Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode features graphic descriptions of the effects of starvation that some people may find disturbing. Extreme caution is advised, especially for children under 13. In 1911, Claire Williamson lay limp on her bed at around 70 pounds. The 34 year old woman was fading quickly.

She had wasted away both mentally and physically until she could barely speak.

Linda Hazzard, a tall, wiry woman and a white nurse like Trece, carried another woman into the room. Thirty eight year old Dorothy Williamson didn't weigh much more than her sister. Up close door took note of her sister's emaciated face. Claire was almost unrecognizable, realizing Dora was beside her.

Claire let out an almost indecipherable whisper. She wished to speak to her sister alone. But Linda Hazzard lingered as Claire struggled to speak to her sister. The waisting woman was too weak to utter a single word.

Linda commended herself for a job well done. Dora and Claire had entrusted their health, their lives and their valuables to her. Slowly and systematically, she drained them of their strength, and they paid her for the privilege.

Now all she had to do was wait for death to take hold because the woman pretending to take such good care of the sisters wasn't a doctor or a nurse. Linda Berfield hazard was a fraud, a con artist and above all, a murderer.

Hi, I'm Greg Polson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from podcast. Every episode we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we begin our look at Linda Burfield Hazard, a medical practitioner who murdered unsuspecting patients with her starvation cure. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson.

Hi, everyone.

You can find episodes of Serial Killers and all other originals from podcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts today, we'll cover Linda's early exposure to alternative medicine, how it led her to preach starvation as a cure for a disease, and how she managed to turn killing people into an actual business.

Next time we'll look at Linda's attempt to starve two British heiresses to death her eventual trial and how the slippery medical laws of the time aided her evil objectives.

We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. Hi there, it's Vanessa. When you're in between episodes of serial killers, be sure to check out the newest audio check podcast, Anatomy of Murder, hosted by former prosecutor Anna Seega Nicolazzi and former crime journalist Scott Weinberger. Anatomy of Murder gives you a unique perspective as it takes you behind the scenes of some of the most baffling murder cases. You'll get access to interviews with victims families, law enforcement and even 911 calls.

Check out the first two episodes of Anatomy of Murder starting October 14th, then tune in every Wednesday to get to the heart of a brand new case. You can find anatomy of murder on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Linda Laura Berfield was born in Kabra, Minnesota, in 1867 to Suzanna Neal and Montgomery Berfield Montgomery was a corporal during the Civil War and was, by all accounts, a doting father to his seven children. Linda was the eldest and spent most of her time outdoors.

It was during her youth that Linda was first introduced to the idea of restricting one's diet for health benefits. Linda's parents kept a largely vegetarian household, which was a common practice at the time.

While these minor restrictions likely had an effect on Linda's eventual belief and starvation cures, it was her childhood doctor who truly left a lasting impact.

Linda's father, Montgomery, put a great amount of trust in the burgeoning medical establishment and believed his children should see a physician, whether they were sick or well. He thought that modern medicine could not only cure illnesses but prevent them from happening in the first place.

Although Montgomery acted out of love, these preventative visits had a devastating outcome. The family doctor diagnosed the children with intestinal parasites, despite the fact that none of them showed any symptoms.

Whether he fabricated the illness or he made an honest mistake is unknown. What we do know is that he prescribed the Berfield children blue mass pills, a common 19th century cure that contained licorice, glycerol rose honey and large amounts of mercury.

Today, it's known that ingesting mercury can cause severe poisoning, even at low doses. Its side effects are debilitating, both physically and mentally. But in the 19th century, mercury was a common ingredient in many different medicines.

The kind Linda took was called caramel. It caused severe vomiting and diarrhea, so much so that Linda had trouble keeping food down for years. The entire time, Linda had no idea that the source of her problem wasn't parasites, but the supposed cure.

Vanessa is going to take over and the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, ingesting mercury or its compounds leads to muscle weakness, issues with coordination and even trouble seeing and speaking. KMEL in particular, was known to inflict horrible side effects. In addition to causing gum, inflammation and tooth loss, exposure could also inflict neurological symptoms such as psychosis, dementia and even personality changes.

While we don't know whether the mercury left psychological damage, Linda undoubtedly experienced trauma. And because this was at the hands of a trusted caregiver like a doctor, it may have had an even more devastating impact. Psychologist Jennifer Fried coined the term betrayal trauma to explain how abuse suffered at the hands of a trusted caregiver can be even more harmful than that inflicted by strangers. This is partly explained by the fact that victims must rely on coping strategies that undermine their self-esteem and may reinforce an unhealthy attachment to their abuser.

