Linda Hazzard's Killer Diet

Hello everybody welcome back to another episode of The Casual criminalist as always I'm your host Simon welcome welcome I'm still one of my writers in this case Emma thank you Emma's written me a script Linda hazards deadly cure for disease it's actually more isn't it a deadly cure for disease well I guess it does cure the disease there's that great quote Oh I I don't know who originally said it or anything but the one with like cancer it's like cancer never beats you it's always a draw because the cancer doesn't survive it it's like fuing morbid but it does cure cancer death sure does let let's crack on oh the format of the show if you're new here is I've never read this before we're going to explore it together let's go I've never heard of Linda Hazard sounds like you need to take some care around her with the name Hazard oh I tried to think of a clever joke there they didn't come to me in time these are not edited I mean they are edited but I don't like come up with clever jokes and then put them in ahead of time it's all a cold [Music] read I've always had a love for reading though my Kindle is stock of books on True Crime these days some of my favorite authors include Tom Clancy love Tom Clancy Sarah J Mass Laura thassa Deborah harkes leeberg Dogo and of course the esteemed the Terry pratchet I know Tom clany and Terry pratchet I don't know any of the others I'm afraid I never could get into Gothic horror though and yet when I researched this case I couldn't help but think that it would have made a good Gothic Horror Story it is all the elements needed for a thrilling story a secluded house a deranged doctor a missing ays Fantastical twists and a badass hero wait is this a real story it does sound like a car like characters from a book so let's get into it a nurse comes a calling let's set the scene shall we it's the 1st of June 1911 and the union steamship company's steam of the SS Maramar has just arrived in Vancouver on the eastern coast of Canada from Sydney Australia my God that must have been a hell of a journey you're crossing the Pacific like 100 years ago 120 years ago ago 120 110 years ago apologies I'll get there eventually um that's a journey right how long do you think that takes by steam ship it's got to be weeks right and I feel like today it be like yeah you're on a giant cruise ship and there's a swimming pool there's a theater there's like 700 restaurants you having a gay old time but like back in the day i' be like oh it's just it's just cold and the food's horrible I'm terribly seasick on board is 56-year-old Margaret Conway and she just spent the past months so boom there we go traveling in a third class room Bo the SS Maramar worried about out of her mind yeah although I guess I've seen that Titanic movie if you're traveling in first class I guess it's about the same time as the okay so they did have nice ships right not if you're traveling third class then you're a peasant but like if you're in first they had like great bars and restaurants and these beautiful rooms cigar lounges promenades just to let you know that you're better than everybody else in her bag she has a collection of letters and telegrams the first is a telegram dated the 30 of April that read cable Margaret Conway Melbourne Australia come SS Maramar May 8th first class CLA sounds like the first class didn't work out did it there's also a bundle of letters that she'd received from Dora and Clare Williamson the two women she'd raised since they were babies for the past year they'd been traveling all over Canada and the US and had recently spent some time visiting their uncle in Seattle their letters were full of Stories of the health Spar they had visited the interesting people that they' met their plans to travel back to England and Australia in April and May respectively and a wish for their beloved Margaret to come and see them in the US the most recent is a letter from CLA it is dated the 2nd of May 1911 and it consists of four pages it was posted from the home of Dr Linda Berfield hazard in alala Hilltop County Washington and was sent to Hawaii for Margaret to collect on her way to Vancouver and lastly Margaret had a cable gram date of the 17th of May 1911 explaining that she has to ask the agents at the commercial Pacific cablegram office for a letter it ends both quite well Williamson but it is the contents of cla's letter that has Margaret worried the four pages are covered in writing on both sides and the top section of the first page has been filled in later almost as if CLA had ran out of paper but still had a lot that needed to be said in it Clare explains that she and her older sister Dora had become unwell soon after they had arrived in Vancouver a year earlier when we were in Seattle in September we heard of a lady fasting specialist and we had her book fasting for the Cure of disease which I studied carefully at Riverside I found she is the only licensed fasting doctor in the world and of course is the above dror Hazard um wow times don't change this is like 100 years ago and there's still people out there being like yes cure your diseases with fasting cure your diseases withing a Kai Berry or whatever the like stop it people people are still as gullible as they were a 100 years ago and it's like science has come really far to be like no fasting doesn't doesn't cure diseases I mean it it might make you thinner it might be good for you but it's not curing your diseases CLA continues to explain that they'd gone to meet with Dr Hazard and told her about their various health issues Dr Hazard had found them both to be in a very bad State and had told them they would both die within a few years if they didn't do something about their health immediately let me guess Dr haard is the sort of doctor you go to it's like well what's the prescription it's fasting isn't it doctor it's that yes it is so why do you need to even go to the doctor if the one prescription is fasting under Dr hazard's watchful lions with the help of a nurse they started following Dr hazard's fasting ritual and underwent daily thorough internal Washings oh God that's like the uh up the bum spray out isn't it oh AKA enemas yeah that's what it's called that's the sidey word enema uh which had clean their intestines of impurities mhm okay quoting again we have been all the time either on a very small quantity of strained fruit juices or strained vegetable broth such as tomatoes with water poured and cooked gently then poured through a fine strain without pressing them last week we began to pick up so the doctor allowed us to begin our first step towards solids we have beautiful beautiful raisins from Spain and a little milk from her cow I'm thriving well on it I like the raisins immensely after 8 weeks on liquid this doesn't sound good for you right I mean I'm like I'm not against fasting I think fasting is quite I used to do that thing where you didn't where you fasted like two days a week the idea is you can just eat whatever you want on the other five days and then you just fast for two days and I just I don't know why I did it like this was before I was 30 I could just eat whatever I wanted anyway and it didn't matter but I don't know I just tried it and I found it quite easy and quite nice like you really look forward to food you really think about food a lot more rather than just stuffing your face all the time well now that I've got older less stuffing my face all the time I'm just thinking about I shouldn't eat that much should I shouldn't eat that much it did happen it's that oh now I can gain weight son of a not very much but it does happen now that's a bummer CLA went on to explain that she and Dora have been moved to Dr hazzard's newly established Health sanitarium at Wilderness Heights in alala just 10 days earlier according to Clan no one could have provided the two sisters with the love and care they were receiving from Dr Hazard and and her educated husbands the philosophical and very gentlemanly Samuel Hazard Sam Hazard sounds like a superhero CLA also told Margaret the Dr Hazard Dr Hazard also sounds like a superhero Hazard is a badass name I'm sorry I know you're a bad person who seems to be like poisoning people or whatever or like fasting people to death but Hazard is a cool name CLA also told Margaret that Dr Hazard was in the process of erecting cabins on the property for her and Dora to live in each sister would have their own cabin and each cabin would have a spacious verander out front so they could sleep outside if they wanted to okay or let me let me tell you what I'll be doing if there's somewhere to sleep inside that's where I'll be sleeping because just generally prefer sleeping inside weird isn't it from the sound of it CLA saw it all as some big adventure that they were about to embark on but then CLA lamented the fact that she and Dora might not be well enough to meet Margaret when the SS Maramar arrived in Vancouver CLA admitted not feeling well enough to walk and told Dr Margaret that Dora's mental health had taken a turn for the worst to quote the doctor had a long talk with me last night about Dory she may take months to get her brain right which you know has been weak the last few years her memory is going so completely I will tell you details when you come and I conceive the doctor will tell you about us both okay it sounds like she just they've just fallen into this like weird culty doctor's trap and I get the feeling they're quite Rich right because they're off just like traveling the world as women like because like if you're a peasant woman back in 1911 life's going to be pretty sh where if like these girls seem to be off on some like Grand Adventure what did they call it was it the grand tour where like Americans like Rich Americans would go and tour around Europe for like a year or whatever that sounds like a laugh but as Margaret would soon find out Clare and Dora were worse off than CLA had let on in fact Clare Williamson had passed away on the 19th of May 1911 and when Margaret arrived at Dr hasard Health sanatorium on the 2nd of June Dora wasn't far behind her oh my God okay that's terrible they die already we're just starting the story Emma this video is brought to you by the best wallet that you can ever buy and that would of course be today's sponsor Ridge and not only that Ridge is now having their third annual summer sweep dat brought to you with their friends over at Hennessy so get excited about that now imagine this he zipping around town at a brand new Ford Bronco or maybe if you prefer it just rolling in some serious cash and that's all thanks to Ridge and their collaboration with Hennessy wallets and performance cars well what do they share well this one immediately you know it's like well this shares carbon fiber serious performance car with that kind of stuff efficiency Precision Edge just like a ridge wallet this is my daily one here and this is the 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soaked in vinegar in 1816 he lived on toast tea and vegetable dinners and smoked cigars to curb his hunger does work though like smoking and like curbing hunger it's like I enjoy an occasional cigar and it's like if you're hungry and you have a cigar it's like no longer hungry don't know why that happens but it does you're like should we go off for dinner it's like nah let's just drink in fact many of the fads we still follow today were developed in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries by fans of alternate medicine the Banting diet was developed by Carpenter Undertaker it's a unusual combination of jobs called William Banting in 1863 