Rotten Mango - #58: Dr. Starvation The Serial Killer (Linda Hazzard & Belle Gunness)

Episode Date: April 25, 2021

A massive 3 story sanatorium in the isolated woods of Washington. The whispers about what goes on in there - I heard she buries another patient every single day. If you walk past it the scary doctor might snatch you, lock you in a room, and starve you to death.  Sounds like campfire scary stories? But what if it’s not. What if this is one of America’s worst female serial killers? Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to today's mini-sode. Is it a mini-sode? We're just going to have to find out. Now I have been talking about this for quite some time and I find it fascinating. You know like those silent retreats which people go to, I just don't understand it. We talked about this recently. I'm like how do you just pay someone money to just shut up for the weekend? You could totally do that on how? I would pay money. You would pay money for me to shut up for the weekend. Not for you to shut up. I'll do it with you, you know. You're like if it means you'll shut up, I'll go anywhere and I'll pay any amount of money So people will just go and they'll pay for the entire weekend to just shut up and meditate Some people will go and they'll do these juice cleanses. I mean these juice brands They will charge you like $500 something

Abnormous something insane for you to just cleanse your system with juices for three days So today we're talking about the real-life example of a serial killer who starved all of her patients, a doctor who straight up starved all of her patients and they paid big bucks for this. They knew that they were gonna be starving for like 40 days at a time. They paid her all the money in the world and said yes, starve me. Fascinating, no. Now a couple warnings, I just want to say that eating disorder trigger warning, there's

not going to be eating disorder talk per se, but it does heavily involve food, heavily involved weight loss, all of that stuff. This, yeah, so if you're sensitive to that, please, I don't want to like trigger anyone. And then secondly, I do talk about fasting in this one a lot, and I want to say that fasting for religious purposes is a completely different reason. A lot of these people went to this doctor because she claimed, I can cure you. You got that cancer? I can cure you.

You got tuberculosis. I can cure you. You have AIDS. I got you, Boothang. Like just all of that. She was everything. She said everything is a result of overeating. So the cure is to not eat at all

That was her thing that was like her slogan she says the human vice the worst vice that humans have is Over-eating that's how we're all gonna die, but she's eating, but she's straight up eating See people these days, so like I said a complete difference in religious fasting. That says nothing to do with it And it all takes place in Washington state in a place called Ola-la Which sounds beautiful isn't it? And it is beautiful. They've got like strawberry fields They've got all these mountains. It's it's by the sea. They've got these cliffs that just drop off into the mountains I heard that there's so many oysters and clams on the shore that you have to wear these like thick boots to walk. Otherwise your feet are just going to get mauled by these oysters. So these boy scouts, they love gathering there. Even to this area, I heard they love

gathering at this little hillside. They've got the fire going, the s'mores going, and they're talking to each other like, hey, let's do a little campfire story time. You guys tell me a scary story, and I'll tell you one. And one by one, they start talking about the crazy doctor that used to live here. Doctor Starvation, they said, she would lock up all of her patients. A lot of them were considered mentally insane. She would starve them. They would be nothing but skin and bone, just wandering around the mountain, looking for food. They would come up to the locals and be like, please, can I have some food? And the locals would say, no, no, no, the doctor is going to get mad at me.

And they would just be sent back into the sanatorium, which is an abandoned hospital at this point. It was a white building with three stories and a basement at the time, like it's spooky. Very spooky. And then they would all die, one by one. And this doctor would just bury them there. I heard, I heard a kid was digging a pit

and found a human skull. Now most of this would be true. So it all starts with Dora and Claire Williamson. Well, Dora Thea and Claire Williamson, and they're from the UK, super wealthy sisters. They're about four years apart, so Claire is the younger one. And I'm just going to give you a rundown on how wealthy they are. Dora was born in India, Claire was born in London, they went to school in Switzerland, England and France and they traveled the world all the time. And here's the crazy thing, because both of their parents had died, they controlled their entire fortune. So their

dad had died shortly after Claire was born, and then their mom died like when Claire was 14 and Dora was 18 years old, so they were orphaned, and it was just like the two of them doing everything together, right? They had a couple other siblings that ended up dying from Scarlet Fever because this is an older story, okay? You're like Scarlet Fever. I know the Scarlet Witch, okay? One division.

No, but Scarlet Fever, they died from Scarlet Fever when they were super young, which by the way, did you know there's something called the DICK test? The DICK test. I was confused about that. I googled Scarlett fever and they said hey to back in the day to find out if he had immunity to Scarlett fever you did the dick test and I'm like what? What kind of test? It's not as interesting because it was actually invented by the Dix. It was a couple Yeah, so it just shows if you're immune to it essentially and they also created the anti-toxsoon to scarlet fever

But anyway side note they have some family here and there They've got some loving aunts and uncles all around the world They have their beloved nanny Margaret Conway who's gonna become very important in this story later on But they were essentially left to themselves to control 28 million dollars of Inheritance plus tons of land they had land in Canada the United States England and Australia now this is happening in the early 1900s so the fact that these two women controlled this amount of money was around Markable, I mean this was insane so all these men they'd be like wait you control all this

Girl like you yo, that's crazy. I'm a banker, you know? And I know where you can park your money, just park it right there and I will grow your fortune by the bajillion folds. You know, men with these great big plans for their money were constantly coming around and Dora being the older sister, she was a little bit smarter, like street smart and she would tell Claire, listen, that man, that little investment banker is not going to change our lives, we're not going to hand over any money to this little sleaze in a suit, we're going to be fine. So Dora seemed like she was kind of in charge of everything, but she was also so in love

with Claire. Like this was her baby sister, so she did anything that Claire wanted, and all this did was push the sisters together even closer. So by this point in the story, they're unmarried in their 30s, which huge back in the day, that's like unheard of, that's insane. People are looking at you like, are you a spinster? What's going on here? And they just never met a man that they felt like was worth leaving the other sister

for. No man was good enough for them. And they just had really interesting personalities. So they're the type that would be the only ones in the hotel rotlabi not wearing corsets which is weird. Back in the day like you got to tie it up you got to you got to corset it up and they weren't wearing it they told each other that it's the devil's invention. It cuts off circulation it chokes the digestive trap. Now to be fair they were already super thin and youthful and beautiful and rich. So it's kind of like Like a situation and there were real ladies you would never see their real hands like they would only wear gloves the whole time They did the tea time. Yeah, they were super British all of that

So they're traveling from England to Toronto when they come across all of this whole starvation famine and just Shit show, okay, so they what they really wanted to do was I had over to Vancouver which they thought okay there's gonna be this beautiful beautiful hotel above the seawater and they were thinking about maybe settling down in Canada forever. Maybe we can bring our nanny Margaret Conway from Australia have her live with us in British Columbia. We heard it's the best place ever. So they're trying to get this question you know and like is this what we want to do with our lives. That was like a big thing for them. They kept asking themselves, What is the purpose of life? They would ask each other if not money what would make us happy, you know?

