DEADLY WOMEN DAILY: LINDA HAZZARD
Meet Linda Hazzard, a woman in the 1800’s who put the life of others in her hands, promising them proper treatment that would heal them from their sicknesses. However, her words would soon turn into lies, sealing the fate of at least 15 people, earning herself the title: “Starvation Doctor.” Let’s begin with her story.
WHO WAS LINDA HAZZARD?
Linda Laura Hazzard was born in 1867 and was raised in Carver County, Minnesota, along with her seven siblings. Not much is known about her life growing up, other than getting married at 18 and having two children. However, she grew bored of that life and left her husband and children in 1902 in order to pursue her career in the health field. Even though Linda didn’t have a medical degree, she was still given a license to practice medicine in the state of Washington. Linda, along with a few others like her, found a loophole in the licensing law that allowed people to practice alternative medicine without having a medical degree. Linda strongly believed in the work of fasting, claiming that fasting is what cures all illnesses, as it expels all the toxins and imbalances from the body. She claimed that illnesses are caused by food and the digestive tract, and fasting allows the body to rest and cleanses itself from all the toxins that food causes. She claimed the ultimate cause of most diseases is impure blood that comes from an impaired digestive system. Throughout her career she had written a few books about what she thought was the science around fasting and its health benefits. She wrote The Science of Fasting, Fasting For The Cure of Disease, and Diet In Disease and Systemic Cleansing. In her first book, The Science of Fasting, she claims that she had studied under Edward Hooker Dewey, MD, who was very well known and specialized in fasting, and wrote a book called The Gospel of Health. She also wrote in her first book, “Appetite is Craving; Hunger is Desire. Craving is never satisfied; but Desire is relieved when Want is supplied.”
Linda opened up a sanitarium in a small town of Olalla, Washington, called Wilderness Heights. However, over time the sanitarium gained itself the nickname “Starvation Heights,” as witnesses would see patients who ran away from there, looking so skinny and frail, begging for food on the streets. Linda’s healthcare plan consisted mainly of fasting, and her inpatients would fast for days, weeks, and even months at a time before they escape or pass away. Her diet plan consisted of only small amounts of soup, oranges, asparagus juice, tomatoes, and orange juice. She would also force her inpatients to hours of enemas, where they would scream out in pain. Sometimes Linda would use up to 12 quarts of water in just one enema session. Lastyly, she would give her inpatients a “massage,” which consisted of beating her fists in their foreheads and backs.
IT STARTED WITH A FEW… BUT NO ONE TOOK THEM SERIOUSLY
Linda’s first victim before moving to Washington with her new husband, Samuel Christman Hazzard, happened in 1902. The coroner claimed the death was due to starvation and reported it to the police, but sadly nothing could be done due to not being licensed to practice medicine. Linda got away with murder for the first time. It wasn’t until after she moved to Washington, where she was legally licensed to practice medicine. However, even her first few victims would get swept under the rug before anyone dared to try and get justice. Her first Washington victim was named Daisy Maud Haglund, a Norwegian woman whose parents immigrated to America, and even owned Alki Point. Daisy died at the age of 38, leaving behind her 3 year old son, after fasting for 50 days under Linda’s care. Daisy’s son, Ivar, grew up to own a very successful seafood restaurant where he fed millions of people. Unfortunately, more victims followed after Daisy. Ida Wilcox died in 1908, following Blanche T. Tindall and Viola Heaton in 1909. Following that came Maude Whitney who died in 1910.
THE MAN WHO FINALLY MADE THE HEADLINES
Earl Edward Erman, a civil engineer, went to Linda Hazzard for medical care in 1911, and unfortunately passed away. After his death, The Seattle Daily Times headline read, “Woman ‘M.D’ Kills Another Patient.” Edward was rescued and made it to the Seattle General Hospital on 28th, right before he ended up dying from starvation. Investigators were able to gather more information about Linda and the way she treated her patients, all thanks to Earl who kept a diary log of everything he had eaten, almost every day, up until he was taken to the hospital.
February 1 — Saw Dr. Hazzard and began treatment this date. No breakfast. Mashed soup dinner. Mashed soup supper.
February 5 through 7 — One orange breakfast. Mashed soup dinner. Mashed soup supper.