Carpenter SL Undertaker SL dietician and in the early 1900s businessman and writer horis Fletch became known as the great masticator when he started the chewing craze wait is this the dude who is like you got to chew each mouthful of food a hundred times and did he end up dying of like mouth cancer isn't that the story his D required his followers to chew each mouthful of food until it was liquid before they swallowed and claimed that it would help with weight loss and prevent diabetes in 1918 Dr Lulu Peter hunt Peters introduced the world to the idea of counting calories the hay diet gave us concepts of protein and starch and Dr Dr Kellogg encouraged Lo about low protein and vegetarian diets that is Battle Creek Health sanitarium some of this makes sense though like counting calories obviously is something that has been well established to work like if it's just come on like calories in calories out right if you eat tons of calories and don't exercise you're going to get fat if you eat less calories and burn a lot of them you're going to get skinny like it's not rocket science fasting however wasn't A New Concept since many Eastern religions and cultures have been practicing intermittent fasting for centuries but in the early 20th century practitioners of alternative medicine took fasting to the extreme by claiming that prolonged fasting was the key to Cleansing the body and healing the Mind well that's not real like the cleansing the body whenever some we're going to get rid of those toxins it's like yeah okay sure you are it's like amaz M I was having a debate with him and he was notot of debate just it was almost like it was pointless because he was like yeah yeah yeah the sorner is so healthy for you it's so healthy and blah blah blah and it gets you know you sweat out everything you get rid of all those to and I'm like no you don't there's no science to back that up he's like there's loads of science to back that up and then it's like okay well that's where the debate ends isn't it because you think there is I think there isn't fairly sure I'm like sauna fine it's not unhealthy and I guess like if you go in there and sitting there and you sweat a little bit you're not getting rid of any toxins I mean you're like getting hot and I guess that's elevating your heart rate so they can't be bad but surely that I think that's where it ends it's not like you're sweating out the bad things in your body you know just go for a brisk walk and you're probably going to have the same effect aren't you I'm sure people in the comments are being like actually Simon according to like in in Finland there are people who live for ages and it's like yeah yeah yeah fine fine science show me the studies show me that it's not just them getting a little bit hot show me that it's not just them getting the same benefit as a slightly brisk walk Dr Edward Dewey is credited for pioneering therapeutic fasting he claimed that excessive eating was the cause of all disease and psychological problems and believed that abstinence from food could cure mental disorders okay it's like yeah no I used to have schizophrenia and then I just stopped eating and it was fine a British physician called William tibbles would great tibbles is like the opposite of Hazard if there was a dude called Dr Hazard and Mr tibbles I he's a physician as well Dr Hazard and Dr tibbles I'll be like Dr Hazard is beating the sh out of Dr tibbles at lunch break and would explain in his book dietics or food in health and disease that even though intermittent fast at its benefits Dr DWIs claims that prolonged fasting was a cure all for illness and disease was a foolish delusion and that he took fasting to an irrational extreme I take it all back Mr tibbles Dr tibbles I like you you're a sensible doctor and a big brain Dr Linda bfield Hazard was one of Dr Dewey's students and she took it even further believing that our bodies are like machines that need nutrition to function and that overeating or eating for pleasure instead of necessity clogs up the body's natural mechanics causing it to work harder than it should resulting in organic disease well I mean there's a little Gra the truth in there isn't it because if you just keep gorging yourself on cakes you're going to get all your arteries clogged up and then have a heart attack and die like heart disease kills more than anything else right in in like uh rich countries cuz we're all Glutton and we're eating so much firstly I have to take a pill for cholesterol oh that's like I don't know I don't eat I don't eat bad I don't eat good I just eat somewhere in the middle but I just have genetically ey cholesterol so I have to take a pill for it but it's like that's the truth in that right that cholesterol is going to clog up your heart and then you're going to die not with me my cholesterol is ridiculously low now according to dror Hazard illnesses are simply a symptom of organic disease and the body must be purified before it can heal itself naturally according to the book basting for the Cure of disease quote basting is the voluntary denial of food to a system which is diseased and which because of disease does not require nourishment until rested cleansed and eager to C up the labor of digestion yes oh you're sick just stop eating so you don't overt your body with that whole food thing you don't need it until your heels this is so insane she believed that once the body started showing signs of illness it was necessary to start a fasting ritual right away which included a diet of vegetable broths portion of some fruit and some milk I like vegetable broths though like I sometimes would just take stock cubes and just make stock and drink that it's probably really unhealthy CU it's so salty but those stock cubes sometimes I'll just nibble on a little stock Cube and it's like but it tastes so much little taste in a tiny little thing part of her treatment included the following daily enemas to rinse out the organs hot bars cold compressors osteopathic manipulation to arrange the organs that's the AL body rid itself of waste and of course lots of sunlight and fresh air it could be argued the doctor Hazard had a good reason to believe that sometimes medicine did more harm than good a sickly [Music] start DR Hazard was born Linda Laura burfield on the 18th of December 1867 in Cara Minnesota and grew up on a farm outside of Star Lake Township her parents both believed that in order to stay healthy children needed good food lots of exercise and fresh air um cool her parents seem to know more about medicine than she does and Mrs Berfield ensured that her family followed a mostly vegetarian diet but when Linda was 10 her father took her and six siblings to see a doctor for their annual checkup Mr Berfield thought the doctor would be able to give them precautionary treatments that would keep them from from getting sick instead the doctor told Mr burfield that because they lived on a farm his children were at risk of ingesting all kinds of internal parasites so the doctor prescribes the burfield children blue pills to help prevent parasites from taking hold in their intestines blue pills definitely mean something else today doesn't it now for those who don't know these blue pills were also known as blue Mass pills and according to the Royal Society of chemistry they were used to treat toothaches constipation debilitating pain parasitic infections and tuberculosis the main ingredients in these pills were glycerol Rose honey licorice Holly Hawk and Mercury ah yes the Old Mercury well known for being so good I mean maybe it does kill the intes the the the parasites inside you but it also kills you cuz it's Mercury and it's highly poisonous the bfield children all took it for years and it caused heavy vomiting and diarrhea and another doctor presed calamel as a remedy just like the blue pills calamel was another one to Cur it contains both Mercury and chlorine ah you know what it'll cure your Mercury more Mercury it ate away at their stomach Linings caused their teeth to fall out and made it almost impossible to keep food in according to lindsa I now know what of course I could not then suspect that this powerful poison did irreparable injury to my intestines retarding and preventing their development and growth to such a degree that even to this day I am compelled to resort to the enema daily I understand why people went to these like you know wacko doctors in the past where they're like ah just fast for your diseases because they went to the regular doctor and he prescribed theing Mercury the difference today is like now medson follows like the scientific methods whereas back in the past it was like well you might be you know it just is like yeah take this potion see what happens but times have changed we shouldn't be like this anymore we should be like oh look science look this actually works rather than like eating Mercury or going to the fasting doctor but the crazy thing is no one's eating Mercury but they're still going to the fasting doctor in the 21st century stop it by the time she was married at 18 Linda was still suffering the effects of mercury poisoning and believe that natural medicine was the solution to all of her health problems which isn't unreasonable I don't blame you Linda you're like you your life has been screwed up by regular medicine over the years she tried out various diets and natural cures and took a course on osteopathy which is a form of alternative medicine that involves massaging and manipulating the body in order to encourage itself to heal I remember there was a mate of mine at school and like once a week he had some like neck problems or whatever and he'd come in and it'd be like I'm sorry him later was at the osteopath this morning and as I I just assumed that was the doctor and then I didn't find out until like a few years ago or like like 10 years ago that osteopathy is not medicine so it's like yeah no I had to miss this lesson because I went to see the witch doctor it's like what the just going to like someone who doesn't actually do anything I'm sure it costs a fortune as well because of course it does do you know what they call alternative medicine that's been proved to work medicine in either 1897 or 1898 she stumbled across Dr Edward Dewey's book The True science of living the new go Gospel of Health in it Dr Dewey gives his readers private lectures on the wonders of fasting and Linda was hooked she became obsessed with Dr Dewey's methods and when her husband left her in April 1898 the now 31-year-old Linda sent her two children to live with her grandmother virtually abandoning them so that she could pursue a career in medicine and she left for meville Pennsylvania to study the fasting cure under Dr Edward Dewey the two became good friends and soon after she opened an office in Minneapolis and advertised her Services as a fasting specialist in the pamphlets she handed out to advertise a new practice she claims that she was able to perform wonders with the fast incure to quote cases pronounced incurable by medical Physicians recovered under the regimen I imposed and the symptoms presented range from chronic constipation diabetes Brites disease and syphilis to paralysis good lord it's like what happened to you fell off a horse broke my neck now can't walk don't worry we got you sorted just don't eat oh I'm out of the chair no I mean the first things like chronic constipation yeah that can be probably diet related diabetes certainly diet related I mean I think you're type two diabetes probably not type one diabet you're not going to get rid of that can you get rid of type two diabetes if you have it because