Not only that, they may continue on in the abusive relationship for years, putting themselves at risk for even more psychological problems by age 18. Linda, stop seeing her doctor eventually. We don't know when she realized that the medication she'd been prescribed had done irreparable harm to her digestive tract. But by then the scars of her treatment were deep.

While Linda was slowly getting stronger, she met her first husband, 32 year old Erwin A. Perry. He was 14 years older than Linda, but the age difference wasn't an issue, and they married in 1886. But what should have been a joyous time was soon marred by despair. Nineteen year old Linda lost her father, Montgomery, only one month after her wedding. She carried that grief for the rest of her life.

Three years after Linda's marriage to Irwin, the couple moved to Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Their 21 year old Linda gave birth to a son named Rollan in August of 1889. And two years later, their daughter, Nina Foy, was born.

Motherhood produced mixed emotions for Linda. She seemed to adore her son, but her daughter was a different story. Family, friends noticed that her treatment of Nina Flournoy was harsh.

But the Perry family was in for even more tumult when, in 1898, 44 year old Irwin disappeared. He left no note, no clue where he was going, and no money four years later, in the fall of nineteen.

Two 34 year old Linda filed for divorce from Irwin, claiming abandonment, though some later wondered if she'd actually left him.

The year Irwin vanished was also the year. Linda later claimed she began fasting. Whether she started before Irwin left her or afterwards as a response to it is unclear. But either way, the experience seemed to be a turning point for her.

Around the same time, she came upon the writings of Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey.

He was a fasting specialist and a practitioner of alternative medicine. She read his books voraciously. All of them extolled the virtues of fasting, which, according to Dewey, was a miracle cure for anything. He even claimed that a 34 day fast had cured one of his patients of typhoid fever.

This wasn't exactly a new idea. Fasting had been considered a pathway to health and religious purity since the time of the ancient Greeks do. His book simply took an old idea and put a new spin on it, namely that food was the cause of all disease.

Dewey's beliefs resonated with Linda. After all, she'd been told since childhood that her body was poisoned by parasites. Given the frequent vomiting she endured, she likely associated an empty stomach with feeling clean and pure, and she may have enjoyed what she perceived to be the psychological benefits of fasting, according to a study in the academic journal Frontiers in Nutrition, fasting often results in a sense of achievement, pride and self-control. Despite feelings of hunger and irritability, this may have inspired Linda to take renewed ownership over the course of her life and forge a new path fired up about DeWees methods.

Linda decided to follow in his footsteps and opened her own practice in 1982. She also sent her children to live with her mother. But it's unclear if Linda actually had a medical license. She had trained for a time as a nurse, though. When she discovered Dewey's his books, she took a hard turn away from traditional medicine. In any event, working as a fasting specialist did not require a medical degree or a license.

But even if Linda didn't have proper medical training, she had business savvy. She heavily advertised her new practice, claiming that fasting could cure almost any disease, even paralysis. This got the attention of Gertrude Young. The 41 year old had suffered a stroke that left one foot and one arm paralyzed. For years, she'd been unable to dress herself or do her hair. Doctors had told her that she'd never regained the use of her limbs.

But that wasn't good enough for Gertrude. She wanted a cure. So when she heard Linda's claims that fasting could heal paralysis, she was all in.

She went to see Linda at her Minneapolis office. During their consultation, Linda prescribed a 40 day fast. She instructed Gertrude not to eat anything except a cup of tomato broth twice a day and a teaspoon of orange juice in the morning. Along with the Spartan diet, Linda gave treatments to her new patient.

These were enemas and brutal massages that felt more like beatings, but it was all in the name of good health.

Three weeks into her treatment, however, Gertrude began experiencing side effects.

One morning, she woke up to a vomiting fit so violent it crippled her. And when her staff opened the windows of her bedroom, the fresh air only seemed to make her condition worse.

Worried for her mistress's health, a nurse called a licensed physician, Dr. Euge Williams, who had treated Gertrude in the past. The nurse urged him to come see Gertrude immediately. When Dr. Williams arrived, he was shocked. Gertrude's skin was a pasty yellow and her body sunken. He demanded that she break her fast immediately. But Gertrude refused, convinced the regime was her miracle cure.

Dr Williams left powerless to help her.

Shortly after his visit on November 18th, 1992, Gertrude passed away. She died on the thirty ninth day of her forty day fast, weighing only 105 pounds.

