Episode 696: Linda Hazzard & Starvation Heights (Part 2)

Morbid

Morbid Network | Wondery

True Crime, Comedy, Exhibit C

4.5 • 95.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At the dawn of the twentieth-century, major advances in science and technology brought incredible change to the field of medicine, enhancing and extending the lives of millions. Yet at the same time, a lax regulations and minimal oversight made it possible for countless medical grifters to get rich offering quack medical solutions to everything from whooping cough to cancer, sometimes at the expense of their patient’s lives.

When Linda Hazzard opened her sanitarium, the Institute of Natural Therapeutics at Wilderness Heights, in Olalla, Washington in the first decade of the 1900s, she claimed her rigid fasting and elimination approach to dieting was a miracle cure for a variety of illnesses, both trivial and serious. For years, Hazzard operated what amounted to a health retreat for the wealthy, without any oversight from the state or federal agencies. In the end, Hazzard’s starvation cure resulted in the deaths of over a dozen people and her arrest and trial for manslaughter, but through all of it, she maintained it was a viable treatment—standing by her methods up until they ended her own life.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Hines, Terrence. 1997. "Starvation Heights." Skeptical Inquirer.

Lovejoy, Bess. 2014. "The doctor who starved her patients to death." Smithsonian Magazine, October 28.

Olsen, Gregg. 2005. Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest. New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group.

Seattle Daily Times. 1911. "Erdman diary tells method of treatment." Seattle Daily Times, August 14.

Seattle Star. 1908. "Charged with starving eight-months-old baby." Seattle Star, January 30: 1.

—. 1911. "Denies she 'fasted' 2 girls." Seattle Star, August 9: 3.

—. 1911. "'Fast cure' woman is arrested." Seattle Star, August 7: 3.

—. 1909. "Prosecutors think they can put a stop to starvation cure." Seattle Star, June 26: 1.

—. 1908. "Sign doesn't make a doctor." Seattle Star, June 8: 6.

—. 1909. "Woman starves to death under care of Dr. L.B. Hazzard." Seattle Star, June 24: 1.

—. 1908. "WQeeden case leads to Dr. Hazzard's arrest." Seattle Star, January 31: 1.

Tacoma Daily Ledger. 1912. "Dr. Hazzard has her first inning." Tacoma Daily Ledger, Janaury 28: 1.

—. 1912. "Dr. Hazzard's trial begins." Tacoma Daily Ledger, January 16: 1.

—. 1912. "Final arguments in Hazzard case." Tacoma Daily Ledger, February 3: 2.

—. 1912. "Heiress testifies against Dr. Hazzard." Tacoma Daily Ledger, January 20: 1.

—. 1912. "Mrs. Hazzard breaks down, and is attended by a dcevoted follower." Tacoma Daily Ledger, February 5: 1.

—. 1904. "Samuel Hazzard sent to Minnesota prison." Tacoma Daily Ledger, March 16: 3.

—. 1912. "Witnesses deny state's charges." Tacoma Daily Ledger, January 30: 1.

—. 1912. "Woman bathed by young men." Tacoma Daily Ledger, January 23: 1.

—. 1911. "Woman meet before judge." Tacoma Daily Ledger, October 22: 1.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, weirdos, before we dive into today's twisted tale, let me tell you about a place where the darkness never ends. Wondery Plus. It's like stepping into a haunted mansion where the floorboards creek with ad-free episodes and early access to new episodes lurks around every corner. So come join us, if you dare. Morbid is available one week early and ad free only on Wondery Plus. You can
0:23.3	join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or an Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You're listening to a Morbid Network
0:30.7	podcast. Think about the most disturbing government secrets you've learned from history.
0:38.5	Now imagine discovering one that begins in a hospital room and leads straight to classified military operations that were buried for decades.
0:46.6	Listen to a redacted medical mystery, a special episode from Redacted and Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts.
0:55.2	Travis fell in love with the perfect woman. Beautiful, understanding. Available 24-7.
1:02.0	There was just one catch. She wasn't human. Binge all episodes of Flesh and Code early and
1:08.6	ad-free right now on Wondry Plus.
1:12.1	Hey, weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid.
1:33.5	This is Morbid. This is Morid in the late morning.
1:35.3	Yeah, early afternoon. What have you?
1:37.2	Yeah, I had food poisoning last night.
1:39.2	Ew.
1:40.0	So that's cool.
1:41.5	Got some funky chicken from takeout.
1:44.1	Luckily no one else did.
1:45.4	Do the funky chicken. So I was not doing it last night. It was a rough night, but I'm here now. Hey, you survived.
1:54.5	And I survived and I'm literally drinking. This is not an ad. I'm drinking liquid IV currently.
2:00.0	If you felt like, felt like
2:02.0	shit the night before or like you lost a lot of whatever, whatever you had, yeah, liquid IV is the
2:08.5	go-to. It really, and again, this is not an ad. I'm literally just saying this, I am currently,
2:13.9	that's my glass, I'm drinking liquid IV. I got a little bit car sick the other day on the way home.
	...

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