00:00:06
Hey weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. >> And this is Morbid. [Music] Wa. That sounded a little like the mini
00:00:31
morbid thing. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, it did. Sort of. >> It sure did. >> I know. >> That was like a throwback.
00:00:38
>> I know. Sometimes I want to sing that song and sometimes I don't. >> Maybe someday you will.
00:00:43
>> Maybe again. >> I don't know. Maybe. Who knows? Not me. Who can be sure? Not you. You know, no
00:00:49
one. >> It's so [ __ ] hot. >> It is. It's hot. I hate summer, you know. >> It's a It's the same old feeling for me.
00:01:00
ready for fall. Um I know >> but there are some there's a lot of exciting things happening. Tell us. Um
00:01:06
Monday is the ghost concert in Boston. >> Um super excited about that. >> I'm excited for you.
00:01:13
>> Very excited to go. >> I can't wait to hear how it was. >> I can't wait. >> I like excited and uh we
00:01:21
>> You should do that there. I'm going to do that. >> Do it, you won't. >> Do it, you won't. Challenge accepted.
00:01:34
>> Um, I am doing a book event at Unlikely Story. >> Excited. >> Uh, August 13th at 700 p.m. We're going
00:01:42
to be posting a link. I'll be posting one on my Instagram. We'll post it on Morbids. Uh, I think Xando will probably
00:01:47
put it on theirs. Unlikely Story will have it up. All that good stuff. >> Maybe I'll put it up.
00:01:51
>> Maybe Ash cuz Ash is back on Instagram so she can put it up. >> I know. I was going to say who knows how
00:01:56
long. >> Who know? Uh, but she's there, so maybe she'll post it. And you can get tickets and bring your
00:02:04
book. I'm doing a live signing this time, not signing ahead of time. So, I'll be doing like a little signing line
00:02:10
afterwards. Can't wait to meet you guys. >> Very excited about it. Very excited about it.
00:02:16
>> And excited. Uh, I know how to speak. >> We I mean, we do it professionally. >> We have some really fun stuff with this
00:02:22
one, too. >> Yeah, we actually had a meeting about it today. Uh, so we're going to be doing
00:02:28
fun drinks at this one that are themed. And if before because before it's like, "Oh, that doesn't really apply to me or
00:02:35
something." Listen, >> there's something everybody hitting everyone. We're doing a themed coffee
00:02:40
drink. We're doing a themed mocktail and we're doing a themed cocktail. >> And if you don't like that, you can have
00:02:47
a themed water. >> Exactly. Whatever your persuasion, you will have something that you can
00:02:53
drink. Um, it's going to be really fun and they're going to be themed for uh for Detective Laroo, for Jeremy Rose,
00:03:01
and for my girl Dr. Rem Mulla. >> And there's actually no themed water. I lied. >> There isn't. But there's water that we
00:03:07
can we'll name the water. Okay. Come up with a name all together. There >> we're naming the drinks. I won't tell
00:03:12
you what the drinks are named yet because that'll be like a fun surprise that we'll Who knows? It'll probably be
00:03:16
released by the time this comes out, but I don't know. Who really knows? >> I mean, we'll know soon.
00:03:21
>> But it was fun to come up with It was very fun to come up with them and I think you guys are going to have a lot
00:03:26
of fun with them. I'm very excited. They're very yummy drinks. Um, Unlikely Story is awesome.
00:03:32
>> [ __ ] love it there. The amount of books we bought there today was ungodly. >> Yeah, I can't stop. You know, it's shop
00:03:37
your local bookstores. >> I was just going to say that. >> Uh, they're awesome. Indie book sellers
00:03:42
are the best. Local bookstores are so good. We love them. They're just iconic. But yeah, so so come to that. That'll be
00:03:48
fun. Um, what else do we got going on? Oh, fun fun game thing that just happened.
00:03:56
>> We got sent Sam and Ky's new collab with Hunted Killer. It's called The Haunting
00:04:01
at Wicker Ridge. We're we're very excited. We're already coming up with um a game plan to play it
00:04:08
uh with Dave and Mikey at Mikey's house for our next uh movie night. We're going
00:04:12
to make it a game night now. >> So excited. >> It's I'm I love Hunter Color [ __ ] This
00:04:16
is like not an ad, by the way, guys. No. Um we just literally are excited about this. like it right now and we got
00:04:23
excited about it. >> Um, >> there's a planchette on it, right? >> There's a [ __ ] planchette included in
00:04:27
it, I think. Like it looks like on the back. I'm excited. It looks like there's a lot of like mysticism and [ __ ] in it.
00:04:33
I'm just excited about this. I love a good hunted killer game. >> They want a hunted killer game.
00:04:37
>> I want a Huntterkiller game, too. >> We should have a morbid hunt game. >> They were one of our first sponsors. I
00:04:42
think actually they were our first sponsor. >> Yeah, they've always been a supporter
00:04:46
and we and I've always supported them. I loved them from the beginning when they
00:04:50
when it was just the black plain boxes that you would get full of [ __ ] >> Yeah, I remember when you
00:04:56
>> and I loved them. So yeah, I want a morbid hunted killer game. >> Put it out to the universe.
00:05:01
>> Putting it out into the universe. >> Manifestation. But yeah, pick it up. The
00:05:06
Sam and Colby one. It's The Haunting at Wicker Ridge. Sam and Colby are lovely humans. We love them.
00:05:11
>> I hope to see them soon. >> Hopefully we get to see >> manifest that too. >> Yeah, we'll throw it out there.
00:05:19
What if I laughed like that? I definitely don't laugh like that. So, don't tell me that. Whenever I say, "Oh,
00:05:24
what if I laughed like that?" Everybody's always like, "Ash, you do laugh like that." That I don't laugh
00:05:28
like, and I know it. Okay, >> I know it. >> Don't tell me that. >> All right, let's get into it. I have a
00:05:34
tupata. >> A tupata. >> And it's brutal. >> Oh. >> But in a different manner than I think
00:05:41
we've really covered before. >> Okay. >> Uh, it's definitely morbid. Yeah, >> definitely morbid, but
00:05:46
>> definitely true crime. >> Super true crime. Yep. Convictions happen. >> This is not spooky.
00:05:52
>> This is true crime. >> It's a little spooky. >> Spooky, but not in the paranormal way.
00:05:56
No. >> Uh, but no, I It's a very, very awful case. And I can't believe I had never
00:06:03
heard of it before. I have heard of this one. I do not know like the detailed details of it, which I know I say
00:06:09
sometimes, but it's true. I see a lot of cases. I just don't look into them deeply.
00:06:12
>> It's pretty fair to say things that are true. Yeah, >> it's fair to say things in general. It's
00:06:17
just fair. It's just fair. Uh, so let's get into it. We're going to be talking about Linda Hazard and what was known as
00:06:24
Starvation Heights, which is one of the most horrifying names. It tells you everything you need to know.
00:06:30
>> Yeah. And that's a nickname, by the way. So, who the [ __ ] was Linda Hazard?
00:06:34
>> Who the [ __ ] was she? Well, first, before she was Linda Hazard, she was Linda Laura Burfield, and she was born
00:06:40
December 18th, 1867 in Carva, Minnesota. Hate to break it to you. She's a Capricorn.