Why are we not happy? And it seemed like Claire was the one that was Super distraught by this and she would constantly ask her older sister, why am I not happy and Dora just didn't have an answer? Now they weren't the only rich people asking themselves that okay Why am I not happy? And Dora just didn't have an answer. Now they weren't the only rich people asking themselves that, okay, they weren't the only rich and unhappy people, because there were so many businesses that were starting to pop up all over the world, that were centers of healing, of physical healing and wealthy sanatoriums,

for you to just come in. It's like a super fancy retreat is how I would kind of envision it in today's terms like a silent retreat in the woods Like you pay thousands of dollars you get this beautiful room overlooking the water and you're just silent the whole time And you're like I'm just like so in tune with myself Like that's kind of what they were into and so there were so many doctors saying hey I'm gonna promise you health mental sadness as long as you have a ton of money, anything is possible. And by this time in their travel, they had been to a ton of these places already,

like a ton. It was more like a hobby for these people. So as they're reading this newspaper, the sisters, they see an ad from the Seattle Daily newspaper. And it says, Dr. Linda Hazard, yeah, her last name's hazard, like turn your hazard like this is hazardous. And she's promoting her book, fasting for name's Hazard. Like turn your Hazard like this is Hazardist, and she's promoting her book, Fasting for the Cure of Disease.

So they start kind of, you know, looking at this out, like wait a minute, we haven't done one of these retreats in a while. Maybe, maybe she can cure us. Maybe she can fix our health. Maybe, maybe we can be happy now. So they actually write a letter to her. Now Claire is known to be the super dramatic sister. So she played it up.

She said, listen, my older sister, Dora, I mean, she's been puking this whole trip. She can barely keep a strawberry down. I mean, it's been disgusting. Her feet are purple. I don't know what's happening. Meanwhile, Dora's sitting next to her. Completely fine.

Like the woman is fine. But she's like, please help us. We need a doctor to help us. Why are they writing such a weird letter? She's just really into the dramatic's clear. Oh okay. Yeah and she also seems kind of like a high-bacon dreac in a little bit. So a few days after they send off their first letter because there's no phones back in the day they get a package at the hotel and it's the book that Dr. Hauser, Linda, had written, and they read every single word of that book, like from cover to end everything.

And she just talked about how every single disease was caused by dietary factors. And the only solution is the fasting treatment. The only disease is impure blood that's caused by impure digestion, and that leads to other diseases. So all you have to do is cleanse your body. All you have to do is reset the foundation. Just like, you know, get all the toxins, get all of the poison out of your butt.

That's it. So the sisters, they fall in love with this. I mean, they were already vegetarians. They're not crazy super foodies at this point. And they always thought that modern medicine was for fools. So traditional doctors, they know better. I mean, it's just better to go the holistic route. That's that's kind of the vibe that they were on. So they're reading this and they they're thinking themselves, well, what what if she's our doctor?

And they both kind of get giddy at the idea. Like, we've never done a fasting treatment before. I mean, that sounds that sounds new and revolutionary. Look, look on the book. It says that she is the only certified fasting specialist in the whole world. That sounds fancy, doesn't it? Well, why book, it says that she is the only certified fasting specialist in the whole world. That sounds fancy, doesn't it? Well, why yes, it does, Claire. So they start kind of hyping each other up about this. Now inside of that book, they find this brochure, and it says that she's opening up a hazards institute of natural therapeutics in the countryside of Seattle in a town called Ola-la.

They're like, well, that doesn't sound like a song. They're like, well, let's ask around. Do you guys know about Ola-la and everyone's like, oh yeah! It's lovely, I mean, there's fresh air, there's sea water, there's wooded parts, it's almost like a forest. I mean, it's beautiful, I heard I heard Seattle, like all the wilderness around Seattle's beautiful. Wow, a retreat in the woods,

and we did this new treatment with this world renowned fasting special. What do you think, sister? Should we write her back? So they immediately write her back. Like, we would love to come to your Sanatorium. We want to be your patients. We're so sick, please take us in.

Now, what were they sick with? That was the question I had the whole time. Dora's condition, the eldest sister, she believed that she had swollen glands. She said that she had so much pain in her knees, the London doctor told her that her uterus had dropped back into her spine, and her ovaries were inflamed. Okay. Okay, so she was like, oh my gosh, this is no wonder. No wonder I don't like meat because I get in digestion. I always thought I had a delicate stomach, but it's because my uterus is killing me.

And then Claire's condition, I mean, the London doctor pretty much told her the same thing that your uterus dropped back into your spine and your ovaries are badly inflamed. This doctor sounds so nice to you. I mean, I don't know. Maybe back in the day, it was a little bit different, but I have never struggled with my uterus dropping back into my spine. Yeah, I don't understand. Maybe it has also had to do with the clothing back in the day.

I was watching these crazy videos about how clothing back in the day would really, really mesh up. Yeah. So maybe it was that. So she was like, oh, this is real. I'm actually sick. So Claire started this treatment. It's called cotton batting, I think, where you grab cotton balls and you soak them in boric acid and glycerin and then shove them up your hoo-ha and just like let it cleanse your hoo-ha. It's supposed to take the inflammation out of the

ovaries. I googled it so boric acid seems to treat yeast infections. I can't really find this specific treatment but I also did Google like verbatim cotton balls soaked in boric acid plus glycerin in vagina I don't know what that means Like nothing they would just say that boric acid is treating like yeast infections, but I think they mean pills Yeah, you know modern medicine stuff urban dictionary had one that was called cotton balling and I was like Oh, is this a hit clicked on that? It's when you soak alcohol into a cotton ball and then shove it up your

rectum to get drunk faster. Okay, I feel like nobody should do this, huh? Yeah, and I'm like you could either just drink to get drunk, but I guess you could just go cotton balling. It's weird. So she hated this process of you know putting these cotton swabs up her hoo ha. I mean who would like it? So she started asking that doctor, you know, putting these cotton swabs up her hoo-ha. I mean, who would like it? So she started asking that doctor that prescribed this other questions.

