The Story of Starvation Heights

What It Covers

Stuff You Should Know examines Linda Burfield Hazard, a self-proclaimed fasting specialist operating in early 1900s Washington State who prescribed extreme starvation regimens to wealthy patients, killed at least 15 people, systematically seized their estates, and faced a 1912 manslaughter trial after British sisters Claire and Dora Williamson became her most documented victims.

Key Questions Answered

• •Regulatory Vacuum: Before the Flexner Report standardized medical licensing in the early 1900s, practitioners like Hazard could legally operate without credentials. Washington State allowed "grandfathering" of alternative medicine practitioners, meaning no law prevented Hazard from prescribing 40-plus-day fasts despite multiple patient deaths occurring as early as 1902.
• •Financial Exploitation Pattern: Hazard systematically obtained power of attorney and estate executor status over incapacitated patients. When governess Margaret Conway arrived to retrieve Dora Williamson, Hazard presented a $2,000 bill (roughly $70,000 today) and claimed legal guardianship, effectively holding Dora hostage until a ransom negotiation reduced the amount to $1,000.
• •Starvation Disguised as Diagnosis: Hazard declared cause of death herself despite holding no medical license, attributing patient deaths to pre-existing conditions like paralysis or liver disease rather than starvation. The first documented victim, Gertrude Young, died on day 37 of a 40-day fast in 1902; an independent coroner's autopsy confirmed starvation as the actual cause.
• •Treatment Protocol: Hazard's three-part regimen consisted of near-total food restriction (two cups of vegetable broth daily made from asparagus tips, spinach, and lettuce), hours-long enemas, and forceful physical massage accompanied by shouting. Claire Williamson weighed under 50 pounds at death after approximately 67 days under this protocol.
• •Accountability Gaps Persist Post-Conviction: Despite a manslaughter conviction and a two-to-twenty-year sentence at Walla Walla Penitentiary, Hazard served under two years before parole, received a gubernatorial pardon within six months, and relocated to New Zealand where she resumed practice. Two additional patients died during her appeal period while she remained free on bail.