00:06:46
>> Yeah, that's not great. >> I think she is. Right. Hold on. Oh, [ __ ] She's a Sagittarius.
00:06:52
>> Which actually like >> she's not a Capricorn. >> I'm not going to say it makes sense, but
00:06:56
you know, but she's not a Capricorn. >> She's not a Capricorn. That's important.
00:07:00
>> That's all that matters. >> Anyways, uh she was the oldest of seven children born to Susanna and Montgomery
00:07:06
Barfield. >> Susanna and Montgomery. You can't say Montgomery any other way. >> No. Montgomery had been a corporal in
00:07:14
the Civil War. And when the war ended, he and his wife moved west and started a life of homesteading in Star Lake
00:07:21
Township. >> Oh, that sounds beautiful. >> I know. From the moment that she could
00:07:25
walk and talk, Linda was super curious. She was super outgoing. She was a very happy child. She was much more
00:07:30
interested in nature than she was playing dolls or whatever else little girls did in the 1800s.
00:07:36
>> Yeah. Uh her parents had been vegetarian for years, so she ate a vegetarian diet
00:07:40
as well. But beyond being simply vegetarians, Montgomery and Susanna Burfield held very particular views on
00:07:50
health and diet and exercise that remember kids are like little sponges. >> Oh, they take in everything.
00:07:58
>> So this would all have a pretty profound influence on Linda's future. >> Uhoh. Looking back, she traced her
00:08:04
eventual interest in natural therapies to her childhood and in particular to the family doctor who she said would
00:08:11
visit visit the family to provide annual checkups. She said no one was sick, but
00:08:15
he had brought the idea that the medical men of the day could ward off potential
00:08:19
problems with their black bag of tricks. >> Okay. >> So, it's like you don't necessarily need
00:08:24
to see a doctor if you're not sick with something >> like you want your annual checkup.
00:08:28
>> Totally. Totally do that. In fact, >> absolutely. That's very important. go to
00:08:32
all your but like >> you'll see what I mean in a second. >> So Linda's father in particular held a
00:08:38
firm belief in the abilities of the county doctor and his strange approach to medicine that according to Linda
00:08:44
yielded absolutely nothing but terrible terrible results. During one visit, the doctor insisted that the kids had some
00:08:51
kind of intestinal parasite. And he prescribed a quote blue mass pill for all of them, which is a very outdated
00:08:58
cure all that contained, among other things, mercury, like a high level of mercury.
00:09:04
>> I don't see the problem here. >> Yeah. As a result of taking the pills, multiple kids in the family started
00:09:09
having, this is kind of gross, sorry, frequent and very severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhea that at the time
00:09:16
weren't immediately connected to the pills. So, the cycle just kind of repeated itself over and over again cuz
00:09:22
he thinks this pill is some kind of cure all. So, he's like, "Oh, keep taking it.
00:09:25
Eventually, you'll stop yakking and shitting." >> And it's like, "No, but if we're still
00:09:29
puking and [ __ ] >> it's obviously not curing all." Like, there's obviously a problem here.
00:09:35
>> Yeah. Linda wrote, and this was a quote, "I now know what of course I could not
00:09:39
then suspect, that this powerful poison did a reparable injury to my intestines,
00:09:44
retarding and preventing their development and growth to such a degree that even to this day, I am compelled to
00:09:50
resort to the enema daily." A daily enema, a daily enema is diabolical. a once-ina-lifetime
00:10:03
enema. Diabolical. >> Thank the Lords. I've talked about many of a stomach issue on this podcast. I've
00:10:09
never had to have an enema >> daily. I can't imagine. Again, I can't imagine ever having an enema.
00:10:17
>> No. >> Daily? >> No. >> No. That's bad. That's really bad. >> Ow. >> So, after the family's treatment from
00:10:25
the local doctor, Linda and her siblings all really sadly spent years in poor health. They all had chronic stomach
00:10:31
problems, an inability to keep most food down. And because of that, they ended up
00:10:36
losing teeth and hair from malnourishment. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Yeah. Very intense. At the same time,
00:10:41
Linda, or I should really say, Linda's parents were looking for a suitable man to marry Linda off to when she turned
00:10:47
18. >> Cuz the 1800s of it all. >> Yes. Of course. That man turned out to be Irwin Perry, the son of a well-off
00:10:53
farmer who was 14 years older than her. Very >> 1800s. >> Mhm. Later, Linda said she didn't really
00:10:59
have the heart for their relationship because she was pretty much just solely focused on finding the real cure for
00:11:04
what was ailing her, her siblings, and many other people like her. >> Yeah. >> But it's also possible that whatever
00:11:10
potential their marriage had was almost completely undermined by the death of Linda's father just one month after the
00:11:16
marriage. I'll say it for real this time. Montgomery had been taking an order of logs to the local mill when the
00:11:24
strap holding them together broke. And in all the chaos, he was dragged under the mass of logs and crushed to death.
00:11:32
Holy [ __ ] That is the most 1800's way to die. >> It really is. Like, I'm not even saying
00:11:39
that to be funny. >> No, it literally is. I can't think of a much more 1800's way to die
00:11:44
>> or Final Destination way to die. Awful. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Yeah. And this is really sad. A lot of
00:11:51
times the grief of losing her father left Linda just straight up depressed. She couldn't get out of bed. She wasn't
00:11:57
really focused on anything. >> Cuz you lost your father. But to lose him in that way too must be just
00:12:03
>> cuz you think that's a brutal way for someone to die. >> And she's young, which means her father
00:12:07
probably wasn't that old, you know? >> So it consumed any kind of bandwidth that maybe she would have had to focus
00:12:13
on her new marriage. >> As far as Linda was concerned, Montgomery, her father, was the ideal
00:12:18
man and husband, and nobody was ever going to live up to that standard. Definitely not Irwin or any of the men
00:12:24
that she was with later in her life. I mean, have high standards, girl. >> Yeah. But still, she did her best to
00:12:30
settle into married life. In 1889, she gave birth to their first child, a son they named I think it's Roland or Yeah,
00:12:36
I think it's it could be Roland. >> But I like Roland with the homies better. >> Yeah, I like that.
00:12:41
>> Yeah. They also had a daughter named Nina who came along two years later. >> Sadly, Nenah wasn't a big part of her
00:12:47
mother's life. Uh, author of Starvation Heights, Greg Olsen, who we've talked about before, yep,
00:12:53
>> wrote, "As far as most oins were cons are concerned, Nina Floyd Perry was non-existent. No one had ever seen her.