type two diabetes is the one you get if you're fat right and then if you get thin does your diabetes go away or are you from that point onwards diabetic I don't even know Linda started referring to herself as Dr Berfield and made a name for herself in Minneapolis as the fasting doctor yeah something I recently learned titles are not controlled in America so you could just call yourself like I could just go around be like Whistler yes hello I know everything and it's just like you could just do that you can't do that like in other countries you have to actually earn that which is crazy just call yourself sir or just Legend she officially divorced her first husband in 1902 and married Samuel Hazard on the 11th of November 1903 the two of them moved to Washington State in 1907 and with the help of her lawyer John ARA she applied to have a medical practice grandfathered by the Washington Medical Board in 1910 meaning that she didn't need a degree to practice alternative medicine and was able to get practicing medical license based solely on her past experience as an osteopath I'm glad that these days there's like rules and stuff you can't just be like a medical doctor it's like how's that it's like my dad was an osteopath please grandfathered in from here on out she would forever be known as Dr Linda Berfield Hazard the fasting specialist and she dreams of opening her own health sanitarium which would rival Dr Kellogg sanitarium in Battle Creek I think I should get that like my most of my family like they're all doctors and I think I should my grandparents were my dad was I think I should be grandfathered in to be honest right I think that's fair I think I think I should be allowed to practice medicine it seems fair it seems like obviously I know all about it because my relatives do it the past is so [ __ ] stupid British [Music] aess Evelyn dorotha Williamson was born on the 9th of September 1873 in present day good Lord tyia in India oh that makes more sense I was like is this an American name and it's like no it's somewhere in India so look that in India it's like okay unpronouncable stuff it's like yeah of course whereas America is like it's the same language that I speak and you have these crazy place names it's like what is that although crazy place names there's somewhere in the UK called Western super mayare it's like what the Western super mayare shout out to everyone in Western super mayare let me know in the comments if you're from West is Western super mayare even a big town it's probably not there's probably no one listening in Western super mayare her father was British off officer in the Imperial Army medical service and was seriously injured after Dora's birth as a result he and his family returned to England but his health never really recovered and the williamsons hired the 19-year-old Margaret Conway an Australian nurs mate help them look after their baby daughter the second daughter Gertrude was born a few days before the new nurse arrived but she was a sickly baby and Margaret was put in charge of looking after little Dora while Mrs Williamson devoted all her time to the sickly Gertrude Enid Lillian Clare Williamson was born in London on the 4th of October 1877 Mr Williamson passed away in December and little Gertrude followed 4 months later plunging the family into grief that it's like as soon as like ah the child was born is a bit sickly like today I'll be like well okay they're just going to recover and I'm like no they're dead like 18 1800s it's like a sickly child that's death that's death cuz people had like 19 children in the hope that two would survive Jesus Christ the past this is just like the this is the past was the worst episode isn't it still Dora and CLA had their mother and Margaret or Toddy as they called her and they lived a life of privilege went on skiing trips in Switzerland attended schools in France and traveled all over Europe I knew they were privileged you could sense it couldn't knew when Mrs Williamson set by sens it I mean they went on extravagant first class travels when they were kids around the world a hundred years ago so there wasn't exact not exactly hard to sense was it when Mrs Williamson passed away in 1893 the Williamson sisters in her isard their paternal grandfather's Fortune at the time it was valued at over a million dollars holy sh a million dollars in 1893 uh included stock and properties all over the world today they're fortunately worth $31 million since the inflation count worth more than $31 million since the inflation calculator I used only goes back to 1913 oh sh you can at least double or triple that right godamn that meant the 20-year-old Dora and 17-year-old CLA could afford to do whatever their hearts desired and it meant that if they didn't want to get married they didn't have to for years the sisters traveled to their hearts content and didn't feel the need to settle down anywhere with the loving Margaret in tow they stayed in luxury hotels for months on end drank tea went for spa treatments and read mostly but as the saying goes an idol mind is the Devil's Playground and over the years the sisters developed an interest in natural healing treatments and they tried out every Health bad that they came across oh wow this does sound nice though doesn't it just inheriting a ton of money and just like traveling around the world staying in nice hotels oh it's like I don't know it would lead you to be pretty Idol wouldn't it according to Margaret neither of the girls had any serious health issues Dora occasionally suffered from pains in her knees which have been diagnosed as rheumatism or rheumatoid arthritis CLA had suffered from nervous exhaustion or depression as a child and developed painful periods when she Grew Older an American doctor had diagnosed her with a tilted back or retroverted uterus is that a real condition is that a real word retroverted and had told her that because she didn't work for a living there was no need to perform operation to fix it despite enjoying a relatively clean bill of health the two sisters kept looking for a cure or remedy for their various ills but as one of their possibly envious cousins explains being rich is the cause of all their problems Claire and dtha are ill because they can afford to be ill wait wouldn't one of their cousins also have the same Grandad I guess it could be on the other side of the family right that would make sense in September 1910 the Williams and sisters were staying at the Empress Hotel in Victoria British Columbia when they came across an aders adment for the hazard Institute of Natural Therapeutics and Dr hazard's claims of being a fasting specialist on September the 2nd Clare wrote to Dr Hazard asking for her advice and telling her that Dora wasn't doing well quote she was suffering from swollen glands and has now developed acute Rheumatic pains in her knees which are both enlarged and today the pain has gone into the leg as well and is impossible for her to walk CLA goes on to explain that 2 years earlier Dorothy had been diagnosed with Graves disease an autoimmune disorder that can cause hyperthyroidism people with Graves disease often develop protruding eyes and can develop a Goa or growth in their neck when the thyroid gland becomes enlarged that sounds unpleasant Graves disease is a chronic condition but these days it can be treated with either surgery or medication but CLA claimed that Dora had been able to manage her symptoms by undergoing regular osteopathic treatments following a strict vegetarian diet and fasting on and off why not just take oh because today it can be cured with surgery and medication back in the day it was like a good like with that with your enlarged thyroid of giant eyes when CLA wrote her first letter to Dr Hazard Dora had been already following an extreme fast for just over a week all she takes is a little orange juice in hot distilled water about three times a day and a peir or a few grapes the eyes just now are very bloodshot and seem to be eliminating a good deal of matter o rough her period was due 10 days ago she's a very sharp pain over the right Temple whenever she moves and today feels too unwell to leave her bed well honestly it sounds like she could probably use some food she started this fasting diet diet and now she's got horrible stuff coming out of her eyes in constant headaches in a specific part of her brain um have you tried eating maybe over the course of the next few months the sisters and Dr hazards would write several letters to each other Dr Hazard sent them a copy of her book to study and suggested that the conditions could be easily treatable if they switched up their diet she recommended that they start only by eating vegetable broths and Cornbread to clear their bodies of toxins I love cornbread oh when CLA wrote back complaining that they were feeling a little weak after only eating cornbread and vegetable broths for a few weeks Dr Hazard responded saying that the sense of weakness that you now experience is the result of the toxic products that are stirred up through the fast you have undergone and the regimen upon which you have placed yourself do not hesitate to utilize the enema it is the most valuable assistant we have for it serves to remove the rubbish that gathers despite ourselves in the colon rubbish that is the source of so much trouble through absorption into the circulation CLA asked Dr Hazard if it would be possible for them to go to a sanitarium for a consultation and treatment and Dr Hazard explained that the sanitarium wasn't open for business yet but they could come and see her at her office in Seattle once she had decided on the best treatment to prescribe them they could stay in The Bu of Easter apartments in Seattle until she was able to house them more comfortably at the sanitarium CLA wrote back and informed Dr has that that they'd be traveling to Seattle from California in February 1911 and will appreciate it if she could start their treatment then the sisters didn't tell Margaret or any of their family members what they were planning because as Clare explained to Dr Hazard quote unfortunately we cannot tell them we are going to stop in Seattle to do a fast as already they disapprove of our way of living in fact we are not mentioning it to anyone uhoh Dr Hazard I I mean obviously this is fine like you'd never think about it but it's like Dr hazard's probably like hey he hey hey hey he no one knows you're here how rich are you again how about you leave me all your money Jesus Christ here we go according to Dora they met with Dr hazard in her office on the Northern Bank and Trust building in Seattle on the 27th of February 1911 after their consultation with her they stayed in a furnished apartment in the bune of Easter Apartments it was close to Dr hazard's office so they were able to walk there in order to receive their daily treatments the cost of these treatments was a considerable $60 or $1,849 today per person per month but they reasoned that it would be worth it which I mean if you're worth like $30 million or whatever $1,849 is not a month isn't it's probably not going to be that much to you Dr Hazard said that after the past our bodies would be clean and in perfect health it's estimated that when they arrived in Seattle that February dor wed a healthy 166 or 75 kilg and Clare wed 158 or 72 kg wait this is like back in the day so people were short right I weigh 75 Kg and I'm just off six foot so is that a healthy weight that seems like I'm assuming she's shorter than me by quite a bit because she's one a woman and two in the past that does sound isn't that a lot every day for the first two