Like, where else am I sick? Where else should I feel pain? And she felt like the doctor didn't know. So she was like, you're a funny doctor. Modern medicine is all a scam. And I'm getting frustrated. Why don't I feel as good as everyone else? So the sisters, they were really, really nice.

They were really generous people. But at the same time, they were, they were kind of complainers, you know, they're a little bit privileged. So they would go around complaining about how much they're in pain and they would ask everyone, why aren't you complaining as much as me because you're not in pain? And everyone would think to themselves, no, it's because I just don't want to complain all day. I am in probably more pain than you.

I'm just not complaining about it. So they're like, why? Why are we so sick? So they come up with this own theory by themselves. That when the mom was pregnant with Claire, the dad was super sick at the time, you know. And the mom was going through all this stress. So it means that she must have had some nervous breakdowns, some anxiety, and that caused Claire to be sick. Are you carrying a credit card balance month after month? Listen, I know the pain, you're not the only one. Because high interest rates make it so hard to pay off your debt.

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Load amounts will be determined based on your credit income and certain other information provided on your application. Go to upstart.com slash rotten. A close cousin of theirs said that being rich is the cause of all their problems. Claren Dora are ill because they can afford to be ill. Yeah. Which I kind of agree with. So while they're waiting for letters, they're just drinking gallons of water because they're

on this new thing called water therapy where they drink multiple gallons of water a day. Just call hydration. It's just called life, okay? And they get a letter back from Dr. Hazard and she says, stop immediately what you're doing. Stop shoving those cotton things up your hoo-ha, don't do it. Get on the fast because it will permanently get rid of all of your problems. But the only way that I can know for sure if you come to Seattle

and I do a personal exam on you, and that's pretty much what she says and sends them an invoice for $150. And that was that. So they get hooked. They like permanently get rid of all of our problems. So they start writing back to her more. They're like, please, please let us come to Seattle. We want to, we want to stay in your sanatorium. And that's when she responds and says, look, the hospital isn't finished yet, right? But, um, you know, I have this office in downtown Seattle and you could, you could get a furnished apartment. You know, I could get one for you.

Probably maybe let's say like $1,700 a month. Now I do charge for my office visits close to $1,700 a month. So I guess total that would be about $5,000. If you need extra help by charge for extra consultations, but I guess you could come to Seattle. Does the doctor know that they're super wealthy? Yeah, yeah, because you can just tell so in the 1900s, by the way, people write, by their postage, by their, you know, language,

and the fact that, you know, they told them we're from the UK, we're traveling. It's crazy. So she's like, yeah, I mean, I guess you could come. I mean, the sisters get so excited and she says, here's what you do for now. Only drink vegetable broths. Do not eat any bread. Just drink vegetable broths and do daily animas, which is where you cleanse your butthole and your colon. So it's like forcing you.

A lot of people do it at the hospital when you're constipated. And it's still practiced widely today. So they do daily animas. And this is how we're going to do it. So they're like, do daily animas, and this is how we're gonna do it. So they're like, okay, well, to get to Seattle, we have to first, we're in Vancouver, we were gonna go to California to meet our family,

and then I guess we could go to Seattle. We were supposed to go back to Austria. It's fine, it's fine. They're like, we're gonna make our way around it. So they start traveling, and then eventually, they get to Seattle, and they are paying this doctor, like $5,000 a month for this apartment, and these daily consultations and she claims that once the hospital is done I'm gonna move you guys back in like in two months the hospital is gonna be

ready we're gonna go into the wilderness together meanwhile stay in downtown Seattle so they're staying in this apartment and they just kept talking to themselves about do you do you get this feeling that this doctor really, really likes us for some reason? Do you think that she is a special liking towards us? I mean, that's just what they kept talking about. Like, this doctor really freaking likes us. So I guess they, like, she made them feel really special.

So Dr. Linda Hazard, like I said, the only licensed fasting specialist in the entire world, self-proclaimed. Her famous quote is overeating is the vice of the whole human race. Now they meet her at our office for the first time and she, while she like really wooed them, they said that it was insane, it was the most intense handshake that they've ever had. They considered the doctor a very handsome woman. Like she doesn't look very feminine is how they talked about her. She doesn't look very like soft. She's got these strong features and it made her such a presence

Got this like glow this aura about her and they were like oh my gosh Like anytime she talked to them. It was like she was giving a speech to 200 people Even if it was just talking to the two sisters a woman with no time for nonsense is how they talked about her So they find out that she's born and raised in Minnesota. She's got an American father and an English mother. But she kept mentioning that she takes more on the English side. She's not really about the American ways. Because, you know, in the early 1900s, America was...

and still is a shit show. So no one was like, I'm proud. She was like, yeah, no, I'm definitely more English than anything. So the girls were like, oh, us too, yeah. And the consultation, she starts listing everything. Yeah, I can fix it, toothache, psoriasis, heart problems, everything. Epilepsy, all the mental illnesses, all of it.

I can fix it all by fasting. And she starts listing out all of her patients. She said, one time, I had this 65-year-old woman from Kansas, came to me. She said she had chronic constipation, and she had debilitating melancholia, which is their word for depression back in the day. So she had mild suicidal tendencies, which like what does that mean? Mild suicidal tendencies and she was fasting. She did a two meal, like a two meal plan. So every day she would eat two meals and she used to be a huge meat eater.

meal plan. So every day she would eat two meals and she used to be a huge meat eater. I would say meat eater, like it's the most disgusting thing in the world. She would later tell the girls that meat eaters are suicidal and despicable and disgusting. So she would start by eating these two vegetarian meals a day and then one week later, just one meal a day and then slowly no meals a day. Then for the next 40 days all she did was drink one tea cup in the morning of vegetable broth and then one tea cup of vegetable broth at night and sometimes if she was really hungry we would give her spoons of orange juice like table spoon measurements of orange juice not a cup throughout the day. And then 40 days later, they died. People, that wasn't her ending, but I can imagine it was not good.

And so all the while, she would come in to the office every single day and do these animals that would take about six hours. They would do 25 quarts of warm water into the butt. I don't really know how animals work, but I'm imagining it's into the butt. So she would just lay there in the bathtub, knees to chest, that's what they said, put your knees up to your chest like in a fetal position, and they would just run these Enema's and they would have the foulest discharge, old fecal matter. All this poison was finally coming out of our system thanks to us.

She did about 45 days of this absolute fast. She got massages every day, and by the end of it, she was living an amazing life. She was running around the house. She was doing chores again. And remember, like I mentioned, she was depressed. I fixed her depression because she started writing letters to our families. She hadn't done that in years. She just wanted to live life again. That was all me.