00:12:59
And years later, only one out of all the old-timers could recall Dr. Hazard talking about a daughter." What the
00:13:07
[ __ ] In fact, by all accounts, Linda, who would become known as Dr. Hazard, and her daughter never had much of a
00:13:13
relationship at all. And when Linda died, all she left Nina in her will was $1. That is
00:13:24
like what the [ __ ] It was like obviously some [ __ ] happened there. >> And it's like And it sounds like though
00:13:30
that like she never had a thing like she never talked about this child. >> Yeah. Never talked about her or
00:13:36
anything. >> So it's like what could a child have done to deserve that kind of [ __ ]
00:13:40
>> Yeah. There was >> I put that on her. Oh, that's on her completely. >> Oh, no. I know you were. I just mean
00:13:45
like what the [ __ ] >> Yeah. A dollar. >> Like a dollar. >> That's That's being a dick for to be
00:13:52
>> That's being a complete dick. >> Yeah. >> Like what the >> But apparently she was much closer to
00:13:55
her son. >> According to Greg Olsen, nobody actually really knows what happened to end uh
00:14:00
Linda and Irwin's marriage, which eventually did end. But in April 1898, she filed divorce papers claiming that
00:14:06
her husband had abandoned her and the children and without many she he left them without any means of support. and
00:14:12
she hadn't heard a word from him since. >> Damn, I win. >> I know. Well, it took some time, but in
00:14:17
1902, the court uh did agree to dissolve the marriage and they allowed Linda to return to using her maiden name rather
00:14:24
than, you know, using the man man's last name who abandoned her. >> Yeah, I get that.
00:14:27
>> Once the divorce was finalized, Linda made uh arrangements for her children to
00:14:31
live with her mother in Star Lake. Oh. And now free of her familial obligations, she was finally able to
00:14:37
turn her attention back to what she always wanted to pursue, a career as a fasting specialist.
00:14:44
Greg Olsen wrote that Linda just couldn't be bothered by motherhood and that she quote rationalized her
00:14:50
decision. She would become a healing authority such as the world had ever known.
00:14:55
>> Wow. Yeah. So, to those who knew her best, uh, her story about Irwin abandoning her without
00:15:02
any kind of notice never felt quite right. >> No one could really say where Irwin had
00:15:07
gone off to, but people suspected that it was really Linda who had abandoned him and not the other way around. People
00:15:13
who knew her best all remembered that what she was solely focused on was her desire to get rid of her husband and her
00:15:19
family because she felt like they were basically preventing her from becoming the woman she knew she was destined to
00:15:25
become. Damn. Yeah, she was uh what she herself referred to as a quote woman with a greater purpose and she would not
00:15:32
deny the world the innovations in healthcare she knew existed in her mind. >> I wish she would have
00:15:38
>> I wish she would have denied that retweet. >> Yeah. >> According to Linda, she discovered the
00:15:43
miraculous healing powers of fasting in 1898 when she was looking for relief from the stomach problems that had
00:15:50
plagued her for most of her life. I want to just say this. I I'm not like against
00:15:56
fasting, like intermittent fasting or anything like that. >> Like the healthy like
00:16:00
>> I'm not like making a stance on fasting at all. So like don't come at me for that. This is not fasting.
00:16:05
>> Yeah. What she's doing is not the fasting that they like that people do now to like
00:16:09
>> if you want to fast by all means [ __ ] about it. >> I don't care. Do your thing. Like you're
00:16:15
an adult. You can do what you want to do. So like please don't come at me. This is not fasting.
00:16:19
>> Yeah. This this method is not okay. Just to be clear, if you're doing this, it
00:16:23
won't end well. >> I'm not going after like the intermittent fasting or anything like
00:16:26
that. Whatever. >> This isn't, you know, >> this is different. >> Yeah. >> I just wanted to get that. Just wanted
00:16:31
to get that off. >> It's not a good call. That's why I was about to be like, I'm not saying [ __ ]
00:16:35
>> That's the thing. This This just isn't fasting. >> No, it's not. >> This is cruel and unusual.
00:16:39
>> That's why it's on morbid. It's being told as a true crime story. >> Exactly.
00:16:44
>> Like, it's not good if it's being told as part of a true crime story. >> No. So, she's she said she discovered
00:16:50
the healing powers of fasting in 1898, blah blah blah. It's possible that she did discover it back then, but it's also
00:16:56
more likely that she probably came across the practice in the early 1900s while she was studying osteopathy while
00:17:03
trying to get a nursing job. Uh, around that time, Linda came across the Gospel of Health, a book by Dr. Edward Dwey,
00:17:10
who at the time was a very vocal proponent of using fasting as a cure for various ailments across the board.
00:17:16
According to his book, he discovered the supposed miracle cure while he was treating a patient for typhus in 1877.
00:17:24
>> He said that the patient hadn't responded to any kind of traditional treatment. So, as a last resort, he
00:17:29
turned to fasting as a treatment. And he said that just a little over a month later, the patient was fully cured of a
00:17:36
disease that would have killed them. >> Yeah, that's crazy. >> Yeah, I'm sure there was probably other
00:17:40
things involved. Anyway, the gospel of health as well as another one of Dewiey's books, the no breakfast plan.
00:17:47
>> In my opinion, breakfast is the most important thing. >> Always breakfast plan always breakfast.
00:17:51
>> Eating breakfast has changed my life. >> I love breakfast. >> Eating breakfast has changed my life.
00:17:56
>> You can do whatever the [ __ ] you want. Again, that's for me. I don't care what
00:17:59
you do. >> That breakfast rules. >> You don't want to eat breakfast? Don't. >> I also grew up with a dad who makes
00:18:04
[ __ ] bomb breakfast. >> Yeah. So, my grandpa, Elena's dad, worked as a cook back in the Navy in the
00:18:12
submarine service, and that [ __ ] learned how to make a French toast, a hash brown, a [ __ ] scramble like no
00:18:21
other. When he says, "I'll make you a little breakfast." I say, "Oh my, I don't care what time of
00:18:27
the day it is." I'm like, "Let's go, girls." >> He makes so good >> bomb [ __ ] >> Breakfast for life.
00:18:32
>> His hash browns. >> Oh, that nothing beats them. Nothing. >> Oh my god. I want
00:18:36
>> that. will take a stance on. >> Nobody beats those. I'll fight you. >> So, so the no breakfast plan gh
00:18:43
essentially became the healthc care bible and that other book too both became the healthcare bible for Linda.
00:18:48
And she reached out to Dwey expressing her support and making a pitch for herself as the ideal candidate to
00:18:54
continue on his work. Her appeal to his vanity worked and he accepted Linda as an apprentice. And their relationship
00:19:01
was probably one of the most important relationships she had in her life. >> Damn. But they didn't always see eye to
00:19:07
eye on treatment plans. For example, when it came to the treatment for chronic stomach problems, Linda insisted
00:19:13
that quote, "The internal bath, aka the enema, was the best name for that. The internal bath goes crazy."
00:19:22
>> That goes bonkers. >> The internal bath is out of this world. >> I love that she's just like, "Enneas,
00:19:29
>> the internal bath." >> Ever heard of them? >> This [ __ ] loves heard of the internal
00:19:32
bath. Th this bitch's like dying words are probably internal bath. >> Enemas rock.
00:19:39
>> I love enemas, she said. Anyway, she insisted it was a quote necessary hygienic accessory of the fast.