weeks the Two Sisters got up and got dressed and at 9:00 a.m. they would each drink a cup of tomato broth and a glass of orange juice on weekdays they'd make their way to the bank and trust building around 11:00 a.m. and there Dr Hazard would provide the accessories that formed a part of their treatment she had them squat down on a bathtub with their knees against their chests while she performed an enim on them which entailed shoving a pipe up their bottom and pouring six lers of warm water down a funnel into their bodies she then remove the I've got a vivid image in my mind and the sisters had to expel the water and whatever toxins were flushed along with their feces into a bucket after each sister received osteopathic massages during which she'd vigorously beat their backs necks and heads with her fist while she ordered them to eliminate Jesus Christ what is going on and later she' do the same to the rest of their bodies after this brutal massage they'd head back home have another cup of bread orable Roth for dinner and then it was off to bed Dora would explain that after the first week quote CLA looked weak and did not seem to have any strength but she was still able to go about and we both struggled out as it was represented to us it was better for us to keep going all the time as that would help to eliminate the poisons in our systems Dr Hazard told us we had a great deal and it was better to have it worked out the more we walked about however bad we felt it was better to walk and struggle against it and we went out first mornings and afternoons for a week people wrote so weird in the past barely could read that so they're basically like yeah yeah you're feeling super weak but you got to go out and let move around okay fair enough for the first week everything went well and the sisters convinced themselves that they were doing better but by the end of the second week they started fainting and sleeping the day away and were unable to get out of bed hm I wonder why maybe it's all the lack of eating the daily enema treatment had gone from a 30-minute enema to a 2hour long enema and then 4H hour long enemies until they were draped over cloth hammocks in the bathtubs in Dr hazard's office enduring dayong enemies what the man eventually what have they got in there anyway they're not even eating it's just like water goes in water comes out it's still drinkable oh Simon no eventually they didn't even have the strength to make their own vegetable WTH so during the fourth week of their fasting nurse Nelly Sherman was called to assist the girls with whatever they needed nurse Sherman wordlessly followed Dr hazard's orders and help the sisters bathe drink their broth endure the enemas and walk to the sun room on weekends for some much needed exercise and sunshine according to Dora Dr Hazard was kindness itself during those first weeks and offered to help them with whatever she could she was particularly interested in their business Affairs and whether there were any business concerns that they couldn't deal with now as they had trouble writing to their friends and family uhoh Dr Hazard why are you deling into that Dr Hazard maybe you're seeing an opportunity she also convinced them to hand over their cash deed documents and jewelry to her so that she could place them in the office safe for safekeeping uhoh it's not their fault now because they're like Delirious through all of this like lack of food they're just like yeah okay sure yeah you could do that because they can't make decisions because they're like they're not mentally there anymore because they're not eating she also had a lawyer John Arthur come and see them so that he could help them with any Financial concerns that they might have uh-oh but then their neighbors started complaining to nurse Sherman about the state of the Two Sisters Health they were concerned that the sisters were starving to death and they weren't the only ones that's probably because they were starving to death even nurse Sherman reached out to a friend of hers an osteopath who' recently treated the sisters named Dr Augusta Brewer for advice on how to help the sisters since she was convinced they were going to die when the neighbors started threatening to call the authorities Dr Hazard hastily made plans to move the sisters to a sanitarium at aala as Sherman couldn't go to aala so Dr Hazard hired a nurse Sarah Robinson to help her look after the two Williams and sisters and told nurse Robinson that the two sisters were already too far gone for a treatment to do them any good and that she feared that CLA wouldn't last long to quote I have done everything I can for the girl it is only a matter of time days really possibly as long as a week she suffers from organic troubles with her liver and her stomach which cannot be remedied by the fast or any other treatment Wilderness Heights [Music] dor and CLA were moved to Dr hazard's home in alala on the 21st of April 1911 after 8 weeks of fasting the two sisters were assembled skeletons and had to be carried downstairs in stretches before they were transported to the harbor into two ambulances some of the people who lived in the buen of Easter Apartments watched them go and Mary Fields would later testified that she estimated that CLA weighed less than 70 or 32 kg at that point she's lost like more than half her wait that's insane Dora couldn't remember much of those first weeks in Dr Hazard sanatorium it wasn't anything like the other health spars that she' been to in the past it didn't have the wide Veranda Lush Gardens and horses that CLA had envisioned when she first imagined them going to Dr Hazard Institute to Natural Therapeutics the property was covered in trees and wild thorn bush and Dr Hazard proudly referred to it as Wilderness Heights the house was just your everyday two-story Bungalow with a living room kitchen dining room Cellar skullery and two bedrooms what is this scullery I know that word I just never know what it means a scullery is a room house traditionally used for washing up dishes and laundering clothes oh like a utility room okay and the unfinished attic of course which was divided in half with rough planks to create two bedrooms where the sisters initially stayed these sisters are worth tens of millions of dollars in modern money and they're staying in the Attic of someone's house in the wilderness with just like boards dividing the rooms they must be like this is not okay Dora would later testify that their health only got worse once they were moved to Wilderness Heights and the only thing that they could think about was the food that they were not allowed to have to quota during our stay in the institution we repeatedly begged for food as we felt ourselves growing weaker and weaker but Mrs Hazard steadfastly refused to alter our daily diet I wanted food oh so much but she kept on saying just wait a little bit finally I got into such a condition that I did not care for food and really believed against my will that I did not need any the quote ends 18-year-old Essie Cameron was another nurse who helped care for the Williamson sisters after they arrived at Wilderness Heights she'd also been told that the sisters were dying and that they were just trying to make their last days as comfortable as possible as comfortable as possible by shoving them in an attic and continuing to starve them what are you doing Dr Hazard she had to help the sisters bathe and would later explain that the bath water was so hot that it burned her hands and often caused the sisters to faint she couldn't help but notice just how emaciated their bodies were she couldn't help but notice they were they weighed 32 kg I could pick them up with one hand Miss CLA was terribly thin and she had a sore on the lower part of her spine it was ulcerated and red and quite large about the size of a dollar or larger the skin was drawn over her cheekbones to give her an almost skeleton-like appearance her upper lip did not come over her teeth and she had some difficulty in talking because she could not close her lips they are starving to death this is crazy the Two Sisters weren't allowed to see each other which meant that they relied on Dr Hazard to let them know how the other was doing Dr Hazard told Dora that CL illness was too far developed and that the fasting cure wasn't helping CLA on the other hand was told that Dora's mind had left her that she was insane and that she might never recover but the afternoon before CLA died Dr Hazard asked Dora if she'd like to see CLA and carried her to her sister's room Clare was too weak to move and when Dora was put down next to cla's bed Clare asked to speak to her alone to quote her my sister looked at me as if she was going to tell me something she looked very hard at me as if wondering if she would tell me she did not tell it to me I did not realize she was thinking I was insane at that time or I would have asked her to tell me I was that stupid with weakness I did not think it yeah and this is the thing like at this point you're you're not in your right mind you might not be insane but you can't make sensible decisions because you're so deprived of food your brain is just like it requires nutrition and if you don't give it to it it stops working properly according to Dr Hazard CLA had known that she was going to die Dr Hazard had warned her weeks before so CLA got all her Affairs in order she arranged her money to be withdrawn to settle a bill and to pay for her funeral service she also Drew up a new will naming various beneficiaries and left them sums of money door inherited cla's portion of property that they purchased in Vancouver Margaret inherited Claire's jewels and books and Dr hazard's Institute of Natural Therapeutics received an annuity of £25 which would be about 2,420 today okay that's not what I expected I expected it all just be to signed over to Dr Hazard the woman who made my last days so comfortable in exchange the wooden cabin that would have been hers would be be named cabin CLA and would forever stand as testimony of her belief in Dr hazard's fasting cure that killed her and then she passed away after having fasted for a total of 81 days and the day after cla's death Dr Hazard moved Dora to her own cabin showed her the Gully that ran alongside it and suggested to Dora that no one would blame her if she jumped and brought an end to her suffering oh my God Dr Hazard youing monster to quot her Mrs Hazard told me that another patient of hers had thrown herself over the edge that seemed to me very horrible that I was so near that deep Gulch lying all alone there at night but I had no temptation to kill myself although Mrs hazard's remark but the subject in my mind she repeatedly told me I was not sound mentally and told me that until I began to believe it myself the last will of CLA Williamson Margaret Conway heard of cla's death shortly after she had arrived in Vancouver and the sister's Uncle John Herbert had been notified a week earlier on the 22nd of May both of them went to meet with Dr hazard in her office in Seattle and both of them were told a similar story regarding how CLA had died according to Margaret Dr Hazard was wearing one of cla's dresses and didn't offer her any condolences just bluntly explained what had happened holy [ __ ] do you want to look more guilty doc quote she began to tell me at once that the girls had come to her in a very bad state of health in fact when CLA came to her office the first time she saw her she was purple in the face and in a shocking state of health and she dropped into a chair and said Mrs I have come to you to be cured or to Die the quote ends Dr Hazard went