There was another Swedish patient who was depressed with violent tendencies, but after, after my fast, oh man, she was running like two miles a day, she was just so happy. I mean, the violence was just wiped out of her. The poison of violence came out her butthole. She went back to Sweden. She still writes to me, and she seems super rational now. That's how she phrased it. She seems super rational now. I said, like, okay, cool thanks. And she's like, all right, well, girls, those are the testimonies. We have no time to lose. We must begin the treatment right away. Wait, what? We're not going to have like an exam for our health because that's what doctors do. You get an exam and then you see

what's wrong with this? No, not necessary. It's no use to do an exam. So they asked. Yeah. And she's like, no, not necessary because fasting's no use to do an exam. So they asked. Yeah. And she's like, no, not necessary, because fasting fixes everything. So why would I need to find out what's wrong with you when I can just fix you by fasting you, by starving you? So they're like, I mean, I guess that makes sense. They said, well, your first massage is today. So they sit down, they strip naked.

And their massages are really strange. It's like a mixture of like, I don't know if they did this back in the day, but like a chiropractor, but not, but like violent. Like Ted Bundy is a chiropractor. So she would hammer her fist into their back, head, and forehead, just like nonstop. Like essentially punching them. And she called it their massage, and she would have to do this every single day. And it was really painful and they whimpered, but kept you know thinking to themselves maybe maybe this is the point

maybe it's so painful that it takes our mind off of food. Wait, she's punching their head. Their forehead, the back of their head and their back like on their spine. Okay. Yeah and then later on she would actually um, knee them like dough. That's what everyone who witnessed it said. Like she would just rub their arms back and forth like you would a dough, like when you knee dough. Um.

So this is her revolutionary massage, okay? So she says this with fasting and with the daily animus, you're gonna be cured in 40 days that poison is just gonna come out of your body and you are gonna be cured of anything. No symptoms ever again. So the vegetable broth in question, I'm thinking, okay, tons of vegetables. All the nutrients, maybe add a little gin thing in there. No, no, no. You boil tomatoes and water and then drink that water. That's it. That's your food.

Later, if you really want to get fancy, she will allow asparagus. You boil asparagus and drink the asparagus water. But that's it. No seasonings. And you can only have two tea cups of this broth a day. Yeah, they're like paying $5,000 for this. And they have no doubts about the... They're no doubts. And they said, no matter how weak you feel, you have to walk every day.

So the girls are like, we have to walk. Yeah, you gotta walk the poison out of you. So Monday through Friday, sure enough, they get the animals, they get the massage, they're walking every day. And in the beginning of their enough, they get the animals, they get the massage, they're walking every day and in the beginning of their treatment, they said that they were so hungry, but it had this like strange euphoria to it. Just like this, wow, like I kind of feel good, like maybe it's working. Like you know when you go like four hours without eating, you're like, well, it might just like a business woman, I forgot to eat because I'm so busy working.

And then you go to like this home. Did you say four hours? Oh my god. You can't skip meals. It's not good for you. Okay, four hours. And so you know, she's like, I got this string Jew. For you to it, but fasting made sense to them in a way. They just like felt better.

So they start writing letters to their families. Now, they did not mention that they were doing this treatment because their family, their aunts and uncles, they know that they go to all these resorts and they get made fun of by the family members. Like oh, you're doing that fat. No, juices don't work. That's not gonna work. So they're like no, we're gonna show them with results.

After this fast, we're gonna be the healthiest and we're gonna tell them finally this is how we did it and you should do it too. So they just kept mentioning We're in great health. Don't worry about us. We're traveling all over the West Coast right now And we're feeling great. So a weekend neither sister had ever fainted before But suddenly they just start fainting all over the apartment One week of just vegetable broths all day So they would just start fainting. I mean, Dora would be laying in bed

and she would hear her baby sister faint in the living room but she felt so dizzy that she couldn't go help. So they were just in and out of consciousness. At this point, the doctors started sending nurses to take care of them full time because they just couldn't take care of themselves. They were literally fainting like in the hallways, like fainting outside, just fainting non-stop.

It was intense. And they said that the animals became the worst part because it would take hours, hours, just painful hours of putting liquid in their butt and they would faint during the animals. And they never doubted the doctor. They just started doubting themselves. They said, maybe we just have a really crazy illness. Maybe we have an illness that we didn't even think about or know about, but we got to put trust in the system. So they keep going. Now their

neighbors are hearing all of this. Their neighbors are seeing them and they're like, who are these British women that are here and suddenly they're like fainting all over the hallways, what's going on? They're right next to our neighbor named Mary. She was constantly hearing them through the thin walls. So when they first moved in, there was a lot of chit chat, a lot of happy noises. And then essentially, there was multiple voices. So it seems like they had visitors, they had friends in the area. And then eventually, let's just quiet, except at night, she would hear soft moaning, like groaning, like whimper, like people that are in agony, right? I mean, it was very obvious. Then she would see the sisters in the hallways exercising with the nurses and they were

just dropping so much weight. They had these massive eye bags they looked weathered they looked old they couldn't even walk down the hallway by themselves. So another neighbor by the name of Clara she was so worried about this that she decided to pop over the apartment one day like what's happening with these women? Maybe I can do something maybe Maybe I can talk some sense into them. That was kind of her vibe. And Dr. Linda was there with all the nurses. And she just sees Dr. Linda beating on these women

while they're groaning. So she straight up says, I mean, that seems like a severe treatment. Oh, no, on the contrary, it does her good. It promotes great circulation. OK. So she's just standing there like, well, Dora, do you want me to do something for you? And while she's talking, you know, to Dora, she hears the doctor talking to the nurse about a patient that had recently died. And she kind of insinuates that they need a bigger

kettle because she wants to dismember the deceased person, like, do an autopsy. And it was just really strange that she's casually talking about this with her other patients. So one day she asked Claire, doesn't the treatment hurt? And Claire told her neighbor, Clara, no, no, it's the most beautiful treatment. So odd. So they really, really believed in it. And people say that Dr. Linda was just one of those people. Like that, you know, it's kind of like a cult leader type vibe, right?