00:19:46
>> Oh, >> like if you're fasting, what the [ __ ] do you have to enema? I >> was going to say, what do you you're not
00:19:50
there's nothing in there. >> I don't even really understand like the whole concept of enemas. It's it's
00:19:55
really just to flush things out. Correct. >> I think Yeah. And it's just it's the
00:19:58
internal bath, you know. Anyway, so she was all about that life. Dwey, on the other hand, strongly disagreed and he
00:20:05
told his patients, quote, "The bowel should be allowed to function naturally." I mean, I gotta say that
00:20:10
sounds like the the better. >> He didn't have a lot of great ideas when it comes to no breakfast. But I'm with
00:20:15
this man that the bowel should be allowed to function naturally, although sometimes they don't, which I
00:20:20
understand. >> Sometimes IBS is is a thing. >> Yeah, the hot girls, you know, we know
00:20:26
>> the hot girls have IBS. So by I have a shirt that says that by 1903 Linda nurse
00:20:31
assistant had reashioned herself as Dr. Linda Burfield even though she had literally not a medical degree to be
00:20:38
found. >> Hate this already. >> Yeah. But and this is similar to the story that I told with the Crescent
00:20:45
Hotel about Dr. Norman Baker. Oh man. >> Because of a loophole in Washington state laws at this time, Linda was
00:20:52
approved to practice medicine as a practitioner of alternative medicine. So that's how she got that doctor in there.
00:20:58
And soon she was promoting her belief that her method of strict fasting was a revolutionary cure all for any and all
00:21:05
medical ailments. >> That's not correct. >> I'm like maybe if you have like worms
00:21:09
otherwise I don't think so. >> Yeah. So while she was establishing her medical practice in Washington, she
00:21:14
started seeing a man's named Sam Hazard. That's a cool last name. >> It is. And it becomes her last name.
00:21:21
>> Not for a doctor. >> I would never go. You could be the most acclaimed doctor in the world.
00:21:27
>> Your last name is Hazard. >> Dr. Hazard. >> There used to be um a dentist named Dr.
00:21:33
Payne when I was little. And I was like, "No, I'm not going there." >> And then my mom was like, "You have to
00:21:38
go there. >> You have to go there. >> You have to go there." So yeah, she started seeing this guy Sam Hazard. And
00:21:43
by November 11th, 1903, they had known each other long enough to get married. And they were married in a small
00:21:48
ceremony that took place in her medical office in Minneapolis. She took this medical [ __ ] seriously. Kind of.
00:21:55
>> Kind of. Then though, to Linda's confusion, her husband of only a few hours disappeared on their wedding
00:22:02
night. Huh. Yeah. What Linda didn't know at the time and would go on to deny until the day that she died was that her
00:22:10
new husband already had a wife, Viva Fitzpatrick. Ah, >> yeah. And the two had a home in Iowa. So
00:22:18
Sam went on to spend the next four days in Iowa with Viva before finally returning to Minnesota to be with his
00:22:25
other wife, Linda. Huh. I bet you didn't see that coming. >> I did not. >> We were talking about fasting. Now we're
00:22:31
talking about >> See what I did there? >> I see what you did there. >> So he marries Linda in Minneapolis.
00:22:39
>> Then he goes to Iowa to be with Viva for some unknown reason. Then he goes back
00:22:44
to Minnesota. And then a few days later, he goes back to Iowa again. This time to
00:22:49
del tell Viva she's not his wife in any biblical or legal sense, only in common law. What the [ __ ] He said, "Viva, you
00:22:58
are not the wife. Viva, you're gone. Viva dead." So he offered her no other explanation other than to tell her he
00:23:08
was in fact married to Dr. Linda Burfield. >> Wow. And with that, he quit his job in
00:23:13
Iowa and went back to Minnesota to be with his new bride, Linda. >> Wow. >> A little bit about Sam. Sam Hazard.
00:23:19
>> A little bit about this guy. >> A little bit about Sam for you. Sam Hazard uh had always been and would
00:23:24
always be known as a con man. >> Cool. >> He was actually like a pretty smart guy.
00:23:28
Smart enough that he would have been able to make his way in any kind of industry he really wanted to, but he
00:23:33
really didn't like to work and he just kind of drifted from one place to another.
00:23:37
>> Okay. And when he walked out of his and Viva's apartment after telling her that
00:23:41
she wasn't his wife anymore, he probably assumed that would be the last time he ever saw her. But he didn't consider
00:23:47
that regardless of what he said about common law, Viva had absolutely no [ __ ] intention of being cast aside
00:23:53
for some new [ __ ] in Minnesota. >> No way. >> And for the first time in his life, Sam
00:23:57
Hazard was about to face some consequences. >> Good. He also [ __ ] over the wrong girl
00:24:01
because um Viva's father, Senator Joseph Fitzpatrick Fitchpatrick. Oh, used his influence to pull some strings and he
00:24:10
convinced the Henipin County District Attorney to file charges against Sam for bigamy. So by Thanksgiving that year,
00:24:18
Sam found himself standing before a judge in a packed courtroom. Damn. He had a lawyer to assist in his case, but
00:24:26
it ended up being Dr. Linda, >> who did most of the research and legal work. Not only was she there to provide
00:24:32
moral support for her husband, but she also spent a ton of time interviewing witnesses and trying to track down
00:24:39
documentation to refute Viva's claims. That >> seems like a conflict of interest.
00:24:44
>> You would think >> a little bit. >> You would think. >> According to Greg Olsen, this wasn't
00:24:48
just a matter of getting her new husband out of out of a legal jam. He wrote, "Dr. Hazard wanted Viva indicted for
00:24:54
perjury." >> Whoa. >> So, she got like a vendetta. >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah. Throughout the trial, Sam's
00:25:00
attorney, George Leonard, spent a lot of his time just vilifying and slandering Viva as a woman of dubious moral
00:25:06
character. That's a quote. >> Honestly, wear it as a badge of honor, Viva. >> I love it.
00:25:11
>> Especially this dude saying it. >> I'm obsessed. A woman of dubious moral character.
00:25:15
>> He said she was attempting to trap an honest man in an illegitimate marriage.
00:25:19
I'm like, yeah, he's honest. >> Yeah. For Viva's family, who obviously was a pretty [ __ ] prominent family,
00:25:25
the accusations being made against her were not only slanderous, they were outrageous.
00:25:30
>> Yeah. >> And they understood that while it was Sam's lawyer making the comments, it was
00:25:35
very clearly Linda who fabricated the entire defense. It seemed like while Viva may not have been able to find
00:25:42
direct evidence of a formal marriage, Linda had gone out of her way to fabricate evidence of a long-standing
00:25:47
relationship between Sam and herself, which only undermined Viva's claims. >> In the end, all of Linda's scheming
00:25:54
proved to be for nothing, though. The prosecutor proved himself to be more than adept, and Viva, the wronged woman,
00:26:00
was a very sympathetic victim to the jury. In digging through Sam Hazard's past, the district attorney uncovered a
00:26:07
criminal history that included convictions and sentences for burglary, robbery, among other things that made
00:26:14
Sam much less sympathetic to the jury. >> And to make matters worse, after he was
00:26:20
released from jail on one of the robbery convictions, he racked up a huge number
00:26:24
of debts in Tacoma and just skipped town without paying them. >> So he's just did a butt.
00:26:28
>> Yeah. And they just keep finding like evidence after evidence, fact after fact
00:26:32
that makes him look like a [ __ ] the [ __ ] bag he is. >> Yeah. They're just like, "Look."
