Hunger: The Starvation Heights Murders

With little medical training and no scientific basis for her treatments, Dr. Linda Hazzard was able to attract many wealthy clients to her Institute of Natural Therapeutics in Olalla, Washington.  Dorothea and Claire Williamson, wealthy sisters from England, read Dr. Hazzard’s book “Fasting for the Cure to Disease” and believed it was their path to true health.

Two months after starting treatment, Dorothea and Claire each weighed about 70 pounds.  By the time family members were summoned to the institute, Claire was dead and Dorothea weighed 50 pounds.  She was unable to care for herself as she endured starvation, daily enemas and beatings.  In addition, Dr. Hazzard had been appointed the executor of Claire’s estate and the legal guardian of Dorothea.  Investigations revealed that Dr. Hazzard was responsible for the deaths of many of her patients.

Join us at the quiet end for a story of greed and sadism in a time when pseudoscience and questionable medical practices went virtually unchecked.  In today’s episode, Hunger, we will try to understand the mentality that led otherwise sensible people to believe in Dr. Hazzard, even as she slowly killed them.