on to explain that there really was nothing that she could have done for CLA and then explained what she'd found when she performed an autopsy on cla's body now I was able to find a copy of cla's death certificate in between some of the original court documents in the Washington State online archives and on it Dr Hazard had noted cla's cause of death as therosis of the liver and chronic perotis according to the nhs's website that's the Health Service in the UK which is amazing like I always go to that like you Google something and it'll be like the first thing that comes up and it'll just tell you matter of factly about diseases and that's really useful thank you it's nice according to the nhs's website curosis of the liver is essentially liver failure and peritonitis is an infection of the inner lining that protects your internal organs okay both are life-threatening diseases and therosis can result in peritonitis and often patients suffering from therosis waste away to nothing before their bodies inevitably give in sosis is what I always thought was like if um you drink too much like it screws up your liver and you get therosis of the liver and you have to get a new liver or you die isn't that right but that's not how Dr Hazard explained it to Margaret Dr Hazard told The Grieving woman that cla's organs had failed her her liver was so hard that Dr Hazard couldn't cut it with a knife her blood was so dry that it was basically powder in her veins and her organs were so small that they were infantile in appearance when Mr Herbert went to see Dr Hazard she even went so far as to show him cla's organs as if to try and convince him that no one could survive a condition like that and because I know you're going to ask she kept those dried out organs in a bag in her desk drawer ready for showand tell oh good lord I didn't even think to ask I assume they'd be like preserved in jars you know like they had back in the day the jars with like organs in it and Sh Dr Hazard also offered to take both Margaret and Mr Herbert to see cla's body at a privately owned Mory called Butterworth and Sons because she had had CLA beautifully inomed oh you weirdo Dr aard what's wrong with you I thought you were just after money but it sounds like you're a full psycho like you didn't even get money and you're like wearing her dress and encourage someone to kill themselves and you're keeping her organs in a drawer Dr Hazard youing psycho now later both Margaret and John Herbert would be asked if they'd recognized the body as CLA and neither of them did the woman was dressed in cla's clothing but didn't look anything like CLA and even though she was thin she looked like she'd been healthy enough when she passed away according to Mr Herbert the color of the hair was different from anything I had seen before the length of the face was different the condition of the face cheeks and hands was not in accordance with the condition as told to me by Mrs Hazard well that's weird so who's the woman it seems to be a different woman they be like come see your body it's like that's not her did you not call her out Herbert and when they went to see Dora after cla's funeral they felt even more certain the body they had seen hadn't belonged to CLA Williams Because despite being alive Dora Williams didn't resemble a human anymore Margaret found Dora at Wilderness height sitting outside the cabin the doctor hasn't built for her only it wasn't the cute cozy cabin with an enclosed Vera that CLA had described to Margaret in her letter according to Margaret it was a small narrow building that resembled a hastily put together chicken Co rather than a cabin but what shocked her more the Dora's accommodations was the state that Dora's body was in to quote it was ghastly I was looking at death's head a skull with skin drawn tightly over the bones over it all was a bluish tint oh my God some why would you just see you got to be like we're leaving now let's go Margaret explains that at first Dora broke down and begged her to take her away from Dr hazard's Institute but a few hours later Dora insisted that she was getting better Dr Hazard had told her so but Margaret wasn't convinced she watched that first day as Dora went through a daily routine and she hated watching Dora struggle to eat the mashed potato and the handful of peas that she was allowed to quote Dora did not seem to know how to eat and she was so cold she wanted her food so hot and she was crying all the time she wanted the food and could not eat it and she cried over it and then the food would get cold and then she wanted it hot again so it would be warmed up to practically the boiling point two or three times during the time that she was taking that little quantity of food when nurse Robinson left alala in the middle of June Margaret grabbed the opportunity to take over Dora's care she moved into the cabin with Dora and started sneaking mashed rice or flour into the vegetable broths at first the food made Dora gag but then she managed to keep it down soon after she was able to finish her mashed potatoes and peas during meal times and after Margaret managed to convince Dora have some fruit juice Dora started getting better oh my God what surprised the food makes her better isn't this another thing that happens like haven't they had it with like prisoners or war and stuff like after you know they've been starved and they're starving for like months and months and then they're like okay cool now you can eat and they'd eat and they'd die from like eating is that something that happens or is that just like an urban legend cuz I do feel you got to introduce that food slowly right because otherwise your body's going to be like yo what the when Dora slowly began to put on weight Again Margaret started making plans for them to leave alala she got a hold of Dora's Trunks and began packing but she quickly noticed that while some of Dora's things were missing most of cla's belongings and wardrobe were gone according to Margaret Dora told her that the night CLA had died quote Mrs Hazard opened her Trunks and tried on her evening dresses and evening cloak showing herself to Dora in the dead girl's garments she evidently appropriated whatever she fancied as only a few Trifles were left in the Trunks and Mrs Hazard suggested these be given to Mrs bford her sister-in-law who acted as the washer woman end quote and then there was a mailbox soon after Margaret arrival Samuel Hazard installed a lock on the mailbox Dr Hazard had told Margaret that a new order had been issued by the postmaster that required that they lock up their mailboxes to prevent theft but it meant that the patients living at Wilderness Heights now had to depend on Dr Hazard to deliver and hand out their mail Dora had written to her bank in Canada to ask about her finances but still hadn't gotten a reply and when Margaret happened to run into the postman and ask him about this ridiculous order he told her that no such order had been issued Margaret then allegedly went into Dr hazard's office looking for a book to read to Dora when she noticed a wooden letter box that Samuel Hazard kept on his desk the box then magically opened on its own and Margaret couldn't help but notice the letters neatly placed in there on top was a folded document that seemed to have opened itself as soon as she looked at it and Margaret couldn't help but read it the document stated that on the 27th of May 1911 dor had given Samuel G Hazard power of attorney over her and that he had quote the use and benefit of receiving of and from the Canadian Bank of Commerce of Victoria BC and all monies on deposit in the savings Department of that said Canadian Bank of Commerce in Dora's name oh sh so they be stealing that money Margaret pocketed the documents and when she confronted Dora about it Dora explained that she simply asked Mr Hazard to withdraw $500 for her and send it to her uncle in Canada that no point was Dora aware that she'd given Samuel Hazard power over her Affairs that is dangerous like that is a sweeping power of attorney or you send benefit of receiving of and from the Canadian Bank of Commerce and all money's on deposit right if you're signing a power of attorney make sure you i s power power of attorneys a lot cuz I don't like doing stuff myself and so I'll just like have people do things for me and it's be like you you the power of attorneys are all very specific it's like power of attorney to deal with this to do with like Finance or parking or whatever like generally just dealing with government bodies and it's all very specific it's rarely like all of my Affairs it's Danger ous I understood that it was for nothing else but to draw money from the bank in Vancouver Margaret and Doro had later discovered that the hazards had withdrawn $583 or $7,997 today from her account into their own this was the last straw Margaret finished packing Dora's bags and when she notified Dr Hazard that they were leaving Dr Hazard told her that they couldn't according to Dr Hazard CLA had understood that her sister was out of her mind and it was her will that Dora should remain at Wilderness Heights for the rest of her life so after cla's death Dr Hazard at Dora declared mentally incompetent which meant that the hazards were now Dora's legal Guardians that is way sketchy how does that happen according to Dr Hazard Dora wasn't going anywhere but neither Dora nor Margaret were willing to stay at Wilderness Heights as Margaret later put it it was all a nightmare a period of horror of starving emaciated bodies drawing themselves about and in fero of fear and horror Margaret decided that she wasn't having any of that so the 56-year-old nurse maid sneaked off the property one night and managed to send a letter to Dora's uncle Mr Herbert telling him that they were being held prisoner and that they needed his help Mr Herbert went to see Dr Hazard on the 19th of July 1911 at her luxurious new officers in the wardor hotel and told her that guardian or not Dora and Margaret were leaving Dr haard threatened to get her lawyers involved in Mr Herbert told her that she could do whatever she thought was necessary but it wouldn't change the fact that Dora would be leaving her care the next day Mr Herbert sounds like a badass Mr he's from that rich family right so he's just coming along and he's like he's just used to get his own way and he's just rolling in there and he's like you can do whatever you want get your lawyers involved I'll get my lawyers involved but one thing is happening Legends so when Dora and margarate were both packed and ready to leave Dr Hazard served them with a bill of $2,000 or $ 61,63 that stated more than $700 or $2,570 today were still owed to the institute for Dora's treatment M her claimed that it was extortion and Dr Hazard insisted that I am a licensed specialist and I am entitled to charge whatever I wish for my services if I wanted I could charge more Mr H is probably like okay like this guy's a gangster he's just like excellent that sounds like something for our attorneys to do is goodbye it's like Su me [ __ ] in the end the settlement was agreed on and they ended up paying Dr Hazard $500 which was added to the $375.00 that was already credited to Dora's account okay seems fair Mr her is probably like okay whatever go away Margaret and Mr insisted the Dr Hazard to return all of Dora's jewels and other belongings as well but according to Dora she would have paid almost anything if it meant that she could finally leave the hell hole that was Wilderness Heights but it wouldn't be the last time the Dr Hazard would see Dora and in particular Margaret Conway oh God why is