00:26:35
>> Yeah. So the jury was like, "Um, what the fuck?" Like it >> kind of sounds like you're an [ __ ]
00:26:39
>> Yeah. But in the end, it was one of Linda's schemes that was his undoing. >> Nice. And her attempts to protect her
00:26:46
husband and slander Viva. Linda sent telegrams to Sam's first wife, Agnes Hadley, in New York. Apparently, when
00:26:55
Sam married Viva, he was still married to Agnes Hadley. >> Oh, no. >> This [ __ ] is making bigamy his
00:27:03
job of choice. >> His full-time job. >> Literally completely aware of this fact,
00:27:08
though. Linda, or somebody writing on her behalf, I'm pretty sure it was Linda, >> sent threatening messages to Agnes
00:27:14
warning her not to testify or to contact the prosecutor. >> But sympathetic, which is crazy,
00:27:20
sympathetic to the situation that Viva was in. Viva is also the other woman. >> That's a girl's girl right there.
00:27:25
>> That's a girl's girl. Agnes sent the threatening telegrams to Viva's dad, Senator Fitzpatrick, who in turn handed
00:27:32
them right over to the district attorney. >> That is the ultimate girls. She could
00:27:37
have been so petty and been like, "Well, you get what you know, you read what's coming." But she's like, "No, now I feel
00:27:43
bad that you're having the same [ __ ] done to you." >> Yeah. >> Because also she might sit there and be
00:27:47
like, "Well, maybe Viva didn't know. >> Maybe she didn't know. >> And like I'm, you know, whatever. She's
00:27:52
she's a devil's advocating, you know, girl. >> She is. All in all, the telegrams were
00:27:57
proof that Sam Hazard had 100% committed big, just not with the woman that the jury had originally assumed. So, on the
00:28:04
afternoon of February 4th, 1904, they deliberated for 5 hours and found Sam Hazard guilty of bigamy, and he was
00:28:10
sentenced to two and a half years in prison. >> Bye, Sam. You would think >> what followed was a very bizarre
00:28:16
tugofwar between Viva and Linda who were both unwilling to give up this man for some reason. I got to Google a picture.
00:28:23
I didn't. He had to have been like real hot. >> Sam has >> or like had something going for him.
00:28:27
>> But the like he lied to both of them and they're both still after this man's.
00:28:33
>> Yeah. >> For months the Minnesota Press published stories about the frequent visits Sam
00:28:37
was getting in prison by both women. And in the end, it seemed Viva had won out,
00:28:43
not Linda. >> Really? >> Yeah. Linda, who literally like went to bat threatening people and like
00:28:51
basically doing his like coming up with his defense on her own. >> Yeah. >> Then he lands himself in jail and is
00:28:57
after Viva again. >> Yeah. I'm I just That's him. >> I wish you guys could see my face right
00:29:05
now. >> That's an artist s's rendering. But, uh, >> maybe it's the mustache. >> Here I am. I don't see it. Um,
00:29:13
>> it's not for me, you know. >> Yeah, >> it's, you know, sometimes it's the personality. He didn't sound a great
00:29:19
one, but >> he maybe he was a smooth talker. >> I was going to say it doesn't sound like
00:29:23
he had that going for him either, but >> we've all been wronged by a man though that we were like, damn.
00:29:27
>> That you look back, what the [ __ ] was I doing? >> Yeah. But anyway, so they're both going
00:29:32
to visit him in prison. >> Yeah. Uh, and like I said, in the end, it seems like Viva won him out. After
00:29:38
her promise that her father would do his best to get Sam pardoned, he agreed to Viva's demand that Sam tell Linda he was
00:29:45
no longer welcome. She was no longer welcome to visit him at the prison. >> Damn.
00:29:48
>> So, she's like, I got this nice little thing for you. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Uh, later he told a reporter, "We didn't
00:29:54
want a scene. I have made up my mind. In fact, I made it up sometimes ago as to where my duty and love lie. and it might
00:30:01
as well be thoroughly understood for now and all of time. >> His love lied with Viva.
00:30:06
>> His love lied. >> His love lied. >> True to his cowardly form, though, Sam uh never told Linda to her face that he
00:30:12
was done with the relationship. Instead, she found out about his affair with Viva
00:30:17
when she went to visit him at the jail and found a stack of letters from Viva in his jail cell one afternoon when he
00:30:25
was away in a meeting. >> What the [ __ ] >> Yeah. Which like I didn't even know that
00:30:29
you went to meetings in jail. they went meeting >> maybe with an attorney or something. But
00:30:33
the next day she received word from the prison that she was no longer welcome there. Like they said, "You've been
00:30:40
removed from the list. >> You've been taken off the visitor list, girl." >> In the wake of the scandal and Sam's
00:30:45
imprisonment, Dr. Linda Hazard got herself together, though, and despite the humiliation, declared publicly that
00:30:51
her affair with Hazard had come to an end, and she was moving on to do more important things. She was still focused.
00:30:56
>> Okay. behind closed doors. She was very much devastated and she held out hope
00:31:01
that Sam would come to his senses and return to her. Which, like, why would you even want him back at that point?
00:31:05
>> Yeah. >> And her friends were like, "Girl, you're being foolish as hell to keep this hope
00:31:09
alive and to even want this man's." But if there was one thing that could be said for Linda Hazard, it's that she
00:31:15
almost always got what she wanted. >> Almost always. >> Almost always. Sam Hazard might have had
00:31:21
two desperately devoted women fighting over him publicly, but despite that, it's really hard to describe him as
00:31:27
anything more than a greedy grifter, which is a really good band name. >> We are greedy grifter.
00:31:33
>> Given how easily Sam was willing to toss one thing over for another when it suited his interests, it should come as
00:31:39
no surprise that once he was released from prison a year and a half later, it wasn't Viva he returned to, it was
00:31:45
Linda. Ah, >> so he [ __ ] first he [ __ ] Viva over for Linda, then he [ __ ] Linda over for
00:31:52
Viva, and now he's [ __ ] Viva over for Linda all over again. >> And it's like, yeah, just kick him to
00:31:57
the curb every >> It's a vicious cycle, everybody. But so he's back with Linda now. At that time
00:32:03
in 1906, he found Linda Burfield living and working in Minneapolis, advertising herself as a specialist of fasting,
00:32:09
physical culture, and health home. >> Oh. and they reunited and Sam became manager of Linda's health home. But one
00:32:18
year later, the Minneapolis telephone book listed the couple as suddenly moving to Seattle, Washington.
00:32:24
>> Nobody really knows what happened during that year in Minneapolis or what caused
00:32:27
them to relocate to Washington. >> Suspicious. >> Yeah, very suspicious. Years later
00:32:32
though, in an interview, all Linda would say was that she was called to the Pacific Coast, the coast, actually.
00:32:38
Okay, girl. rang me on the phone and said, "Hello, Linda. Come to me. >> This is the coast.
00:32:43
>> This is the Pacific Coast. >> This is the coast. Colin, whatever the case, though.
00:32:47
>> You know what to do. >> You know what to do." >> I'm just picturing like a wave on the
00:32:52
coast. >> The coast is like, >> "Linda, where the hell you been, Mocha?" In my in my mind's eye, the coast has
00:33:00
sunglasses on. >> Absolutely. >> He's like a blue wave. The Pacific Coast has sunglasses. Smoking a cigarette.