February 8 — One orange breakfast. Mashed soup dinner. Mashed soup supper.
February 9 through 11 — One orange breakfast. Strained soup dinner. Strained soup supper.
February 12 — One orange breakfast. One orange dinner. One orange supper.
February 13 — Two orange breakfast. No dinner. No supper.
February 14 — One cup strained tomato broth at 6PM
February 15 — One cup hot strained tomato soup night and morning
February 16 — One cup hot strained tomato soup AM and PM. Slept better last night. Head quite dizzy. Eyes yellow streaked and red.
February 17 — Ate three oranges today
February 19 — Called on Dr (Dawson) today at his home. Slept well Saturday night.
February 20 — Ate strained juice from two small oranges at 10AM. Dizzy all day. Ate strained juice from two small oranges at 5PM.
February 21 — Ate one cup settled and strained tomato broth. Backache today just below ribs.
February 22 — Ate juice of two small oranges at 10AM. Backache today in right side just below ribs.
February 23 — Slept but little last night. Ate two small oranges at 9AM. Went after milk and felt very bad. Ate two small oranges at 6PM.
February 24 — Slept better Wednesday night. Kind of frontal headache in AM. Ate two small oranges 10AM. Ate one and a half cups hot tomato soup at 6PM. Heart hit up to ninety-five minute and sweat considerable.
February 25 — Slept pretty well Thursday night. Ate one and a half cups tomato broth 11AM. Ate one and a half cups tomato broth 6PM. Pain in right below ribs.
February 26 — Did not sleep so very well Friday night. Pain in right side just below ribs in back. Pain quite in night. Ate one and a half cups tomato broth at 10:45AM. Ate two and a half pump small oranges at 4:30PM. Felt better afternoon than for the last week.
This diet continued up until Earl was hospitalized. He died right before he was able to get a blood transfusion.
BUT, PATIENTS KEPT COMING…
Despite all of the deaths and suspicious activity going on in the hands of Linda Hazzard, she still had a large following of people who believed in her work. Not even the healthcare director of Seattle was able to intervene, since Linda had her license to practice medicine and all of her patients had willingly admitted themselves under her care. The healthcare director tried to convince one of her patients, a former legislator, Lewis Ellsworth Rader, who was also a publisher of a magazine Sound Views, to leave the care of Linda Hazzard. Unfortunately, he refused to leave, and he passed away in 1911, weighing less than 100 pounds as a 5’11 man. Linda would even steal from some of her patients, Ivan Flux being one of those people. He was an Englishman who came to America to purchase a ranch, and died after 53 days of fasting under Linda’s care. She somehow gained control of his cash and property, and Ivan’s family were informed that he had died with only $70 left. Her treatments were so brutal, that one of her patients, Eugene Stanley, aged 26, commited suicide in 1909.
TWO SISTERS, ONE DEATH, LINDA’S DOWNFALL
Dorothea and Claire Williamson who were both in their early 30’s, came from a very wealthy family. They saw an advertisement for Linda’s sanitarium in a Seattle magazine, and even though they weren’t suffering from any severe illnesses, they did have some minor issues that they wanted to have cured. Claire had been told that she had a dropped uterus and wanted it fixed, while Dorothea complained of arthritis pains, along with swollen glands. The two went to meet Dr. Hazzard, but didn’t tell their parents where they were going, as her family did not support alternative medicine. Linda ended up telling the girls that the sanitarium wasn’t quite ready at the moment, but promised to put them up in the Buena Vista apartments, and she would treat them there. They arrived in February, and by the time April came along, they were already becoming delirious. The sisters only lived one cup of tomato broth that was given to them up to twice a day, but they were fed nothing more. They were also given enemas that would last hours, and the girls started to faint during their treatments. In April they were both rushed to the sanitarium, both of them weighing around 70 pounds. Linda took her cruel actions further by talking to the girls about their business affairs, and offered to store their jewelry somewhere safe for them. To add insult to injury, Linda had her attorney arrive before the girls were taken to the sanitarium, and had Claire sign paperwork to her will, stating that she would leave 25 pounds sterling every year to Linda’s sanitarium, also stating that incase of death, she wanted her body cremated under the control of Linda Hazzard. Of course, this signature only came from Claire, as Linda knew she was the sickest one out of them both, and she knew she was probably on her deathbed.