Linda blamed Gertrude's death on her chronic paralysis, but Dr Williams suspected it was something else starvation. In addition to being a physician, Dr. Williams was also the county coroner, so he arranged for a post-mortem exam on Gertrude's body and his suspicions were confirmed Gertrude had indeed starved to death. But why? Dr. Williams was baffled. What could possibly be Linda's motivation for starving her own patient?

The answer was soon clear. Investigators discovered that large amounts of jewelry and a number of expensive items were missing from Gertrude's home. Linda had killed Gertrude for her wealth.

Linda denied the accusation, claiming that Gertrude had bequeathed her jewelry to a nurse who worked at her practice. But conveniently, no one was able to track the woman down.

Dr. Williams pursued legal action against Linda. He even alerted the press to her misdeeds. But Linda, ever the savvy businesswoman, used the notoriety to her own advantage.

In an interview with a reporter, 34 year old Linda claimed that Gertrude had been well on her way to recovery, but that she'd stopped cooperating with her medical recommendations. She added that Gertrude suffered from a fatal condition in addition to her paralysis. So according to Linda, no matter what treatments she prescribed, there was no way to save her clients life.

Linda escaped prosecution. There were no laws against the practice of fasting in the state of Minnesota and therefore no legal grounds on which to pursue the case.

Linda Berfield had killed her first client, made off with her valuables and walked away scot free. And it seems like a part of her wondered if she could do it again.

Coming up, Linda's technique makes her famous even as it kills her clients. Pay podcasters starting October 1st.

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After being abandoned by her husband, 35 year old Linda Berfield opened a fasting practice in 1992 claiming she could cure everything from syphilis to strokes despite her lack of a medical degree.

She quickly attracted clients, including 41 year old Gertrude Young, who died mid fast, even though the county coroner tried to bring charges against her slippery medical laws shielded Linda from prosecution.

But soon, Linda was tangled up with the law for a different reason. Less than a year after Gertrude's murder. She met 33 year old West Point graduate Samuel Hargrave. Sam was tall and handsome, but a little shady. Hargrave wasn't even his real last name. It was Hazzard.

But Sam changed it when he left his first wife, and he'd gotten married again to a woman named Weaver, who he was still married to when he and Linda began their affair. In October 1983, Sam introduced Linda to Aviva and had the gall to refer to Linda as his wife. Understandably, Velva was enraged. She begged Sam to stop seeing Linda, but instead he married her. He claimed that because he married Beevor under a fake last name, the marriage was illegitimate.

Well, Beevor wasn't having any of that. She and her senator father filed bigamy charges against Sam. The trial was the talk of Minneapolis in early 1984.

Here was a female doctor fighting with the daughter of a state senator over their right to be married to a man of, let's just say, unsavory character.

In the end, letters exchanged between Viva and Sam convince the jury that the pair were, in fact, married when Sam wed Linda. So on February 9th, 1984, the court sentenced Sam to two years in prison for bigamy.

Sam served his time, but this did nothing to dull Linda's feelings for him. And shortly after his release, he returned to Linda's side. The two began running Linda's practice together with Linda, now going by the name Dr. Hazzard. But being married to a convicted bigamist wasn't great for business. So in 1996, they moved to Washington State for a fresh start.

There, Linda obtained a license to practice medicine, despite her lack of a degree in the rural area of Alala. She bought a 40 acre piece of land where she hoped to build a sanitarium. And in Seattle, she secured a small office where she saw patients. It wasn't long until she found her next victim.

In late 1997, a 37 year old woman named Daisy MAAD Haglund came to Linda for help. It's unclear what inspired Daisy to seek treatment, but Linda prescribed her a 50 day fast. Daisy dutifully completed the fast, but died shortly afterwards on her 30th birthday.

When Daisy died in February 1988, she left behind a husband and a three year old son named Ívar, who would eventually go on to found the popular EVAR Seafood and Chowder restaurant based in Seattle. Amazingly, Daisy's husband continued to take his young son to linta three times a week.

One possible reason for this was Linda's commanding personality. Confidence and zeal oozed from her tall, wiry frame.

It seems that for some people, the thought of disobeying her was out of the question, which is possibly why, in 1988, another client willingly succumbed to starvation, Mrs. Ida Wilcox, who died after a 47 day fast. Despite the deaths, Linda was only becoming more popular that year. She published her first book, Fasting for the Cure of Disease, in which she lay the groundwork for her fasting program.