00:33:07
>> Yeah. Oh, so whatever the case, once they were settled in Washington in the spring of
00:33:13
1906, Linda opened up her new practice operating officially now as Dr. Linda Hazard. There were critics obviously.
00:33:21
>> What? >> I know. Can you imagine? >> Critics. >> Critics. >> You stopped something new.
00:33:28
>> Critics ensued. >> Critics. I don't know what happened there. But it also at the same time her
00:33:34
business was thriving in Washington. Even as her relationship with Sam slowly deteriorated, mostly due to his
00:33:40
inability to remain faithful. >> Oh, shocking. >> I'm also like, you kind of should have
00:33:43
known that. >> Yeah, you should have seen that one, Kevin. >> But still, as Linda had already proven,
00:33:47
she had no intention of letting him go. So, she just tolerated his infidelity as
00:33:51
long as he continued to come home at night. >> Okay. Yeah, to each their own. >> Yeah, that's not the life I want, but
00:33:57
you go, girl. So, in Seattle, Linda continued treating patients with her miracle cure despite having zero
00:34:03
evidence that fasting or any of her other treatments were going to provide any relief.
00:34:07
>> Yeah. Just throw spaghetti at a wall, you know? >> Yeah. She wouldn't even give you
00:34:10
spaghetti. >> No, she wouldn't. >> That's way too much food, actually. >> Yeah. >> In fact, it wasn't long after
00:34:15
establishing the new practice that she attracted a pretty good amount of negative attention when one of her
00:34:20
patients, uh, Lenora Wilcox, died while under her care. In the fall of 1907, Lenora Wilcox's death by starvation made
00:34:29
headlines in Seattle. In large part because of the supposed doctor who was treating her was not a doctor at all.
00:34:36
>> No. Lenora's death turned out to be just the first of many pieces of bad publicity for Linda. But it's a
00:34:43
significant part of the story because it happened right around the same time that
00:34:47
they decided to relocate to Alala, Washington, a small village on the coast. And it was there that Linda's
00:34:54
dream would finally be realized. The opening of her quote unquote revolutionary fasting clinic, Wilderness
00:35:00
Heights. That's in When you think of dying by starvation, >> it's slow. >> I don't think anyone, including me, can
00:35:10
conceive >> no >> of how painful and horrifying that death must be. >> I can't imagine.
00:35:17
>> Like, I can't even grasp it in my wildest dreams. And you lose so much like you you lose like cognitive
00:35:25
ability. You lose like your mind goes as your body withers away. >> It's awful what
00:35:32
>> it's awful what happened to these people. So, while she continued to treat individual patients in an outpatient
00:35:38
capacity, Wilderness Heights, which the locals usually referred to as Starvation
00:35:42
Heights, offered Linda the opportunity to put her full treatment regimen into practice with those who visited the
00:35:49
clinic and would stay for weeks at a time. >> So, before she's just kind of like going
00:35:53
to people out like and like they're coming and taking her advice and doing it at home. Now, people are coming and
00:35:59
staying there under her care. >> Yeah. While there, patients were put on a strict diet. Most only ate very small
00:36:06
amounts of food while otherwise fasting for as many as 30 days. >> Yeah. And I'm sorry, I don't that
00:36:13
doesn't make any sense to me. >> No. >> 30 days. >> 30 days. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Yeah. Obviously, it's close to
00:36:21
impossible for somebody to go that long without eating. So patients were allowed
00:36:25
small amounts of food every few days, but to call them meals would be a massive understatement. In most cases,
00:36:33
patients on a fasting plan would be given a piece of fruit every every few days.
00:36:39
Not like every day, every few days, they would get a piece of fruit or a dinner of I don't even want to call it tomato
00:36:47
soup because it was really just like the juice or water extracted from the tomato. or they would get broth, but
00:36:55
that was really just water like extracted from. >> Oh my god, that makes me gag just
00:37:00
thinking about it. I also [ __ ] hate tomatoes and the juice of a tomato to me sounds like the most diabolical thing.
00:37:07
>> That's the thing cuz I don't I wanted to say to like not tomato juice because
00:37:10
that has other [ __ ] in it and like >> like the actual like water from a >> Yeah, tomato water.
00:37:16
>> I can't even think of that. >> So, this practice according to Linda allowed the body to purify itself of
00:37:22
toxins. Shut the [ __ ] up. >> We're not even going to get into why that's wrong, but it is.
00:37:27
>> Oh, wow. >> Thereby ridding the patient of any ailments or diseases. >> That's not how that works.
00:37:32
>> No. And when they weren't fasting, patients were subjected to other forms of supposedly natural treatments that
00:37:39
included enemas, of course, >> internal baths. >> Yeah. internal baths or other hydrotherapies or quote unquote
00:37:46
aggressive massages given by Linda herself or one of the other nurses which author Terren Hines
00:37:53
describes as more closely resembling beatings. >> What? >> Just like punch the toxins out of them.
00:38:02
>> What? >> Like slap the toxins out of them. >> This isn't working. >> It's horrible.
00:38:07
>> I know that. >> It's horrible. What happened? I can't imagine the [ __ ] that lingers on that land to
00:38:14
this day. >> I do. Seriously, cuz you also have to think of like if you don't eat for like a few hours during the day,
00:38:23
you know what I Like sometimes you'll be busy and you don't eat and all of a sudden you're like gh I'm so hungry
00:38:27
>> and your stomach feels so empty >> and you just like don't feel well and sometimes you feel like nauseous if you
00:38:33
don't eat like a you do eat after that and you like don't feel good then because it's been so long since you eat
00:38:39
>> or you you've gone over the point of being hungry so then you don't even know
00:38:43
what you want to eat cuz you're so hungry. It's like that that which is the most privileged form of being hungry
00:38:50
like just forgetting to eat and not being able to. You know what I mean? like just being busy.
00:38:55
>> That is gross and a horrible horrible feel. Like I hate that feeling. It can trigger a migraine. It can do all this
00:39:02
stuff. >> Oh yeah. >> So like thinking of anything past that or it being out of my control to feel
00:39:08
that way. >> Yeah. >> Is beyond the bounds of my imagination. Like just thinking about this I'm like
00:39:14
and these people thinking it's going to cure them because they're just being told that by a doctor with a doctor in
00:39:20
front of their name. And I think one thing that we have to point out and I will continue to point out is how
00:39:25
desperate these people were to feel better. These people already had things that they were struggling with like
00:39:32
stomach problems, chronic inflammation, like this, that, and the other thing that they'd been struggling with
00:39:36
forever. So when they're sitting when they're sitting there on having a conversation with someone they think is
00:39:42
a doctor and she's telling them this is going to work, >> they're desperate. >> They're desperate and they want to see
00:39:47
this through. >> And if you live in like chronic pain or you have like stomach issues or anything like that,
00:39:54
>> you know, the desperation, you know. >> Absolutely. >> So, given the criticism that she
00:39:58
received since opening her practice, it's no surprise that Linda was vague and very secretive about the treatments
00:40:03
at her sanitarium. But thanks to a detailed diary kept by one of her patients, Earl Erdman, there is some
00:40:10
insight into what life was like at Wilderness Heights in the very early days. >> And I would assume in the early days, it
00:40:17
was probably a little better, which is crazy. >> Holy [ __ ] In his diary, he describes
00:40:21
the process of fasting under her direction, Linda's direction, and how it made him feel. His diary starts February
00:40:28
1st. He said, "Saw Dr. Hazard and began treatment this date. No breakfast, mashed soup, dinner, mashed soup,
00:40:34
supper." I think dinner must have been kind of like lunch. >> February 5th through 7th. That is two
00:40:42
days. >> So, two full days. >> Two full days. One orange breakfast, mash soup dinner, mash soup supper. Two
00:40:49
days. February 8th, one orange breakfast, mashed soup dinner, mash soup supper. The 9th through the 11th, two days or
00:40:57
really three days, excuse me. One orange breakfast, strained soup dinner, strained soup supper.