Now Mary wasn't really allowed near the girls, the right next door neighbor. Like when the nurse was there and the girls tried to talk to Mary, which they did on multiple occasions, the nurse, which is like rush them away. And she's like, why? Like why me? Like it seems like the nurses are close with the rest of the neighbors, but why do they hate me? And then she's like, wait, I think I know why. Because one of her closest friends by the name of Mr. Harrison had gone to Dr. Linda and he had died. So Linda performs an autopsy on him and she's

like well he died because he had all these illnesses. You know look at his liver, it was so bad and they're like no no no his family is like we need to do an autopsy so they bring him in to like their own autopsy specialist. And they find out that the cause of death was starvation, lack of nourishment. But the police couldn't do anything. Cause they're like, well, he's a full grown man. And then does like, why didn't deprive him of food? So this neighbor is secretly investigating you.

Yeah. So the neighbor's just kind of concerned, but also in the early 1900s, there was this strong vibe of, it's not my business. Now, Dr. Hazard, at this point, when the girl started getting a little bit more delusional, she starts sinking her little greedy closet. She starts getting sketchy. She starts targeting Claire and saying, hey, I know.

So Claire was the one that was more devoted to her, the one that was more technically trusting by that one the one that was more technically Trusting by the two sisters and she started telling her you know You must be so hard for you to handle your affairs in a strange city in this strange country You must never talk about business with your sister Dora, right? It wouldn't be good for you right now in your in your situation Don't talk about business, it'll stress you out. Just keep it to yourself. And if you need to write letters, you're too weak. I can

have my attorney come in and take the dictation to write your letters to your bank, to your family, whoever you need it to. I can also store your valuables in my safe, you know. And when the girls hurt this, they didn't think anything of it. They didn't think it was strange. And they said no, not because they didn't trust her, but because, I mean, they're home the whole time. Like, they didn't feel like there was a safety threat at this apartment building that they're staying in. So they said, no, it's totally fine. But eventually, Dr. Linda would ask so many times that they were like, okay, like, I guess if it makes you happy. So they handed over all their land deeds, they handed over all

of their expensive jewelry. And right before Dr. Linda left She said well, what about the ones you're wearing and they pulled off the diamond rings that they were wearing a lot of them were heirlooms They had about a hundred fifty thousand dollars worth of jewelry and they gave it turn She says well, I keep it safe for you in the safe and she leaves then she would keep asking the sick girls Is there anyone who controls you guys? Is there a man that has authority over you? No, that's strange and different. Oh, now the nurse at this point

starts secretly going to the neighbor because she starts panicking. She's like, this is strange. I did an enema on Claire and look at what's inside the bucket. Imagine running down the hallway with this bucket. And she's like, this came out of Claire's butthole. And the neighbor looks and it's like, got these white milky particles all up in it and she's like,

what, that's weird. Has she eaten anything? No, just like clear broth. So I don't know why this would be in her system. And I mean, it's been like 30 days that she's eaten something. What do you think it is? So they kept thinking to themselves, it seems strange,

but it feels like the girl's body is like eating itself. That's all they could think about. So the nurse is freaking out. Yeah. Okay. So the nurse eventually goes to another doctor behind Dr. Linda's back, which is like the worst thing you can do technically in this, you know, whole, I guess, work structure. And she's telling him Claire is feeling super sick.

She's fainting. It's been 30 days without food. Dora has gone 40 days without food And she's becoming like delusional. She's rambling. She's confused all the time about where she is and I don't know what to do So the doctors like well, I know what to do. Fucking feed them you idiot And so she's like well, I can't I try and I try to give them some milk some raisins They won't have any of it unless Dr. Linda tells them it's like they're absolutely under her control I don't know what to do. It's like why don't believe in this method?

You got to do something because these girls are gonna die. So this goes on for like two months and then eventually the sisters were so weak that they had to be transported to Dr. Linda's personal house in Ola-la in the cabins. So they're still trying to work on building this hospital, but they didn't even have the foundation down at this point. So I don't know why she was acting like it's going to be up in like two months, but they had these cabins next to her house that they were going to put these girls in, but at this time they wanted them in the house and they wanted them separated. Isn't that weird? So she packs all of their belongings and all of the neighbors watch them get loaded into

like this ambulance and on the ambulance drive there casually happens to be an attorney in the same ambulance as Claire and says, listen Claire, I know you're like dying but I need you to sign these papers because this means that you are okay with going into the hazard house, you know, the hazard is house. And she's like, okay, and she signs it when in reality it was a will. So she signs this will granting the hazard couple because Linda has a husband and kids, but granting the hazard couple and the hazard institute of health 25 pounds of sterling silver every single year. From her estate, it's like the weirdest thing. And she also grants all of her diamonds in

jewelry to Dr. Hazard. She bequeathed them to Dr. Hazard. She also said if anything happens to her, she wants the doctor to take over her body. You know, do all the funeral arrangements, cremate me all of that. Now, what strangers Claire never really wanted to be cremated at all. She wanted to be buried. So this is going to be strange later. And she's barely able to sign it, but she does. So the ambulance staff, they let, they help, you know, the two sisters into the doctor's house, and they estimated that these 30-year-old women weighed less than probably 60, 70 pounds each. It was bad. So they're placed in cities, two separate rooms in the attic, and it was, you

know, close to two months since they'd eaten, and they were just laying in bed all day. A lot of people who saw them said it's like watching two damn cloves of bread. Just laying in bed. They couldn't move, they couldn't do anything, they weren't even like human at this point, and it was nothing like they imagined. Like it's beautiful, but the hospital's not there. It's just like a bunch of cabins, and they're living in the doctor's attic, like this is not what they were expecting.

So from the minute that they got there, the doctors told them you can't see your sister, you guys have to be separated. So they told Dora Claire is really sick. Claire is so sick that if she gets excited or she talks too much, you know, it's not gonna be good. So we can't have you go in over there and like stimulating her emotions. And then they tell Claire that Dora has completely lost her mind. She's like fucking crazy now. You can't see her. Because you're gonna mess with her, you know, insanity right now. She's like going insane. The only time that they would briefly see each other was during meal time. But Claire begged for her sister to not be there at meal time. Because not because she was, you know, going

insane, but because she didn't want her sister to see the way she was eating. And Dora was really confused about this, you know? The door was really confused like, what do you mean? Why can't I see her eat? That's strange. We eat together all the time. We shared literally every meal of our lives together. And she thought about that one time that the nurse was like, all right, well, soup is ready.

And she heard Claire squeal like a hungry animal. And she was like, oh my god, like my sister's probably so hungry. She's eating like very, you know, improper. She's probably like looking her teacup to get every little sip of this juice. That's weird. to get every little sip of this juice. That's weird. So eventually together they decide, enough is enough and they sneak into each other's rooms and they write a long list of what they wanted from the store.

