only took three months for Linda to kill her with her treatment.
00:23:05
Speaker
Oh, man. So. Oh, man. So, all this is kind of dropped on Margaret when she she ah gets to Seattle. And she's immediately like, okay, well, take me to Zora.
00:23:18
Speaker
i I need it. Like, there's another sister still there. I need to see if she's okay, see what's going on. So Samuel says, okay, sure. He takes her over to Kitsap County. And that's where he's, she discovers that Dora is there and she only weighs 50 pounds.
00:23:37
Speaker
What? if Five, zero, five, zero. And she is so thin, so frail. She can't even sit up without pain. Like I'm imagining, you know, what like you're like a hardwood floor. You're like on your knees, yeah like try not to do Cause it hurts like hell.
00:23:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's what sitting is like for her. She's no fat, no muscle mass. She's an adult woman that weighs 50 pounds. 50 pounds. Like, do you even have any muscles?
00:24:04
Speaker
It's just essentially your heart is your only muscle left. Yeah, it is your organs, bone ah and skin, which is technically an organ. But yeah, like you're like you're there's nothing there is nothing to her.
00:24:16
Speaker
Oh my God. That makes me sick to my stomach. This poor woman. Right.
Linda Hazard on Trial
00:24:20
Speaker
And is she still like on board at this point with the treatment plan? Well, I think that she's on board as much as one can be when you're 50 pounds. Absolutely starved. Like your brain function is not all there anymore.
00:24:34
Speaker
bet she's like hallucinating and all that. Yeah. Like your body. Even though her sister died? Unsure at this point. Oh my God. there it's our break Yeah. But like at this point her body the only thing to think about is like keeping her heart beating.
00:24:47
Speaker
Like there's no way she's having like a ton of cognitive thoughts or anything. Like like it's she's just in survival mode.
00:24:56
Speaker
So, Margaret is like immediately like, hey, this is not okay. like we need I need to get her out of here. She needs to get like some actual treatment. yeah But Linda is absolutely not on board.
00:25:09
Speaker
she is Oh, F you, Linda. F you, Linda. Yeah, she is still... Of the opinion that but fasting is going to cure Dora.
00:25:20
Speaker
That she just has to keep fasting and she'll be okay. Of what? What is the diagnosis she's trying to cure her of? There's so many. So many imperfections from the food and the drugs that you may have taken at some point in time in your life.
00:25:35
Speaker
Oh my god, this is asinine. And apparently Linda had this way about her where she had a very loud voice and a very kind of domineering presence.
00:25:46
Speaker
So when Margaret is trying to trying to get Dor out of the situation, yeah Linda is just overpowering her left and right and is just absolutely not having it. Oh, God.
00:25:58
Speaker
Yeah. I don't like that. So, she's Margaret is unsuccessful in getting Dora out of her care. However, she does start prying a little bit. And that's when she finds that Linda um has was appointed the executor of Claire's estate, as well as Dora's guardian.
00:26:19
Speaker
And Samuel Hazard was actually Dora's power of attorney. Oh, okay. Okay. I see where we're going here. Right? Like... Diabolical.
00:26:30
Speaker
Diabolical. You starve these people into oblivion. They have no idea what's really going on around them. And then you just swoop in and take everything. So, Linda and Samuel basically had all of Claire and Dora's, like, there their possessions, their money, their jewels, everything.
00:26:53
Speaker
It's reported that... um Linda actually met met with Margaret wearing one of, like, Claire's robes. What? Yes. A downright scoundrel. That is... That's also super disrespectful.
00:27:08
Speaker
You've got her love... is It's almost like she's a mother figure, it sounds like, at Kind of, yeah. And then this lady shows up almost, like, flaunting it in her face that she's, like... Yes.
