Was “Dr. Death” Washington State’s 1st Female Serial Killer?
Healer or killer? Some say it is a fine line walked by those who are responsible for human health. While the overwhelming majority of caregivers take that responsibility seriously, history has provided us with too many examples of those who do not. The following is one such case of a woman who is believed to be responsible for at least a dozen deaths of those in her "care".
Her name was Linda Burfield Hazzard and she came to Washington State in 1906 from Minnesota. She styled herself as a doctor even though she never attended medical school. She had little medical training at all, mainly as an osteopathic nurse, but it didn't stop her from telling prospective patients that she was in fact, a doctor.
To this day, some consider Hazzard a visionary while other say she was a quack who preyed on her patients and killed them for her own financial benefit. You can decide for yourself if she was a gifted healer or a sadistic ghoul after reading her story.
Fasting is abstaining from food or drink for a period of time. Often it is done before you need to have blood work done for a doctor, more recently it has been promoted as a way to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Linda Burfield Hazzard believed wholeheartedly it was the means to cure disease.
How Can You Treat Patients Without A Medical License?
It was easier in the early 1900s to do just that. After coming to Washington State, Hazzard exploited a loophole in the law that grandfathered in those who practiced "alternative medicine" without having a medical degree. Her approach was that fasting would cure disease through cleansing impure blood from the body created by poor digestion. Her methods were what raised eyebrows.
Hazzard opened her "practice" in Seattle and would commute to there by ferry from her 40 acres of land in Olalla (which we will get to soon enough) that she shared with her husband Sam. It wasn't long before Hazzard was able to convince people to give her methods a try.
The First Victim?
Norwegian immigrant Daisey Maud Haglund is believed to be her first patient. The 38-year-old mother fasted for 50 days under Hazzard's supervision. At the end of those 50 days, she lost her life. If the name Haglund sounds familiar, it's because Daisey's 3-year-old son was named Ivar. The same Ivar that would launch a successful chain of seafood restaurants.
By the end of 1911, five more people under her care were dead. After the death of Earl Erdman, the Seattle Daily Times led their story with the headline
Woman ‘M.D’ Kills Another Patient.
Even with the bad publicity, people kept flocking to (and paying) Hazzard to bestow upon them her unique cure. Three more soon succumbed to her method of treatment with one man, rancher Ivan Flux, apparently giving Linda access to his money.
It wasn't until the death of former State Legislator L.E. Rader, (who passed after a 29 day fast and weighed less than 100 pounds) that authorities became interested in the deaths associated with the "doctor".
The Deadly Doctor's Prescription
Hazzard's treatments viewed through today's lens are sadistic and inhumane. Then, people really didn't know the danger they were courting. Enemas were given daily, for hours at a time, going through as much as a dozen quarts of water. She would beat on patients heads and backs with her fists while screaming at the same time.
Autopsies on her patients would consistently come back with starvation as the cause of death. Sometimes Hazzard would conduct the autopsy herself. Those reports omitted that word. Because she was licensed and her patients came to her voluntarily, Hazzard seemed untouchable. that was until...
The Williamson Sisters
Claire and Dorothea Williamson sought out Hazzard and soon moved into a Seattle apartment in February of 1911 to begin treatment. The sisters were wealthy Brits who found out about the unorthodox doc while visiting British Columbia. A letter between Hazzard and Claire Williamson (from January of the same year) revealed the nature of their early correspondence.
By April 1911 the sisters were on death's door and were moved to the 40 acres at Olalla where Hazzard built her sanitarium. The devious doctor was able to convince Claire to sign over money and (in case of her death) her body to Hazzard. She didn't make it through the month of April. Sam Hazzard applied for, and was granted, power of attorney over surviving sister Dorthea.
Around this time Margaret Conway, the girl's childhood nurse, received a strange message regarding the pair and decided to visit British Columbia. It was their last known whereabouts as the pair told no one of their desire to seek treatment in Washington state. Conway was met by Linda's husband Sam who told Conway that Claire had died.
Conway was led to believe that Claire's death was a result of issues in childhood, but that disappeared once Margaret saw Claire's 70 pound body at the local mortuary. The nurse returned to Olalla to find Dorothea all of 50 pounds with her bones plainly visible through her skin.
Conway contacted the girl's uncle who had to pay Hazzard $1,000 for the release of his niece from her "care". Upon further investigation they discovered Claire turned over her estate to Hazzard, with Conway even seeing Hazzard wearing Claire's clothes. After involvement from the British vice consul, who was in Tacoma, Hazzard was eventually arrested and put on trial for the death of Claire Williamson.
The End?
Hazzard was convicted of manslaughter in 1911 and sentenced to two to twenty years at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary. In 1914 Hazzard would ask then Governor Ernest Lister for a pardon. Lister granted the request on condition that she move to New Zealand. She did, but returned to Olalla in 1920 to build her "School of Health". It stood for 15 years before burning down in 1935.
Hazzard would die in 1938 at the age of 70 in Olalla. It is believed she is buried at Queen Anne Columbarium in Seattle alongside her husband Sam. I say believed because the plate next to Sam's is blank.
To see the list of deaths attributed to Hazzard during her reign of terror, click here.
The 12 Deadliest Serial Killers in Washington State's Bloody History
Gallery Credit: Pete Christensen