00:41:03
>> So that's just liquid. >> It goes on like that for a while. And then February 16th, he says, "One cup
00:41:10
hot strained tomato soup, A.M. and PM. Slept better last night. Head quite dizzy, eyes yellow and stre."
00:41:18
What the [ __ ] February 17th, ate three oranges today. That's it. February 19th,
00:41:25
called on Dr. Dawson today at his home. Slept well Saturday night. February 20th, ate strained juice of two small
00:41:32
oranges at 10:00 a.m. So, not even eating an actual orange, just the juice. Strained. Dizzy all day.
00:41:38
>> I wonder why. >> Ate strained juice of two small oranges at 5:00 p.m. >> So, just juice.
00:41:43
>> Yep. February 21st. Ate one cup settled in strained tomato broth. Backachche today, just below ribs. Just below ribs.
00:41:50
How's your kidneys? Yep. Shutting down. February 22nd, ate two small oranges at 10 a.m. Backache today and right side
00:41:58
just below ribs. I'm worried about your kidneys, sir. February 23rd, slept but little last night. Ate two ate two small
00:42:05
oranges at 9:00 a.m. Went after milk and felt very bad. >> So now it's like he tried something
00:42:11
heavier and his stomach probably can't even handle that. Ate two small oranges 6 p.m. February 24th, slept better
00:42:18
Wednesday night. Kind of frontal headache in the A.M. ate two small oranges 10:00 a.m. Ate 1 and 1/2 cups
00:42:25
hot tomato soup 6:00 p.m. Heart hit up to 95 minutes and sweat considerable. >> I don't think it's working, babe.
00:42:33
>> No. February 25th, we're nearing the end here, by the way. February 25th, slept
00:42:38
pretty well Thursday night. Ate one and 1/2 cups tomato broth 11:00 a.m. Think about 1 and 1/2 cups. I want you to
00:42:44
think about your measuring. >> Yeah. Like think about like look at measuring cups a thing of one cup.
00:42:48
>> One and 1/2 cups for a full day >> of broth >> and then one and 1/2 cups tomato broth
00:42:53
at 6:00 p.m. Pain in right below ribs. February 26. Did not sleep so very well Friday night. Pain in right side just
00:43:01
below ribs and back. Pain quit in the night. Ate one and a half cups tomato broth at 10:45 a.m. Ate two and a half
00:43:08
pump small oranges at 4:30 p.m. Felt better afternoon than for the last week. About 1 month after that last entry on
00:43:18
March 28th, Earl Erdman was hospitalized for malnutrition and died a few hours later.
00:43:23
>> I am not surprised. And that is awful. >> That's almost a That's a full month of
00:43:28
what that man ate. And it was orange juice in a month. >> Next to I ate more this entire week than
00:43:33
that man ate in a month. I'm not being funny. Like I'm being serious. >> Literally I ate more today than I'm
00:43:40
pretty sure that guy ate almost that entire month. >> Yeah. >> Like it's >> he ate liquid.
00:43:45
>> So hard to conceive of >> like I'm like oh my god your kidneys are screaming.
00:43:54
>> Yeah. So, it turned out that the deaths of Lenora Wilcox and Earl Erdman were to
00:43:59
be just two of many patients who died under the care of Linda Hazard. But there was not much the authorities could
00:44:04
do because these patients gave their consent to be treated. >> Yeah. >> In 1908, for example, Dr. De Weeden and
00:44:12
his wife had their 8-month-old baby removed from the home by the Humane Society when it was learned that at the
00:44:20
direction of quote unquote Dr. Hazard. The couple had been starving their baby. >> I want to [ __ ] fight all of those
00:44:28
people. >> Every single last one of them. >> That's not even slightly. Okay. >> Not even a little bit.
00:44:33
>> No. >> According to the press, the conduct of the Weeden family in the f in following
00:44:37
the directions of the physician annoyed the neighbors. And in the belief that the baby girl was being starved to
00:44:42
death, the Humane Society was notified. >> Good. It turns out I don't care. You're
00:44:47
an adult. You can do you can make your own decisions with what you want to do with your own.
00:44:50
>> Yeah. Go for it. doing that to an 8-month old baby. What the [ __ ] is that going to do?
00:44:56
>> And like what are you giving a baby? >> All three of them should have cuz an 8month old baby. I'm like you're not
00:45:01
giving them broth and [ __ ] What are you doing? >> Like at that age babies can't even have
00:45:05
a ton of water. So what are you giving this baby? >> So it turned out that Mrs. Weeden had
00:45:10
been seeing Dr. Hazard for treatment of an unknown illness at that time. and she
00:45:15
mentioned that her daughter also seemed unwell and Linda Hazard then recommended
00:45:19
the same fasting treatment regardless of the child's age. >> What the [ __ ] >> The baby was obviously placed in foster
00:45:26
care and there's no mention of her after, so hopefully she lived. >> But when the police arrived to remove
00:45:31
her from the home, Mrs. Weeden pulled a gun from a desk drawer and aimed it at one of the police officers before he was
00:45:38
able to wrestle it out of her hand. The entire incident, including the attempted
00:45:44
shooting of an officer, as far as everyone saw it, was because, quote, "The woman, because of the hazard
00:45:49
treatment, had become insane." Wow. Like, she's not in her right mind at all. >> So, the public complained loudly about
00:45:58
Linda Hazard's clinic in the past, usually with no effect. But the incident with the Weeden baby was a new level of
00:46:03
concern among the public. According to press accounts, had no one intervened, it was speculated this girl wouldn't
00:46:10
have lived more than a few days longer, this baby. >> On January 30th, 1908, Linda was
00:46:16
arrested finally and charged with practicing med medicine without a license. >> To those who were most concerned about
00:46:22
reform, this seemed like a giant step towards stopping the spread of quack medical practitioners. But by the time
00:46:29
she went to trial in March, the most the judge could do was fine her $50 for practicing without a license.
00:46:37
>> Wow. An 8-month-old baby almost died. Was in was on death's doorstep and would have
00:46:44
died had people not intervened. >> And she got fined 50 bucks, which I'm sure was easy to pay because remember
00:46:52
all of these people are coming to her paying her money for this quote unquote despately wanting a cure all. Yeah.