For instance, she explained, Death in the fast never results from deprivation of food, but is the inevitable consequence of vitality sapped to the last degree by organic imperfection?

In other words, nobody could die from fasting alone. According to Linda, if a patient died, the cause would always be whatever underlying condition afflicted them in the first place.

Linda's book was a success, especially within the more progressive sectors of society. People flocked to her practice, and in 1999, two more women died Viola Hayden and Blanche Tindale.

At this point, the Seattle Health Department was getting concerned, but they seemed unable or unwilling to act. And legally, it seems, their hands were tied. Linda did have a medical license and fasting wasn't outlawed in Washington. So if patients willingly sought out Linda's treatment and didn't stop even when it was dangerous, then under the law. Their deaths were on them, but one murder also in 1999 should have been an opportunity for the police to take action.

The body of 26 year old Eugene Stanley Wakelin was found on Lindas Olalla property, unlike her other patients. Eugene didn't die of starvation. He'd been shot in the head.

It almost looked like a suicide, except for some fishy details. Eugene was the son of a British lord, but his body was finally discovered. Linda turned out to have power of attorney over his estate.

She wasted no time availing herself of all the money in Eugene's accounts, about 233 dollars. Then she wired his lawyer for more, claiming she needed to pay the funeral parlor. But the bill was astronomical for 1989 standards 155 dollars, which would total about 4000 dollars today.

Despite all these red flags, the authorities looked the other way and no official explanation for the death was ever given.

But it's believed that Linda and Sam Hazzard shot Eugene when they found out he wasn't as rich as they'd hoped. Starving him to death would yield them little profit, so they sped things up.

Eugene Lakelands death was followed by that of another patient in 1910 Modde Whitney. But the following year, 1911, is when Linda truly hit her stride. That year, it's believed she killed five clients in as many months, all of them men.

One Frank smothered, a partner in a prominent Seattle law firm, finished the fast but died shortly afterwards, having lost nearly 80 pounds. When he started eating again, his kidneys failed him. He became paralyzed and died.

Another victim, John Ivan Flock's, was an Englishman who'd come to Washington to buy a ranch. And by the time he died in February 1911, after a 53 day fast, he only had 70 dollars left in his possession. Linda had finagled control over the rest of his cash and assets.

He was followed by the publisher of Alaska Yukon magazine, a man named Seet Harrison, then a civil engineer named Earl Edward Erdmann, died after a three week fast. But one of the most shocking murders involved a former legislator and magazine publisher named Lewis Elsworth Rader.

Linda began treating the 46 year old for what she claimed were internal injuries Lewis suffered as a child. At first, she treated him at his home, but then had him moved into a Seattle hotel. She wanted to observe him at all times, but Lewis was a well-loved man in the community. Eventually, word reached Seattle's mayor that he was being held against his will and starve to death.

The health department finally sprang into action. They went to the hotel, spoke to Lewis personally and tried to forcibly remove him. But he told them to leave. And when Linda heard that city officials were trying to intervene with the care of her patient, she was irate.

She carried Lewis out of the room herself and took him to a new secret location at the hotel. He died a few days later on May 11th, 1911. He was five foot 11, but weighed less than 100 pounds. Linda did the autopsy herself, and under cause of death, she listed her lapses of the stomach.

Though Linda actively hid Lewis away from authorities, it's possible he wanted to continue to starve. Psychologists who study eating disorders have found that people with anorexia often report feelings of euphoria, exhilaration and even a higher tolerance for pain. Rader's reluctance to end the fast was probably a product of this kind of altered mindset, and it only helped Linda in her macabre intentions.

While her patients dropped like flies to Moore walked into her web, 34 year old Claire and thirty eight year old Dorothea Williamson.

Claire and Dorothea were English born sisters and heiresses. By the time the pair reached adulthood, they were essentially alone in the world. They had lost their father, their mother and two sisters. They were also worth millions. Not only do they have cash assets, but also land holdings in Canada, the US, England and Australia. They spent much of their time traveling around the world, visiting their many properties.

And although well-educated, the two sisters, particularly Claire, had a childish naiveté about them, catered to their whole lives. The women had little real world experience. They were the perfect victims for a dangerous con artist like Linda Burfield hazard.

They were also. Constantly sick, Claire was diagnosed with a dropped uterus, which a doctor told her was affecting her spine and inflaming her reproductive organs. She also suffered from a sensitive stomach that she believed was brought on by nervous exhaustion. Dorai experienced her own ailments. She claimed she suffered from acute rheumatic pains and swollen glands. However, a cousin of the two sisters once remarked, Claire and Dorothea are ill because they can afford to be ill.