it not over we're like 2third of the way through and it seems like the nightmare is finally over she killed her sister basically the the other sister finally escapes why is this not the end I mean the only end should be like Dr haard goes to to prison starvation Heights the people of alala are mostly descended from Norwegian and other Scandinavian immigrants who settled in the area in the mid 19th century in the early 20th century its Community mostly consisted of Tradesmen and farmers and according to Greg olon a resident of AA and the author of the book starvation Heights Dr Hazard and a husband didn't fit in with the local community Dr hazard in particular was considered a Whimsical snob and most of her neighbors thought that her fasting cure was a load of horse smart people aren't they while people like the Williamson sisters were easily taken in by Dr hazard's lofty claims and authoritative air when they visited her office in Seattle the residents of alala watched on as their health declined once they placed themselves in Dr hazzard's care according to alala resident Lucen art quote these people would walk by the school or the house and they were so thin oh my they were just ghastly thin very sick and they always asked for food they would walk down the hill to the little fragaria store they'd go down there and try to get food from them I understand she used to have them on a very strict diet mostly tomatoes and tomato juices it was pathetic to watch them mama I know fed them she gave them bread or anything she had she felt sorry for them the residents of alala fed the living skeletons what they could and sometimes helped them to escape from Dr hazard's clutches by taking them in and putting them in contact with their worried friends and family but in some cases they could only watch on in silence as the emaciated bodies of her patients were loaded onto ship and taken to Butterworth and Sons in Seattle when CLA passed away in May 1911 the town's people were already well aware the Dr Hazard already starved at least 10 people to death over the course of just four years the Seattle newspapers didn't refer to her as the starvation doctor for nothing Surly after she had arrived in a ller in 1907 Dr Hazard started advertising her services in a local newspaper and Daisy hagland was one of her first patients she was already dying from stomach cancer when she went to see Dr Hazard for help and fasted for 50 days before she died on the 8th of February 190 8 next was Ida Wilcox who fasted for 47 days and died on the 26th of September 1908 this makes no sense she's like what do you do I do fasting everyone who goes there ends up dying of starvation I mean the fasting successful ultimately they die from eating so little Viola Heaton had been singing Dr hazard's Praises for weeks and despite her friends and Family's please that she should eat something she kept on with Dr hazard's prescribed treatments until she finally passed away on the 24th of March 1909 and blanch B tindo fasted for just 28 days before she died on the 18th of June 1909 both Biola and blanche's death certificates noted that they died from starvation how is no one shutting this down come on M Whitney was receiving treatments at Wilderness Heights when she passed away on the 20th of July 1910 Dr a performed her autopsy and signed her death significate and noted that she died from chronic pancreatitis Earl Edward man was an engineer who suffered from chronic heartburn and by the time his friends man managed to rescue him and take him to a hospital he was already too far gone he died of starvation on the 29th of March 1910 Dr asid's other deceased patients included CA Harrison who was the publisher of the Alaska Yukon magazine and then there was Frank southord who was a partner in the seattle-based law fir Morris southord and Shipley he had called Dr hazard in order to help lose weight and he lost 77 pound or 35 kilog while following her fasting methods it speculated that the fast caused irreparable damage to his kidneys and he died of kidney failure on the 30th of March 1910 while on a camping trip and then there was Eugene Stanley wakelin who allegedly committed suicide while he was undergoing Dr hazard's fasting treatment at Wilderness Heights the most notable of her patients though was LS Raider a politician who served in the Washington House of Representatives and it already sounds like she's got some fairly notable people in her starvation location on the 29th of April 1910 the K Bay Times released an article with the headline starving himself to death in vain effort to cure the by lines further went on to explain that L Raider found on the verge of death in SE Hotel fasting cure is fatal to others latest victim formerly prominent in Washington politics how is this still going on many people have starved to death under her care and it's just like oh yes I'll still go I'll still go out there and starve to death like what the according to Greg Olson an employee of the Outlook Hotel had called the Department of Health to let them know that one of their guests was starving himself to death when two officials from the Department of Health went to see him he explained that he was undergoing Dr hazard's fasting treatment to cure a stomach issue that he had and insisted that he didn't need their help according to the kbay times there is no one with authority to compel Raider to take food the only way to save his life the city physician says is to have him declared insane and feed him forcibly which would seem quite reasonable if someone's starving themselves to death and they're going to die I would say that there's something wrong with them mentally like any rational person would be like no I'm going to die and I think the problem is like you start starving yourself your brain stops working properly and you just stay on that same path like obviously some someone needs to intervene and force feed when Dr has had heard of the visit she moved Mr Raider to a different room and refused anyone entry explaining later on that until the coming of these officers Mr Raider was able to walk from his room to the bath but since that time he continually begged to be protected from Outsiders and permitted to die if need be in peace on the 12th of May 1910 the wach she ran an article with the headline starvation treatment killed Ellie Rider formerly prominent in state politics died this morning as a result of 29 days fast Dr Hazard performed an autopsy on his body and claimed that had died of prolapses of the stomach he was cremated by Butterworth and Sons and despite the fact that the Department of Health was looking into his death nothing came of their investigation since it was well known that he hadd been willingly starving himself he was survived by his wife and four sons and in return for treating Mr Rider Dr Hazard received a plot of land that Mr Raider had owned in aala the one that she had proudly named Wilderness Heights and where she would finally build the sanitarium the that she had been dreaming of for all those years how does this continue it's insane that they just continues the price of [Music] Justice after they left alala Dora and Margaret made their way to Tacoma a city approximately 30 m south of Seattle there they made contact with the British Consulate and managed to set up a meeting with then Vice Cel Lucian aasis and arranged to meet him at the Tacoma Hotel only a few days apart since they' left alala and Mr aaziz was shocked by Dora's appearance though she was getting better she only weighed about 60 27 kilog at this point and Mr agaz listened with growing horror as Dora Margaret and Mr Herbert explained to him what the Williamson sisters had gone through while they were under the care of Dr Linda Hazard they explained that Dora and CLA weren't the only ones who were being treated by Dr Hazard at the time and that more people were slowly being starve to death they also told Mr aaziz about the guardianship issue and that Dr Hazard still had full control over Dora's finances Margaret also explains that when they left Wilderness Heights that morning quote Mrs Hazard declared that she had the law of the United States on her side and that well wherever you take Dora she won't live long that ised up yo come on Herbert you're Legend let's get something done he's already do he's like let's get in touch with the embassy we're going to figure this out let's go Legend So after Mr aaziz left the Tacoma hotel that afternoon one of the first things he did was hire an attorney Mr Frank Kelly and together the two of them would start the process of dissolving the hazard's guardianship over Dora wow that's some like top-notch help for him like uh what was his name what was his job like console or something wow good for you getting on it on the 31st of July 1911 Mr Kelly and Mr aaziz came face to face with Dr Hazard Dora's guardianship hearing was held in a private room at the Arlington Hotel in Seattle judge Lester still listened as both parties stated their case and in his judgment he said quote think of this this weak emaciated young woman lying on her back in the woods of kitab County who according to Dr Hazard so showed signs of insanity and then think of a doctor sitting by her bedside and telling her Tales of that awful Gulch close by and suggesting suicide to the mind of the girl Dr Hazard may not have realized what she was doing but such a person is a dangerous person to administer to women and children there is to me something which seems Unholy about the relations of this woman and her patients all the money this girl and her sister had was practically in the hands of Dr Hazard and this does not look right to a court of equity yeah any reasonable person surely the judge is like yo guardianship over what the and yo police get up there to that Hazard place and make sure that no one's starving to death and then put her in prison okay let's go judge still voided the hazard Guardian ship over M Dora Williamson excellent and ruled the doctor L has out to repay M Dora Williamson an amount of $973 allowing her to keep an amount of $597 for our services okay fine nice that some money is coming back back Mr aaziz was determined to prove that doctor Hazard had murdered CLA Williamson Mr aaziz you Legends they're really going for it I like this a lot and he and Margaret told Dora's story to every journalist who'd listen ramping up public support for the case Mr Kelly and Mr agaz also issued adverts in newspapers all over the country explaining that they were looking for more information regarding Dr Hazard and their Institute of Natural Therapeutics and heard that when she'd still been living in Minneapolis back in 1901 the fasting doctor had been accused of causing the death of a Gertrude Young by starving her to death yes remember that back at the beginning of the episode nothing could be proved however in lindsa Berfield had been free to go when M Kelly and Mr aaziz met with the King County Prosecuting Attorney John Murphy he handed them a file labeled Hazard complaints in it they found a list of Dr hazard's other known victims as well as documents relating to the investigations that had been made into their causes of death but up to that point the local authorities couldn't charge Dr Hazard with murder because her victims had all willingly signed signed up for her starvation cure according to Dr J E kryon then head of the Department of Health quote I told my inspectors to watch Dr Hazard and to report me if she treated any infants and they died under her care all the cases that we were able to find were those of adults who had put themselves voluntarily under a