They bring it to Dr. Hazard and they say, it's been like 60 days, bro. We're done with this fast. Here's a list of all vegetarian, all healthy things that we want you to get from the store. Obviously we're gonna pay for it. We can pay for the service of getting it delivered. We need to eat.

And she said, no, no, no, no, no, you will have none of this. It's almost done. My girls, I can see it so clearly in your eyes. You're almost clean. And so she convinced them, just wait a little longer and you'll be done. Now what's very odd is she would sit down with them at meal time now and she would constantly say things like, oh my god, isn't it so divine? The tomato broth, isn't it divine?

It's fresh, it's straight from the vine, wow that rhymes right? But the tomatoes weren't even fresh, they were canned. So she made it seem like she's giving them like the highest nutrition, like the best experience, like charging a crazy arm and a leg because it's like whole foods, but it was just like canned tomatoes. And the girls saw them make the soup with canned tomatoes. So they were just confused.

There was just a lot going on. Now who the fork is this doctor Linda Persona? Cause she sounds like a nut job. Well, Linda was the eldest of eight kids and she was always super intelligent, very studious. She gets married when she's 18, has two kids, immediately gets divorced and just like drops her kids off with her parents.

She's like, bye, I'm going to get a career now. And she straight up told people why men have careers with kids, I can abandon my kids for a career, that's fine. And she starts reading books about fasting, about diets, about health. And she realized that overeating was the cause of every illness. And the only way to cure it was fasting. So she does not go through any formal medical training. She sets up as an alternative medicine solution. And multiple of her parents' patients just died. They just start popping dead. And at the same time, the families were confused because

jewelry would be missing from their patients. Sometimes the land deed would suddenly be a Linda's name, and she would say, well, it's because they loved me so much as their doctor that they bequeathed me their land. If they were autopsy by someone other than Linda, it would show that they died of starvation. But if Linda did the autopsy, she would say, no, no, no, they died because their liver was disgusting. They died because their heart failed. Just very different, she would constantly argue, like, I never deprived them of food. They came to me super sick.

They were already at their last straw. Other doctors turned them away. I tried to help, but they couldn't eat anything. They didn't want to. They didn't have an appetite. And technically, because she wasn't a doctor, she couldn't even be sued for malpractice she was just like a consultant oh shit sometimes I get so nervous before doing something that I don't even end up doing it at all

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That's betterhelp.com slash rotten and join the over one million people who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and Rotten Mangle listeners can get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash right. Yeah, so the newer husband Samuel Hazard, he is a business manager, gifted musician, teacher, military man in the past, annoying ass bids in the present, just like the worst. He was married when he met Linda and he decides that he's going to gaslight his wife out of his marriage. So instead of getting like a proper divorce, he's like, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna marry Linda and then I'm just gonna go up to my wife one day and be like

Hey, did you know we're not married? And the wife was like yes, we were. We literally had a ceremony in in the courthouse like we didn't have a whole wedding because we were trying to save money But we were married and he's like no, you're not my wife and she's like are you kidding me like I'm your wife So she goes to the court and the court I guess you had bride the court system and I like yeah No, I can't find the papers anywhere. They've been living together What like what do you what do you mean? I'm not your wife so she decides okay? I'm not doing this her dad was actually an iOS senator So the whole family was like we're taking his ass to court

So they take him to court. He was charged with bigamy Which means that you get married while you're married, which was illegal. I don't know if it still is Anyone to present for two years Nice. So when he gets out he's still with Linda. You said nice So when he gets out he's still with Linda and decided, well, let's start traveling to Washington. We're going to start our own hospital. We're going to treat these patients. Now, there is a legal loophole in Washington, which

means that Linda was able to get a license and be called a doctor to practice alternative medicine. So in Minnesota, where she was practicing and consulting, you couldn't get a license as a doctor unless you went through formal training. But Washington, you could. so this attracted a ton of patients I mean she started putting international ads everywhere Canada, you know Sweden Switzerland places with like shit ton of rich people. She was like look at my fasting treatment and people just started coming to her and

Starring to death she would take over guardianship once they got to weeks. They would sign over like, hey, yeah, you're my guardian because I am too sick to control myself, like to make good decisions for myself. They couldn't run because they couldn't eat. She would usually have them in this secluded isolated cabin in a la la and they wouldn't have access to writing utensils. They wouldn't have access to a phone or anything. Well, did they even have the ones back in the day, but like they couldn't even write their family. So they would just, they weren't allowed to eat, they would just rot there and they would

die. This is after the sisters or before the sister. So before the sisters, there was probably about 12 murders that took place. Yeah. And then most of them would be rich because she charged a pretty penny. So these people that came, I mean, they brought most of their belongings because that's what you do back in the day, you know, especially when you don't know how long you're going to be there.

And she knew they had money. So she would like brainwash them. And these were all rich people trying to find a parapetist, like trying to find health and happiness. And she had a ton of admirers, even people who significant other died from starvation were like, no, yeah, for the time being, he was fixed for sure. I love Dr. Hazard. What? So meanwhile in Austria, Australia, sorry, Margaret, the girls Nanny, since they were like one years old, right? The lifelong Nanny of the family. She gets like a

telegram randomly, and it was like, hey, come to Seattle. Claire. And it was like, what? It's like this is out of nowhere. I mean, I know that there was, was we traveling. I thought they were in Canada. They never, they never mentioned Seattle.

Why would they be in Seattle? So she grabs all of her things. She rushes, yeah. Are the girls finally realizing? So it seems nobody to this day knows how Claire got that telegram out A lot of people imagine that somehow she snuck out and found a local and begged them and gave them money to like Is shipped out this telegram because the doctors would never have right yeah, so she gets there's address and everything yeah, okay So she's like oh my gosh. This is insane. What's happening? She grabs all of her stuff and she's like oh god

It did something happen to someone like I would this is so short. Is she never even said anything about Dora? What's what's happening? She gets there she gets to Seattle now at this point I think Claire had told the doctors that the um their nanny is coming, you know Margaret's coming So doctor hazard hazards husband Sam picks up the nanny and just casually mentioned star like oh, yeah Let me take your back. By the way, Claire's dead. She's like, what? What?

I mean, I literally got this telegram like two weeks ago. I got on the fastest, you know, transportation here. Cause it takes two weeks, yeah. And what? And he's like, yeah. And he just goes back to reading the newspaper. So she's like bawling her eyes out and what about Dora?