But we don't know whether the sisters suffered from true debilitating illnesses or twin cases of hypochondria. One thing is for certain. They spared no expense on any treatment they believed could cure them. But everything they tried either caused them more pain or just didn't work.

Disheartened. They searched for the next possible cure. In September of 1910, Claire found an ad for Linda's book, Fasting for the Cure of Disease, in a local California newspaper. It was everything she was looking for new hope.

When the sisters read the book, they were captivated by Linda's central idea that in order to reach perfect health, it was necessary to wrest the digestive system and allow the body to cleanse itself.

The Williamson sisters were entirely convinced. Finally, they had found the cure they'd been looking for. They wrote to Linda immediately.

Coming up, Linda's wealthy new patients arrive in Seattle and fall into her trap. Now back to the story.

Between 1946 and 1911, Linda Berfield hasn't established a thriving business in Seattle as a fasting specialist. Even when at least ten of her patients starved to death, it did nothing to slow down business. On the contrary, Linda was making money hand over fist, especially because she tended to inherit her dead clients wealth.

In the fall of 1910, British heiress Claire and Dora Williamson became her patients, much to Linda's delight as they corresponded with Linda, Dora and Clara grew more and more excited. After several letters, Linda convinced the pair that her fasting treatment would entirely cure them of all their ailments. The prospect was so tantalizing that the sisters were prepared to pay Linda sixty dollars a month each for her fasting expertise about 3200 dollars.

Today, Dora and Clare wanted to visit Linda at her new sanitarium in Olalla, Washington. She advertised it as a sort of countryside retreat, but Linda informed the sisters that the sanitarium was still under construction. In the meantime, however, she invited them to Seattle, where she was based, to begin their regimen. They could move to the Olalla facility later, she promised.

Claire and Dora jumped at the invitation. They lied to their family who disapproved of alternative medicine and said they were headed to Canada when the sisters arrived in Seattle in February 1911.

They met Linda at her office. She was as confident and authoritative as they expected. Like everyone who met her, the sisters saw a magnetism in Linda that made them trust her instantly. It also helped that she regaled them with various success stories. To hear Linda tell it, she'd treated many clients successfully.

These lucky patients swore that they'd emerged from her fasts forever cured.

The only disappointment was that the sanitarium wasn't ready yet. But Linda had the sisters settle into a furnished apartment near her office. She then started their treatment not with an exam, but with a massage that was just this side of a beating. Then she taught the sisters how to create a vegetable broth by boiling tomatoes. It was one of the few foods they could consume under her care. And Linda also explained that every day they would have to take a vigorous walk to help the body detoxify.

The sisters didn't seem to have misgivings about the bizarre process, though the treatment was extreme, it promised dramatic results and they were all too anxious to see them.

But after just the first week of fasting, Clare and hopeful dispositions faded with their strength. They were growing weaker by the day, and soon they found the simplest things exhausting. The sisters frequently fainted. One day, Dora heard Clare fall in the next room and was too weak herself to get up and help. But despite their extreme fatigue, Linda still pushed them to continue treatment, which included enemas, a crucial part of Linda's program.

They started out lasting about half an hour, but with each successive day they got longer. Two hours, three hours.

The sisters would have to bring their knees to their chests and when they could. No longer hold this position, Linda stretched canvas over the bathtub to support them as the sisters lay on the canvas, Linda would insist we must eliminate the poisons.

Dear girls, people in the sisters apartment building took note of what was going on. Neighbors noticed the sisters losing an alarming amount of weight and watched them develop deep lines in their faces and dark circles around their eyes.

Nelly Shurman, a nurse who worked for Linda, helped the ailing sisters take their daily walks down the hall. Their next door neighbor, Mary Fields', cringed, watching how difficult it was for Clare to walk. She needed to pull herself along by placing her hands on the wall. At night, Mary often heard the sisters moaning in pain through the walls.

But the Sisters of Rapid Weight Loss didn't give Linda pause. She continued pummeling the women during their daily massages, which remained as brutal as ever. One day, another neighbor, Clara Corrigan, witnessed Doctor Linda slamming her fist against 34 year old Claire's emaciated thighs back stomach and forehead.

As Clare groaned through the treatment, Clara commented to Linda that the kneading seemed too intense. But Linda had a quick answer for everything. She said the brutal massage served to promote circulation. Then she demanded the sisters relax and let go.