treatment I still think like you can't volunteer to to die right does this like I'm God this is legally complicated isn't it because is like yes they're all adults and they're all making decisions and it's like if you want to starve yourself to death fine starve yourself to death but there's definitely a problem here right I'm not quite sure what the problem is but obviously there's a problem it was Mr agaz who noted that three of Dr hazard's deceased patients have been British citizens John flux had immigrated to the US from Gloucester England in order to buy a ranch he had been fasting under dror Hazard supervision for 53 days before passing away on the 10th of February 1911 26-year-old Eugene wakelin was from New Zealand according to Dr Hazard it shot himself but his body wasn't discovered until 3 weeks after it died Dr Hazard had made herself the executor of his estate and easily $223 or $6 6,870 today after his death an amount of $155 or $477 today was paid du Butterworth and Suns to pay for the cost of his funeral Jesus Christ funerals are expensive and the remaining $68 was paid to the hazard Institute of Natural Therapeutics to settle his outstanding bill despite the fact that his death had definitely been suspicious nothing was about it according to Mr agaz quote my contention is that the County coroner's office or at least the deputy County coroner of Kings County who was based at Butterworth and Suns has been working for some years past hand inand with Dr Hazard it is very hard to get all the real facts but if they wanted to lay criminal charges against Dr Hazard Mr aaziz and Mr Kelly were going to need the support of the local authorities to prosecute the case but prosecuting attorney Thomas Stevenson outright told Mr Kelly that Kitsap County didn't have the financial resources to investigate their allegations against Dr Hazard is that no no no we can only investigate small crimes we have enough money to go after murderers we just go after like little thefts little shoplifting here and there parking tickets that's what we can handle we can't handle murders there's no money for murders because three of the victims have been British citizens Mr aaziz tried to convince the crown to cover the costs of the investigation but when they refused to turn the death of Clare Williamson into an international incident Dora agreed to put the bill to ensure Dr Hazard would be made to answer for causing the death of her sister yeah that's immediately what I thought it's like wait wait wait they're super rich just B for it just be like I'll B it you I'm going to B for it I'm going to use money to bury your ass Z quack [Music] doctor dror Linds bfield Hazard was arrested on the 5th of August 1911 and was charged with one count of first-degree murder the trial was set to start on the 15th of January 1912 and took place in the kitup County Superior Court in Port Orchard Washington State It Was Heard by Judge John yiki and during the prosecution's opening remarks the cour that Dr Linda Hazard had between the dates of the 27th of February and the 20th of May 1911 murdered Clare Williamson by depriving her of food that was sufficient in quantity and quality to sustain life over 100 Witnesses were called and the prosecution used them to explain that the Williamson sisters had been perfectly healthy when they' signed up for Dr hazard's fasting cure the defense however argued that Clare had already been critically ill when she'd reached out to Dr Hazard for help and despite knowing that she wouldn't be able to cure either CLA or Dora she'd still taken them in and treated them to the best of her ability we believe the evidence will show that during the time these girls were under Dr hazard's treatment they received care such as the tenderest mother would give her child Dora did her part for the prosecution and over the course of two days she explains what she and her sister had to endure during Dr hazard's treatments her uncle Mr Herbert told the court who had only received notice that CLA had died 3 days after her death death he told the court about his meeting with Dr hazard in her office and of the organs she had presented as cla's he explained that the body he had seen couldn't have been cla's and that he was told that Dora was insane Mr Hazard told me in her experience such cases grew worse and the patient grew worse and generally became hopelessly insane she also gave me her opinion as a doctor that Dora would not live much longer when Mr Kelly asked Mr Herbert what he found when he finally went to see Dora after cla's funeral Mr Herbert explained that Dora was perfectly sound and competent she recognized me and spoke to me some of the prosecution's witnesses also didn't help Dr hazard's case since they all describ the horrific decline of CLA and Dora's Health once they came under Dr hazard's care with Dr TJ Baldwin one of the state's medical experts calling Dr hazard's treatment a gross disregard of ordinary and usual care and knowledge of the human body Jesus yes obviously come on this is it's all happening to strengthen the state's claims that Dr Hazard had murdered CLA for financial gain William colier a cashier from the Northern Bank of trust explained how the hazard had first withdrawn an amount of $105 that's about $30,000 today from cla's account in April 1911 and then withdrew the rest on the 26th of May when the prosecuting attorney Mr Stevenson's asked Mr clier if he hadd been aware that CLA had passed away on the 19th of May he said I never knew of a death at all I was never advised of it when the defense called nurse Sherman to testify on behalf of Dr Hazard she claims that the sisters were picky eaters who'd refused to eat the food that sh made them and that there was never a shortage of food in their apartment at of Easter however Mr Kelly masterfully got her to admit the doctor Hazard had in fact placed them on a prolonged fast and that she had controlled what food they were allowed to eat he also got her to admit that she'd been worried enough about the sister's Health that she' consulted Dr Brewer in order to find out what she could to save them the very same Dr Brewer who is now an expert witness for the State uh oh that's a bad say where it's like yeah know I went to consult with that guy and he told me this and now he's oh no he's on the opposite side Dr hazard's going to prison where sheing belongs the events also called Andrew Hill to the stand he was the ambulance driver who had transported the sisters from bu of EA to alala and testified that yes he was there when CLA had given Dr a a permission to withdraw the $105 from our account Mr Kelly was the one that revealed that Mr Hill was actually a driver for Butterworth and Sons and when he listed the names of Dr hazard's known victims Mill admitted that he recognized some of those names because their funerals had all been arranged by Butterworth and Sons suggesting that the owners and Dr Hazard were Co conspirators maybe maybe doesn't it just mean that she's that's that her preferred funeral home I feel like that's a bit I mean is it isn't that a bit of a stretch now during the trial Dr hazard's lawyers forbade her from testifying in court rightly knowing that if she was allowed to explain her action she's only dig a deeper hole for herself yeah I was surprised by this is it it's quite rare apparently for the person who's actually being prosecuted to take the stand and like talk about stuff at least according to Casual criminals that I've done and and then movies I've seen because they're like well yeah that's fine you get to explain things but also the prosecution gets to ask all these questions and they can go wrong that can go wrong for you they can manipulate you and twist you into saying things that you didn't want to say and that's a big problem but it does feel like really guilty if you don't take the stand right the lies and be like no don't do itan isn't and they'll be like don't do it they'll just make you look bad oh God according to her the Williamson sisters had convinced themselves of the efficacy of the fasting cure and had fully determined to place themselves under my care after examination I felt that I was face to face with Organic disease in both sisters and I positively refused to fast them They begged me to reconsider and I finally consented to place them on a restricted diet and to apply the accessories of the treatment at the start of the fast CLA Williamson weighed only 78 pounds in her clothes and was emaciated to the last degree her circulation was most sluggish and she complained of constant extreme exhaustion about 2 weeks after beginning treatment CLA was compelled to take to her beds and shortly after that in order to care for her in a proper manner I removed both sisters with their nurses to my own home Clair gradually failed however and died on May the 19th here was another instance in which no power on Earth could have saved the life of the sufferer Clare Williamson was in absolute sympathy with the method as applied end quot though she wasn't allowed to voice her opinions in court she was however accused of signaling the witnesses whenever she didn't agree with what they were saying and during the trial the jury had to be dismissed so that judge Yaki could give her a warning himself quote there have been times when it is perfectly true that the defendant has showed disapproval of what the witness has been testifying to I've seen that myself when one witness testified upon the stands Mrs Hazard shook her head to the jury whether she has been signaling to this witness I don't know but if there has anything like that been done it is very important I hope this will stop if it has been done and I want to caution the defendant now that it must not be done or else she will be in contempt of court a people in the past spoke so weird that was so hard to read it's like the words just in a slightly different order than they should be the trial dragged on for 16 days and at the end of it the prosecution explained that quote this case is of unusual significance we are not here to avenge the death of CLA Williamson but to protect the public not only from Mrs Hazard but also from others like her you aren't isn't the sister paying for this I'll be like yeah this is a Revenge thing cuz [ __ ] you this is just Revenge I like Revenge let's go the defense followed It Up by explaining that the real reason for this prosecution is that Mrs Hazard is not a college graduate her office consists of having been educated in the School of Hard Knocks she has only the common Garden variety of intelligence and because of this the doctors with degrees cannot stand her competition she has lost some patients but where is the physician who is not she has lost eight in the last 12 years if she is not losing more than that why not let her alone I'm not sure maybe because she's killing them now it goes without saying that if a surgeon loses eight patients in 12 years it's remarkable is it I don't know how many patients die if hang on is that wait which way is that supposed to be remarkable I have no idea like surely and it depends what type of surgery right if you're going in for like brain surgery that's close to inoperable and it's like well yeah you might die on the table but you're going to die if we don't try and remove this tumor from your brain or whatever then surely that surgeon is going to like have a lot more people die than eight over 12 years surely they're going to die quite a lot right I don't know which way that's supposed to be remarkable but if your dietician claims that she's only lost patients in the last 12 years well okay okay okay yeah