Dorothea was also sickly, weak, and delirious. But every time she would look over to her sister, she knew that she was going to die, and after Claire, she would die next. She knew Claire was too weak to try and escape, so Dorothea used every ounce of energy that she had to try to escape for her and get help. It took so much effort just to get herself out of bed and onto the floor. Dorothea couldn’t walk, and she couldn’t even stand up. Refusing to give up, she began to crawl towards the door. She made it decently far in such a terrible condition, but sadly she was found trying to escape by Linda, and was taken back to her bed.
On April 30th, there was a letter sent to Margaret Conway, the sisters’ childhood nanny. The letter told her something serious had happened, and were requesting her visit to Olalla. At the time, Margaret was visiting family in Sydney, Australia, and was able to come to Washington about a week after receiving the letter. Linda’s husband met Margaret at the bus station and on their way back he delivered terrible news. Claire had passed away. Once Margaret was able to see Claire’s body, she knew something had been wrong. She said it looked like a totally different person, and she was so, so, skinny. Linda told her that she had died from cirrhosis of the liver, and it was caused by drugs that were given to her as a child, causing her organs to shrink. Margaret didn’t believe a word that she was saying and demanded that she was taking Dorothea back home to her parents. Dorothea was now between 50 and 60 pounds, and explained that she looked like a skeleton, laying in a bed inside of a cabin. However, the Hazzard’s told her that she could not take Dorthea, as they were given power of attorney and were not releasing her from their care. Margaret also saw Linda walking around in Claire’s satin robe and wearing her favorite hat. The Hazzard’s also helped themselves to the rest of her clothes, household items, and at least $6,000 worth of jewels from their family. Margaret snuck out to call the girl’s uncle, John Herbet, who came all the way from Portland, Oregon, to save Dorothea from Linda’s crutches. John paid the Hazzard’s around a thousand dollars in order to take Dorothea away from the sanitarium.
FINALLY, JUSTICE IS SERVED… OR SO WE THOUGHT
While Margaret and John helped the police investigate, they soon gathered evidence of many more deaths under the care of Linda Hazzard, and also realized they had been given access to other estates as well. Linda was arrested on August 15th, 1911, and was being charged with first degree manslaughter for the death of Claire Williamson. The following January, her trial began, and Linda told the court that she had done nothing wrong, and the only reason she is being charged right now is due to the fact that she was a woman who’s successful in the medical field, claiming that traditional doctors hated her for her success with natural healing. Linda desperately wanted to take the stand so she could put everyone in their place, but her lawyers were smart and made sure they kept her off the stand. Linda had many people testifying against her, such as nurses and servants who worked under her. They would testify about the harsh treatments she forced upon her patients. Starving them, beating them, and the cries of pain that Claire would scream during the hours of enemas she endured. But she continued to refuse any blame in the death of Claire, or any of her patients at all, as she truly believed in the power of natural healing, and encouraged the jury to read her work, so they could see the beautiful magic she was performing for her patients. However, the jury continued to be against her. Linda had very few people defending her, but her last ditch attempt to keep her out of prison was the husband of her first victim, Daisy. He claimed that even though his wife died under her care, he strongly believed in the work of natural healing, and continued to take his own son, Ivar, to see her a few times after the passing of his wife. However, the jury still remained unmoved. It didn’t take the jury long to find Linda guilty, and she was sentenced to 2–20 years of hard labor at the penitentiary in Walla Walla, and she also had her medical license revoked. However, for reasons unknown, the governor pardoned her sentence just after serving two years. Her medical license remained permanently revoked. Her sentence wasn’t long enough for the amount of lives she has taken. It wasn’t long enough for even just the one death of Claire.
After her release, she and her husband moved to New Zealand so they could be closer to most of their supporters. There she was able to work under the titles: Physician, Dietitian, and Osteopath. She even managed to publish another book based on the powers of fasting. In 1920, the Hazzard’s were able to save enough money to move back to Ohalla and open up a new and improved sanitarium. However, due to her medical license being revoked in the state of Washington, she called her new building a “school of health.” Linda’s sanitarium burned down in 1935, which gave her 15 years to continue starving her patients and killing them. Linda Hazzard died three years later, while doing her own fasting cure to help her feel better when she was suffering from illnesses.