Later, when Linda was gone, Clara came back to give Clare a sponge bath and saw that she had bruises all over her body.

Thirty eight year old Dora wasn't in as dire physical condition as her younger sister, but mentally she was far worse. She seemed to be in a constant state of delirium. Dora couldn't converse with her sister. She could only rise periodically for a sip of orange juice, the sole sustenance Linda allowed her to consume.

It's unclear if Linda treated all of her patients with the same level of attention that she devoted to the Williamson sisters. But her strict regimen made clear, and Dora feel as if the doctor had taken a special interest in their case, though it wasn't the sister's well-being Linda was concerned with as much as their wealth.

In March of 1911, when the sisters were so weak they could barely walk or think straight. Linda started asking questions about their finances. At first it was just casual chit chat while she gave them their daily massage. Was it hard for them to manage their affairs so far from home? Was there anyone they answered to as far as money was concerned?

The sisters revealed they had complete control over their money. This, of course, was just what Linda wanted to hear eagerly. She offered to keep their valuables safe in her office. At first, the sisters declined. There was no need for that. But Linda insisted, and they were in no state to fight her. So the pair handed over their jewelry as well as their deeds, to land in Vancouver.

But by now, the sisters were so weak and frail that even Linda's nurse, Nellie Sherman, was concerned. Behind Linda's back, she contacted Dr. Agusta Brewer, an osteopath who treated Claire in the past. At this point, Claire had been fasting for over 30 days and Daura for over 40.

Dr. Brewer urged Nelly to feed the girls more sustenance and said that Linda's methods were outand out dangerous. But Nellie explained that Dora and Clare wouldn't eat anything more than what Linda recommended.

As the days stretched on, Nellie's conscience only grew heavier. Soon, she also confided in Dorothy Akec, a cashier at the local grocery store. Nellie told Kek that she regretted working under Linda. She said, If I knew what I was undertaking with the Williamson girls, I would never take another case like it.

It's not worth it. But though Nellie nearly reached a breaking point, she stayed loyal to Linda. Philosopher Hannah Arendt calls this the banality of evil. A explains that even normal people can commit wicked crimes without questioning their actions simply because someone in a position of power has ordered them to do so.

And in the case of Nellie Sherman, there's no doubt that Linda's power and charm increased her loyalty. Linda was Natalie's employer and therefore entirely responsible for her livelihood. It's not surprising she stayed with the doctor. Despite the horrors she witnessed every day, she likely felt as if she had no choice.

In April of 1911, two months into the Williamson Sisters fasting regimen, Linda announced that her sanitarium in Olalla was a better place for them than Seattle. Two hours from the city, the Olalla property was still unfinished and had no electric. But 43 year old Linda deemed it sufficient for her eager patients to the sisters, Linda was simply fulfilling her promise.

But Linda had more nefarious reasons to bring the two women to Olalla. Out in the remote coastal town, Linda could further seclude the sisters. There were no curious neighbors in Olalla, and further isolation meant more dramatic manipulation.

And the weaker they got, the closer Linda got to their inheritance.

On April 21st, 1911, a pair of ambulances arrived to take the incredibly frail Claire and Dora to the ferry.

The sisters neighbor, Mary Fields', came to say goodbye.

Looking at the women, she guessed that Claire weighed around 70 pounds and Dora was only slightly more.

Linda hovered over each sister, speaking to each as she would a child, pulling their blankets closer around their withered bodies to the sisters. She was their mother, their best friend, their caretaker. But to the neighbors gathered outside, Linda cut a more imposing figure. She was directly responsible for their skeletal figures, and once they left, no one expected to see the sisters alive again. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back next time with Part two of Linda Hazzard, as she does her best to get her murderous hands on the Williamson sisters wealth.

For more information on Dr. Linda Berfield Hassad amongst the many sources we used, we found Starvation Heights by Greg Olsen, extremely helpful to our research.

You can find all episodes of Serial Killers and all other originals from Paşa Cast for Free on Spotify. Will see you next time. Have a killer week.

Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler and is a Spotify original from podcast.

Executive producers include Max and Ron Cuddler Sound Design by Nick Johnson with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden and Joshua Kern. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Bailey Bedingfield and Joanna Philbin with writing assistants by Abigail Canon and stars Greg Polson and Vanessa Richardson. If you're ready to get into the spooky spirit of the season, remember to follow haunted places ghost stories every Thursday, Alistar Murden brings a new, surprising, chilling, spine tingling story to life, follow haunted places, ghost stories free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.