00:46:58
Despite the court's ruling against her, Linda continued to promote herself as a doctor and again found herself before a
00:47:04
judge in June of 1908 for violating that same order. The judge said Linda Burfield Hazard can put all the doctors
00:47:11
before her name that she wishes to. But this does not imply she's a physician. Nope. Sure doesn't. But it's like, yeah,
00:47:17
but nobody knows that. >> Yeah. And again, these people are desperate. They're seeing a doctor. It's
00:47:23
not like back then you could go check their credentials on [ __ ] WebMD or whatever the [ __ ] you want to check it
00:47:30
on. >> It's like you just see doctor. >> Yeah. Someone says they're >> they have a whole ass clinic.
00:47:37
>> Yeah. Why would you think you think that they they aren't exactly? Well, acting
00:47:41
in her own defense this time, Linda argued that despite what the sign said, she was not in fact practicing medicine.
00:47:47
She was acting as a fasting specialist for those who gave their expressed consent to receive her services. Except
00:47:53
for an 8-month old baby and a little girl who couldn't have given their consent, you dumb [ __ ]
00:47:57
>> Judges, the local police, and reform activists may have disagreed with Linda,
00:48:02
and they would continue to challenge her arguments, but there wasn't a lot they could do to stop her from continuing to
00:48:08
pro promote her treatment. Aside from misrepresenting herself as a medical doctor, which like I just said, only
00:48:13
resulted in a [ __ ] $50 fine. >> Mhm. >> There weren't any laws at that time against what she was doing, especially
00:48:20
where people gave their consent. >> Yeah. >> So, in the years that followed, she
00:48:24
continued to promote Wilderness Heights and herself as a leading expert in the revolutionary practice of medicine. And
00:48:31
as a result, people continued to die. >> Yeah. >> In the summer of 1909, Blanch Tindle
00:48:37
died of starvation while under Linda's care. And on the death certificate, Dr. Charles Ford listed the cause of death
00:48:42
as starvation with toxmia and pregnancy. >> Wow. >> She's pregnant. Holy [ __ ] And was
00:48:49
starved to death. >> My god. >> You need so much when you're pregnant. >> Oh my god. You're eating You're eating
00:48:56
for two is not hyperbolic. You're eating for two. That's like th this it's like you your whole body needs so much extra
00:49:04
of everything because you are just running. >> Yeah. It's like a marathon human.
00:49:08
>> In her own statement, Linda strongly rejected the cause of death listed on the certificate and said instead, "Mrs.
00:49:15
Tendle died of organic imperfection. I have nothing more to say. You're a cunt."
00:49:22
>> Died of organic imperfection. >> You're a [ __ ] >> Yeah, that's the cuntiest thing I've
00:49:28
ever heard. and a murderer. >> Yeah. Straight up. >> The death Yeah. Unreal. The death of
00:49:33
Blench Tindle inspired a new round of calls for Linda's arrest. Uh because one, she was pregnant. And then a few
00:49:39
weeks later, the husband of another patient, Viola Heaton, filed a complaint of manslaughter with the district
00:49:44
attorney when his wife died. >> According to Linda, the claims were simply incorrect and a result of the
00:49:50
mainstream medical industry attempting to smear her and her treatments. In a statement to the press, she said, "Mrs.
00:49:57
Heat. H Heaton first called upon me Monday, March 22nd, and told me she had for years been a sufferer of indigestion
00:50:03
and other ailments. She said in fact, it was Mr. Heaton who suggested that his wife visit Linda Sanitarium in the first
00:50:10
place, having read about her successful treatment of a similar patient patient a
00:50:15
year earlier. So, she literally this guy is suing her and she's like, "It's actually your fault cuz you sent her my
00:50:21
way." >> Wow. She's diabolical. >> She's an [ __ ] Like truly diabolical. And then in the end, she placed the
00:50:28
ultimate blame on Viola Heaton herself, who had died, remember? >> Oh, yeah. >> Saying Viola had intentionally skipped
00:50:34
the small meals that Hazard had prescribed between the fasts. >> Wow. >> I'm so sure.
00:50:39
>> Yeah. And it's like, yeah, cuz she can't defend herself now. She's not here to
00:50:42
say whatever you want. >> But again, the problem was that the state penal codes were not designed to
00:50:47
deal with such radical changes to the medical industry, and there weren't laws to protect people from quacks like this
00:50:53
woman. No one had actually really ever imagined that a person might practice medicine without the proper training or
00:50:59
lensure. So nobody thought to establish a law against it in the first place. >> Yeah. I mean why would you think of
00:51:04
that? >> So Wilderness Heights remained open and despite the hits to her reputation, she
00:51:10
kept attracting new patients, typically desperate individuals willing to try anything to relieve themselves of, like
00:51:16
I said, their chronic pain and fatal disease. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Yeah. Between 1909 and 1911, as Linda
00:51:23
and Sam continued building the institute at Wilderness Heights, there were many more deaths, including that of Eugene
00:51:29
Wakeland, a patient who actually came all the way to Washington from New Zealand to stay after reading one of
00:51:36
Linda's books. In November 1909, while still under the career of Hazard, he actually shot
00:51:43
himself in the head on the property. Holy [ __ ] The death ended up being ruled a suicide, but there were many in
00:51:49
the area who questioned if he actually had ended his own life or there was something more there.
00:51:54
>> It was certainly in the realm of possibility that he had ended his own life, >> but suspicion still fell on Linda Hazard
00:52:01
when investigators learned that just prior to his death, Eugene had given Linda power of attorney,
00:52:08
>> leaving her in charge of his estate upon his death. And although she somehow managed to avoid arrest or prosecution
00:52:15
for that death, for the first time, the authorities started to wonder if there was something more nefarious than mere
00:52:22
neglect, arrogance, and medical malpractice going on at Starvation Heights. There's some [ __ ] on that
00:52:28
property. And that's where we're going to wrap for part one. >> Holy [ __ ] When we come back for part
00:52:33
two, I think you're going to be with me and everybody else like the authorities and the judges and the police and
00:52:40
everybody else that thinks there was definitely something more to this. >> Some nefarious [ __ ] happen. I mean, we
00:52:45
already know nefarious [ __ ] is happening, but even more nefarious. >> More nefarious [ __ ] I think maybe maybe
00:52:52
she went into this wanting to help people and [ __ ] lost herself along the way.
00:52:57
>> Damn. >> When she realized what she could get. >> Holy [ __ ] cuz I do think she thought
00:53:02
fasting worked in the beginning, >> but then when you hear about like, you know, organic imperfection kind of [ __ ]
00:53:09
>> Yeah, she lost her. >> That's all I'll say about it. >> She lost her [ __ ] And again, like I
00:53:14
just said, like she became very arrogant and then I think >> Yeah, >> there were there were things she saw
00:53:21
that she could get away with and after standing before a judge multiple times and realizing that she was getting away
00:53:27
with them, she got bolder and bolder. She was just like, "Well, I can keep getting this [ __ ] and keep making a name
00:53:32
for myself >> and maybe I can get more." >> And maybe I can get more >> because now she's got people signing
00:53:36
over power of attorney. >> Oh yeah, >> that's power is coming get into her head.
00:53:40
>> And that's where we're going to pick up in part two. Power of attorney is going
00:53:44
to be a big theme. >> Brutal case. >> Yeah, it's awful. Holy [ __ ] So with that, we hope you keep listening and we
00:53:50
hope you keep it weird. But not so weird as Linda Hazard because that [ __ ] is crazy. She's a [ __ ] and a murderer.
00:54:03
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