She's fine. Anyways, you can talk to my wife about it. So he brings her into Dr. Linda's little office and she's sitting there waiting. And she's freaking out. This doesn't make sense. Claire's only like 30 years old, like 33 years old. Healthy and great condition. I mean, she had some little small sicknesses, but even Margaret was like, she wasn't really

sick. Come on, right? And so Margaret was like, she wasn't really sick, come on, right? And so she's like, this, this doesn't make sense. And Dr. Hazard comes in, sits down and says, Well, Claire is dead. But Dr. that doesn't make sense. Yeah, well, she came and told me that she's either gonna be cured or she's gonna die. There was just no hope for either of them. What?

Yeah, I did her autopsy and her liver was so hard, I couldn't even puncture it with a knife. Her intestines were so small, so infantile. Do you wanna see her? So Margaret's like, yeah, I wanna see her. Good, because I have her embalmed. So they go into a little more section, which I don't even think it was a section, right?

And they see Claire, and it was a complete stranger. It wasn't even Claire! So she's like, and they see Claire, and it was a complete stranger. It wasn't even Claire! So she's like, that's not Claire. And she's like, yeah, it is. The disease changed her. No, that's not. I literally grew up. I raised Claire.

Yeah, well, it is. It might be the grief. You're probably in shock. Maybe you've never seen someone in Balmd. So in Australia at the time, they never in Balmd anyone. They just like put them into the coffin's fresh. So she was like it's the embalming process. I guess it changes the physical appearance. That's scary because

that's another dead person basically. Yes, which we'll get into. And so she's like yeah, now that's clear. She's like okay I don't know what the doctor is saying. Let me see Dora because I need to talk to Dora. So she's like all right, well she's staying in a cabin. So let's go. So they is saying. Let me see Dora, because I need to talk to Dora. So she's like, all right, well, she's staying in a cabin. So let's go. So they go to the cabin.

Now Dora has been moved from the doctor's house to a nearby cabin. And it looked more like a chicken coop. That's what she said. It's not a home for a person. Definitely not a sick person. It just seemed like just really, really shitty. And she's like, this doesn't make any sense.

And she opens the door and she sees Dora. And Dora looked so bad. It was almost like, if you buy one of this, how they describe it. Like a skeleton, like a skull. And then you get a wet white sheet and just kind of put it on top and then pull it back. Like very, you can see every bone, the eyes are sunken in. But the eyeball is bulging out. Her lips were so thin, they were barely there.

Her cheeks were hollow, her stomach was concaved. Like it was bad. And so she's like, Dora, like what is going on? Let me see you. And Dora just started yelling at her. Don't touch me, you'll be horrified. I'm getting better, okay? So there's no point in you looking at me

and getting upset because I'm getting better and I'm getting better, okay? So there's no point in you looking at me and getting upset because I'm getting better and I'm getting stronger every day. So she's like, this is not okay, Dora, no. So she starts staying there. She starts mailing out letters to their uncle. So Dora and Claire's uncle who lives in Portland, or again, which is really close by. So she's like, you need to come,

like, I don't know what the fuck's going on, like I need help. So he gets on a train, goes there and he sees Claire. And he's confused because he's on, like I need help. So he gets on a train, goes there, and he sees Claire, and he's confused, because he's like, that's not Claire. The doctor's like, well, yeah, it is. It's like, that's not Claire. No, no, it is.

I get it, you're like really sad. Creep, you know, shock does things to people. Yeah, that's your niece. What? Okay, well, let me see Dora. No, you can't. She's mentally insane. Why is Dora mentally insane? Menopause. She straight up says menopause. That's why she's

mentally insane. So he's like, well I mean I guess menopause do be hidden. Menopause do be insane. Yeah, it's like I don't know nothing about that. You're right. Maybe make sense. And well maybe I can take Dora, you know, it'll be fine. I can keep her in Portland, Dora again. My wife and I can take care of her. So this is Dora's mom's brother. So they have a really close connection, you know. He's like, yeah, I'll take her. No, you can't because I'm her guardian. And Claire's last dying wish was that I take care of Dora. She's like, what? So he meets up with Margaret and they start plotting to get Dora out of there.

Now especially when Dora starts telling them the craziest stories, they said that Dora said that the day Claire died, they just told her, hey by the way, like your sister's dead. Meanwhile, in front of her, they start opening up all of Claire's massive trunks. So they carried about like 20 trunks, like massive trunks of just clothes from Paris. I mean, you're talking about millionaire sisters. Just the best linens, the best blankets. Claire was known to travel with the best thread count blankets because she didn't like using hotel blankets.

And she was just like giddy laughing. The doctor's like laughing, trying on all these new dresses and these red coats in front of Dora. So they probably feel like Dora's gonna die too. Yeah. And so then Dora was crying and then she tried to open a window to get fresh air and the doctor said, are you gonna commit suicide? She's like, what? No, I'm just trying to get fresh air. Oh, because a lot of patients commit suicide, especially because your sister died. I can see if you were so sad that you would maybe want to commit suicide.

Oh, my God. And Joy, I was like, that isn't appropriate. Don't, I think that's really inappropriate of you to say something like that right now. And she was like, yeah, no, I get it. But tell me if you're going to commit suicide, okay? She just thought it was so weird, which it is. And so she starts telling her uncle and Margaret,

all of these things, what's happening? She took all of our jewelry, about $150,000 worth. They keep coming in here asking me to sign like random ass papers. I don't know what's going on. And she even wears Claire's night gown every night. So help. random ass papers. I don't know what's going on. And she even wears Claire's neck down every night. So help. So this sister is catching up, right? Yeah. And she just was so weak that they could not run away with her immediately.

Like they could not just like put her on their back because this was you had to take a boat to get a lala to get to a lala from Seattle. Um, I don't know how it works, but they had to take a boat. That was their only way to get there. And she was so weak She couldn't even chew peas. She would just like roll them around and they wouldn't burst. She would only eat tomato broth and mashed tomatoes on some days. So slowly Margaret, the plan was the uncle would go back to Portland and make arrangements and Margaret would start slowly putting some rice and flour into the broth, you know, to make doors stronger.

And she eventually started getting stronger. She would go to the store and she started asking around town. And all of the locals were like, yeah, technically it's called wilderness heights. Like the trail is called wilderness heights, but the locals we call it starvation heights. Sometimes we'd get patients out come into the store like begging for food. And we would just give them free food because we felt bad about it. A lot of the kids were terrified of Dr. Hazard. They would say that the parents would actually tell the kids if you're bad, the doctor is going to snatch you away in your sleep and starve you.

