The Starvation Doctor: Linda Hazzard & The Williamson Sisters

Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast

Moms got ya covered-feed

True Crime

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2026

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A quick note on today's episode: Linda Hazzard's 'treatments' heavily involved extreme fasting and starvation. We want to mention this up front for anyone who might be sensitive to discussions around restrictive diets or disordered eating. This week we discuss Linda Hazzard, a self-proclaimed doctor in the early 1900s who convinced patients that extreme fasting was a medical cure. Operating out of Washington state, Linda exploited legal loopholes to open a sanitarium that locals grimly called "Starvation Heights." She targeted wealthy individuals, placing them on starvation diets while slowly taking control of their finances and estates as they grew weaker. The situation finally reached a breaking point when wealthy British heiresses Claire Williamson and Dora Williamson entered her care. We cover the harrowing conditions the sisters endured, the desperate rescue mission by their childhood nanny, and the sensational murder trial that followed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:29.6	In the early 1900s, a woman calling herself Dr. Linda Hazard promised desperate patients she could
0:36.2	cure almost any illness. And her treatment was simple.
0:40.1	Stop eating. Completely. And for some of the people who trusted her, that cure would become a death sentence.
0:53.5	Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast, a true crime podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa.
1:00.8	Hi, Melissa.
1:01.8	Hi, Mandy.
1:02.4	How are you?
1:03.5	I'm doing well.
1:04.8	How are you?
1:06.3	I'm doing really good.
1:07.6	Still having gorgeous weather, loving it.
1:10.1	A little too warm for my liking.
1:12.0	It's getting hot. Yes. Yeah. It's getting hot. But I'm, you know, taking it in stride. I have such a good
1:18.2	attitude. Yeah, I can tell. Yeah, I can tell. I'm not mad at all, but yeah. Yeah, so I've been getting
1:23.5	into a little bit of gardening now that it's springtime. I've got like tons of little
1:28.7	seed pods with dirt in them with seeds sprouting. So I heard that's how you do it. Yeah. I know. I'm
	...

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