because she's obviously not dealing with high-risk stuff it's like it's like going to like the dermatologist although I suppose you could get skin cancer and stuff like I don't know some doctor who doesn't really deal with um like an eye doctor or something or uh a hair doctor something thing and then it's like oh yeah no I've lost many patients like how you're not even dealing with something that's deadly anyway the jury Returns on February the 4th 1912 and and declared that we the jury in the case of the state of Washington against lindsa Berfield Hazard do find the defendant guilty of manslaughter and on the 7th of February judge yiki sentenced her to spend between 2 and 20 years in a state penitentiary in waa Wala and after her request for a retrial was denied the court was dismissed that is a very wide ranging prison sentence somewhere between two and 20 years you'd be like two years okay okay considering I killed people that ain't bad and then just and between 20 you're the judge how about some certainty here come on the financial starvation now at least two of the podcasts i' listened to during my research noted that it wasn't clear why Linda Hazard was found guilty of manslaughter instead of first-degree murder that's because Greg Olson's book starvation Heights is one of the main sources on her case and he never explained her sentence in detail but here on the Casual crimas we pride ourselves on digging a little deeper yes yes we do because I had access to the digital copies of her case files I came across a letter that Samuel Hazard had written to the State Board of control in it he summarizes the findings of the court and explains that Linda Hazard was found guilty of manslaughter because in administrating her fasting treatment she had negligently carelessly and unscientifically destroyed a human life in an effort as a physician to preserve that life okay well there we go that's pretty clear for manslaughter but was she in was she really thinking she was preserving life was she really that delusional and thank you Emma for digging deeper on that that's really nice where you know cuz often there people just rely on like one major source and stuff and kind of tell their story from there I always think it's nice to to go deeper and find more sources because I know it's really cool that you did thank you this means that the court founds that Linda Hazard had a duty as a medical professional to provide CLA with a certain level of care and she hadn't which would be classed as gross negligence manslaughter in the UK thank you for the clarification Liam yeah Iams another writer here on the Casual criminal list and he is also a lawyer so he helps us out with this stuff sometimes the case of the starvation doctor abent international news and it was reported that Linda Hazard was up for parole after only serving two years of her sentence multiple people sent letters to the State Board of control and then the governor of Washington nnest liser asking that Linda Hazard should be pardoned it turned out that not everyone was convinced that she was in fact guilty of causing cla's death um I guess I can get behind the gross neck uh what was it called Grace negligence manslaughter in the UK I can kind of get behind that I mean I don't think she should be pardoned cuz she's guilty of this crime pardons like where they're like we're really sorry we did we convicted you of this don't do that her lawyer and friend John Arthur had written a letter to the superintendent at Walla Wala Henry drum on the 24th of December 1913 and claimed that Linda Hazard had done nothing wrong quote I mention this to you as an oldtime friend in order that you may understand that Dr Hazard while convicted is in my judgment not a criminal but on the contrary is a strong woman who believes that she has a mission in the world and that mission is to save people from the injur effects of medicine and to heal their troubles by the cleansing of their systems and the administration of light Foods I wish you to look upon this prospective prisoner of yours in the light of what I say and to treat her not as a human fiend but as a much misjudged woman how about how about what was this guy's name how about John Arthur instead of that how about we let the courts decide who's guilty maybe the jury jury the appears that seems fair doesn't it Mr Arthur prick hro mesford one of the men who' served on the jury wrote that he believed in Linda Hazard was innocent but it' been pressured to vote against her and that it hoped the Supreme Court would overturn her conviction which it didn't excellent Emma Thorn Gates the Widow of Ellie raider one of Linda hazard's victims also wrote to the State Board of control and explained that quote I was present at the trial and was and am thoroughly convinced that she did not have anything like a fair trial end quote a lawyer based in Seattle named j W Brian wrote the quote I was well informed as the trial procedure and was in court quite often as the case was being tried in the first place this abominable cean aaziz British minister at Tacoma had done everything he possibly could to poison sentiments the times of Seattle which under former management was a very vindictive newspaper tried the case before the issues were made up the jurors had read the Times the most bitter articles had appeared at the greatest length and with the most frequent recurrence why would anyone jump to This Woman's conclus This Woman's defense like this it seems entirely unreasonable from everything I've read she seems like an absolute monster maybe misguided but like still in control of her actions and letting people die under her watch the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce also piped in explaining that it was clear to him that the Williams and sisters were quote of the class that hardly know how to spend their time so weary are they of doing nothing a new thing to do is a relief they are open to criticism as to saying judgment in almost anything they do fasting too is no new remedy these women were of age and why should they have recourse to the law for free and voluntary acts of their own well how free was it because at the end they were like please give me food please I want to leave and has was like no no no no no no no food for you most surprising was a petition signed by 121 residents of wangai new New Zealand who claims that at least 106 of them had fasted before and that they agree with Dr Hazard that fasting alone quote does not cause starvation and death and that it does in nearly all cases cure disease when a cure cannot be had because the disease has gone too far for any cure even if Dr Hazard had put Miss Williamson on a fast and she had died under it at the worst that could be an error of judgment and not worthy of prosecution for murder well she wasn't prosecuted for murder she was prosecuted for manslaughter as a result Linda Hazard was pardoned by Governor Lista in December 1915 but she had a medical license revoked which she should have never had in the first place what the seeing as how great a number of her supporters seem to be based in New Zealand the hazards moved to wangu according to the wangu chronicle published on the 16th of July 1917 she had opened a new practice and was offering fasting dietic Chiropractic and osteopathic treatments and was once again claiming that she was a qualified medical practitioner who possesses the unique distinction of being the holder of the only license for fasting in the world which I mean is the vast so I guess you could just straight up lie and also it's like ah no one's going to know that was in America this is in New Zealand they don't talk to each other and if they do it by letters takes forever in June 1918 she was once again in trouble with the law since she was accused of practicing as a doctor without a license with the magistrate here in the case saying that the law of New Zealand required the persons should have a Long training before they could practice medicine or surgery excellent sensible New Zealand there right like letting people not just call themselves doctor for no reason she was ordered to remove any mention of her being a doctor from any advertisements or pamphlets that she published or handed out and was fine5 plus costs hazards returned to alala in 1921 and there Linda Hazard finally got to build her sanitarium which she advertised as a school of health it burned down in 1935 oh no and never reopens oh no and in 1938 the 70-year-old Linda Hazard fell ill after preaching about the wonders of natural healing for the past 40 years she placed herself on a fast in order to cure whatever ailed her and starved to death passing away on the 24th of June 1938 oh no proving that fasting was not in fact a cure for everything well it cured her diseases didn't it with death dismember the fend disase one Linda Hazard is thought to have been responsible for the deaths of at least 18 people four of whom passed away in the year between cla's death and Linda hazard's arrest and don't forget she got pardoned Christ two despite the suggestion that Butterworth and Sons were particularly involved in whatever scam Linda Hazard ran no criminal case was wor against them with regards to their crimes and they still exist today yeah I was kind of like I don't know that just seems convenient or like unfortunate she they're just the preferred uh Undertakers or whatever after the trial Dora went back to Australia on a visit to England in 1914 met and fell in love with reverends Windam Allan chaplain they got married in GL Oster on the 7th of May 1914 and lived happily ever after for a while unfortunately he drowned just 3 months after their marriage and Dora was left widowed she continued to live in England and passed away herself in 1945 age 72 four Linda's husband Samuel Hazard was a deserter con man and well-known bigamist when they got married in November 1903 had already abandoned his first family and married another woman named Viva pitch Patrick on the 7th of March 1903 under the name Sam Hargrave when vaa realized that he had been involved with Linder Hazard before they even met vaa took him to court for bigamy and he was sentenced to spent two years in prison in 1904 that came back to bite you doing it after his release the hazards left Minneapolis and moved to alala number five Lind aard wrote two books on fasting fasting for the Cure of disease and diet in the disease and systemic cleansing she also revised her first book at least five times republishing it in 1927 under the title scientific fasting the ancient and modern key to health funny enough she was quite open regarding her treatment of the people who'd passed away under her care and added their names to the facts regarding their deaths to every revision of her book explaining in detail why she couldn't be held responsible and six and lastly thank you to my longtime friends Mary for recommending this case yes thank you this was a cracker I really I mean I really enjoyed reading about all this death but this one was like it was far enough in the past that you quite detach from it and also well I had kind of had a bad ending didn't it hat got away with everything and got pardoned at least she spent some time in the in the prison which was nice but it's kind of a rubbish ending to be honest I don't know why I like this one thanks for being here and I'll see you next [Music] time

Channel: The Casual Criminalist

Views: 222,328

Keywords: true crime, linda hazzard sisters, linda hazzard documentary, linda hazzard

Id: jg4pWx2lFaU

Length: 83min 36sec (5016 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 15 2023