00:27:20
Speaker
Oh, wow. And Linda gives zero fucks. She's just... She... and she loves it ah it she gets she it sounds like she just gets high off the power i hate it i hate it but and this was not the first time this has happened this was her mo pardon me pardon me she was able to finagle her way into the wills get the estates from the guardians of so many people that died in her care
00:27:53
Speaker
Yes. And no one's like reported her to this point? So it sounds like there's been reports made but nothing substantial. Okay. Yeah. So well, however, at this point Linda didn't really know what she was getting herself into because Margaret's still working hard to get Dora out of this situation.
00:28:13
Speaker
Go Margaret. Go Margaret. Go. Go Margaret. Go Margaret. Go. ah Okay. Sorry. She ends up actually um getting Claire and Dora's Claire and Dora, I don't have such a hard time saying their names together.
00:28:26
Speaker
Claire and Dora's uncle, um who's living in Portland, she gets him to come up and try to work on freeing Dora. And Linda eventually agrees for ah thousand dollars.
00:28:38
Speaker
like He pays her and is able to get her out of her care. However, since Claire. So she ransomed her. Essentially. Yeah. yeah Oh, my God.
00:28:49
Speaker
What a, what a, what, wait, wait, wait. Isn't she flouting herself as a doctor? Isn't there some type of like, it's not pedigree, some type of like oath. They have to take a Hippocratic oath, right?
00:29:01
Speaker
It's like, do no harm, hear no evil, speak no evil, that kind of shit. Maybe not, maybe. Unsure of this, because she was grandfathered into that license too. So like, it sounds like the whole licensure structure is like little bit up in the air at this point.
00:29:15
Speaker
I grandfathered in. Okay. yeah Okay, Linda. Great. However, since Claire was a British citizen, the British vice counsel in Tacoma actually intervenes and and starts looking into her death um and eventually decides to press charges against Linda.
00:29:40
Speaker
Good. Right. As one should, it sounds like. So on August 15th, 1911. So quick timeline of events here. Claire starts because being under Linda's care in February of 1911.
00:29:55
Speaker
Claire dies May 1911. And then August, they start pressing charges. So this is only a six month window of when Claire and Linda met and Linda's being charged for her murder.
00:30:09
Speaker
Which is also kind of crazy because, i mean, this is 1911. There's not freeways built. There's not reliable transportation, I don't think, especially not to Olala. like Right?
00:30:23
Speaker
That's pretty remarkable. I think Margaret, you know, yeah she missed her calling as a private eye. She's she's killing the game. Okay. like I think just kind of shows the power of so like caring about others right and like looking for these little discrepancies because think it all really only takes one person to be like um i don't like this i'm gonna raise the flag and yeah i love you enough to put all of my efforts into getting you to safety yeah so anyways august 15th authorities in kitsap county arrest linda hazard for the murder of claire williamson hmm
00:30:59
Speaker
So people that were actually at the sanitarium with Claire and Linda testified in this trial that they heard the sisters crying out in pain during their treatments.
00:31:10
Speaker
They suffered through basically torture, which included still and like more hour long enemas, incredibly hot baths. They're almost like burning to the touch. Oh, my God.
00:31:20
Speaker
Yeah. um And also during the trial, it came out that Linda had forged checks that basically emptied out the Williamson estate.
00:31:33
Speaker
Yeah. She took all of it. Okay. Yeah. She took the money and ran. Wow. Okay. Ran not very far. She was still at the sanitarium. but
00:31:45
Speaker
She ran home. Okay. Yeah. So well yeah by the end of the trial, Linda was actually convicted of manslaughter. in the death of Claire Williamson. Only manslaughter for slow and torturous death. Yeah.
00:31:58
Speaker
One thing I did not get a chance to look up is if the definitions have changed over the last 110 years. Part of me kind of imagines that there has been at least some shifting. So I don't know if manslaughter today means manslaughter back then.
00:32:12
Speaker
Means murder? Okay. Yeah. So Linda's sentencing included hard labor at a prison out in Walla Walla, Washington. I know about that place.
00:32:23
Speaker
So i didn't I knew like state penitentiary Walla Walla, right? I didn't know Walla Walla had a like a prison scene way back then, too. Oh, yeah.
00:32:34
Speaker
Why? That's something that i kind of want to look into for future episodes, because like, what is it about Walla Walla? Like I've been there. Really? I've been inside those walls, not as a prisoner, but I've been inside those walls.
00:32:47
Speaker
Um, and it's a little spooky. They also have like that unmarked graveyard. Yeah. It'd be interesting to look in. I believe it was an old fort, but we can look into that later.
00:33:00
Speaker
Future episode. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. So she was out in Walla Walla doing hard labor, but she was only there for about two years. which blows my mind two years for two years killing another human being torturing another human being to death yeah she didn't just murder someone she like had a diabolical plan tortured these poor women yeah stole their money and then only got two yeah i mean i don't know what hard labor is like but oh my god okay okay um when she got out she did thank god have her medical license revoked
00:33:38
Speaker
The grandfathered one? Okay. Yeah, the one that she never really should have had in the first place.
00:33:44
Speaker
But she never she still never took responsibility for the death.
Hazard's Later Years and Legacy
00:33:48
Speaker
So when she got out, she actually moved to New Zealand to continue preaching and like push like pursuing this fasting alternative medicine charade.
00:34:00
Speaker
There's one thing about a criminal that I, it's really hard for me to swallow. It's when there's no accountability. Yes. like And then it sounds like she not only was not accountable, but she doubled down.
00:34:12
Speaker
Yes. Yes. The only, i guess, little upside in sweet twist of irony, Linda ends up getting sick in 1938. And she,
00:34:27
Speaker
okay and Of course, her remedy is too fast. She did not survive. Oh, justice is bittersweet, isn't it?
00:34:39
Speaker
I don't normally condone like a i dont know laughing at someone's death, but this seems a little well-deserved. I'm not even sure I'm laughing at it, but I also feel like she probably didn't even... ah She probably felt justified up until her last breath.
00:34:54
Speaker
Right. Yeah. What a wild ride. Right. But yeah, the whole time she just kind of kept, she just thought she was doing all this good.
00:35:06
Speaker
Or maybe she didn't. Maybe she had a more sinister motive and she just enjoyed it. I've heard kind of talk that she could have been Washington's oldest female serial killer.
00:35:19
Speaker
i I mean, it sounds like it. I feel like she might be similar to Jay-Z in that Jay-Z Knight. in that maybe her intention started off as good. And then she saw like the personal gain she could do off of it. And then and evolved into something a little more sinister, but I'm looking at her.
00:35:41
Speaker
um think it's her booking photo right now. And I'm not going lie. She looks like a sweet little old lady from the side, but then you look at her full frontal picture and there is something a little, i think it's just because I know what she did now, but she looks a little diabolical in the picture.
00:35:58
Speaker
She looks like someone that like has a lot of like has that authority, like just yeah naturally has this like poise about her. Yeah. That I could totally see why she was able to get all these people like in her clutches in the first place and how she's able to just like take away everything from them.
00:36:18
Speaker
Oh yeah. that That confidence is definitely coming through. That's I think that's what it is, is this confidence that's oozing through the picture. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. What a good story. Also devastating. Nice work.
00:36:30
Speaker
Thank you. thank yeah Also, um I have some, well, I know some people that live in Olala. Beautiful. Beautiful. really there Stunning. I'm wondering, i so I would like to do a bit of a road trip.
00:36:45
Speaker
like Can we hit up a bunch of these different places that we've talked about? Because yeah I think there might still be like some remnants of the sanitarium still out there. Let's go find it because if it's out there, I'm going to find it.
00:36:58
Speaker
I'm like in shock a little bit. So I'm a little lost for words.
Episode Conclusion
00:37:03
Speaker
All right. Well, that's it for today's dive into the dark corners of the Pacific Northwest. If you love the stories or shivered a little, be sure to subscribe and follow so you don't miss what's lurking beneath the evergreens next time.
00:37:15
Speaker
Thanks for joining us on Beneath the Evergreens. We appreciate you diving into the mysteries with us. Until next time, keep your eyes open and your doors locked.