Really good parenting. Holy cow, so she's a whole last urban legend at this point. And she just like walks around town with fur coats. And the police are like, that's cool. That's cool. Yeah. So finally, Dora is strong enough. And the uncle came back for her for their big escape.

They packed all of their bags. They're ready to go. And all of a sudden, Linda comes yelling. She's like, where do you think you're going? You're not going anywhere. I am the, like, I am the, what do you call it? Legal guardian. I'm the legal guardian guardian that is the law of the USA and it's on my side and I am the guardian let's see what happens when you defy our country's sacred laws that's what she told

them oh my god and so you know Margaret she was scared she was like shit what do we do but the uncle was like yeah no fuck you I'm American too so no and he was like I'm taking her and you she's like well you can't because I will call the police like I'm gonna get the authorities on you because here's the thing you know um you guys own me money like for this entire treatment it's a lot of money I'm a crazy doctor I'm a good one people love me yeah I need about 56 thousand dollars They're like what no that doesn't make sense first of all you're not even giving us back any of the jewelry That's like a hundred fifty thousand dollars. We're literally just trying to leave because fuck you and like we need to save our niece And she's about to die and we would rather her live than you know fight for a hundred fifty thousand dollars worth of jewels

But like what is happening you already took so much money from them. Why do you need an extra $56,000? So finally, after some negotiating, I think they pay like half of it and they left. And they left most of their stuff and all of their jewelry paid extra and on their boat out, the uncle and the Margaret, they were finally talking in private and they kept saying, you know, that wasn't clear, right? Yeah, but then who was she? So they take door to the hospital

and they check into a hotel. She was 60 pounds. She could not keep any food down. So what happens is you can't eat. A lot of her patients actually died from eating after the fast. So they would, you know, fast for like, I don't even call it fasting, you know, they would start for 60 days and then they would eat and then they would eat so much and they would have so many intestinal problems, it was just really, really bad. So they start getting in contact with, I don't know if it was like the British embassy, I don't think it was the British embassy, I don't even think they had an embassy because I think this was only like 150 years after

America stopped being a colony. Don't quote me on that. Am I a history major? What the heck? Where did that number come from, Stephanie? So I don't know, but they started contacting all of these people and they're like, we need to do something.

You guys need to arrest this woman. And a lot of these, like, so they contacted a law office and they had a ton of sympathy for Dora. I mean, to be fair, the two investigators that took this case, they really loved the spotlight and they knew that this was gonna get them crazy spotlight because think about it, an English-Eris murdered by an American fasting doctor.

Ooh, this is gonna be good. So they take on the case and they immediately start investigating while Dora recovers and they find out that before Claire Williamson, there was at least 13 people who had died under the care of Dr. Linda. So later, the total will actually be 19. Because she kills people after Claire. So there was this huge money debate. The county did not want to do this.

The county was like, I don't want to go to court with this. We don't The county did not want to do this. The county was like, I don't want to go to court with this. We don't have the money. This is just too intense. We don't really care. She's not even an American citizen. So they start fighting and eventually it was settled that Dora would bankroll the entire trial for the prosecution.

And she was like, that's fine. Let's do this. There was actually talks about getting the crown, like getting England to pay for it But that would be super intense. There was actually so much political tension during all of this because they were like Wow, we care so much about this English person like I thought we were free from you guys Type vibes because the timing of everything so there was like you know There was just a lot and they had this massive trial. It was a shit, like a full shit show and the defense. Dr. Linda kept saying that Claire was just sick. I mean, she knew she was going to die.

I gave her food, but she didn't want it. And you know what this is? This is a witch hunt. From all these male doctors who are incapable of seeing a female succeed in their profession. So they're trying to just need that. She's doing all sorts of cards. She's like, let me do this, let me do that.

She was threatened by me. They want to take away my license because I'm a one man. And all the woman were like, no, it's because you're a murder. What? So a bunch of doctors testify, and they argued scientifically that this is in the case, you know, a lot of A lot of clear doctors from London were not flown in but brought in

Bank rolled by the Williamson fund. This is crazy So Dorah testified and the jury fell in love with her I mean she was like this beautiful woman. She was looking a lot healthier at this point She had this beautiful accent. That's what everyone said, and they just kept talking about it, and there was proof that Linda benefited financially from their deaths. So eventually, she was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to two to twenty years of hard labor in a woman's prison. But the question remained, where is Claire's body? Because that wasn't Claire according to the family. Now everyone called her the next bell gunness. Do you guys know bell gunness?

Okay, so there's this really good book on it. I love a story inside of a story so I can't help myself. So there is a woman named bell gunness who had just gotten, I wouldn't say caught, kind of caught like three years prior to all of this going down in Indiana. So this was like the biggest case in the world. Some people consider her one of America's worst female serial killers. That's like a title. So there's this book called Hell's Princess, the mystery of Bel Gunnest butcher of Men and it's really good. It's a deep dive. So, side note, I'm going to go into Bel's story. Okay. Bel was born in Norway, right? And she had

this dad who was this traveling magician and ever since she was young, she would like travel with him and start performing all these like tricks on a tightrope and they were from this really tight knit norweed in family. They retired super quickly and Bella was like I don't really like this life you know I don't really like being in Norway my parents are so frugal like they're retired but they won't let me like buy anything that I want I'm gonna go to America and I'm gonna get rich. So she moves to Illinois and she meets the Swedish man. They get married and they start opening up their own candy shop, right? Now for the first year, the candies are coming in.

It's like a deencoral moment. They're successful. They're making a lot of money. And then eventually, they start losing money in this candy shop and they're like, well, that's a bummer. What do we do now? And then around that time, that bell is like, well, what do I do? The candy store just like gets lit ablaze.

Just like falls to the ground and flames. And the investigators come out and they're like, well, this was insured. So we need to investigate because there was nothing inside of this candy factory that would cause for this fire to be so massive, but they could not find any proof that it was arson. So they paid them out the entire insurance money

and Bell loved the taste of insurance money Okay, so her husband had these two life insurance policies. So the first one it would end let's say it ends on Sunday And then he had another one that would roll right, but that one would start Friday So there was about like two day period where both of the insurance policies were active the old one and the new one And of course guess who plops dead on one of those days? The husband should have sought that coming. Come on, dude, those are the most dangerous two days of your life. You gotta get out of there.

You gotta go on a business trip. And so, yeah, he plops dead. And he just casually dies. And she's like, well, he had a cerebral hemorrhage. Can you imagine like if you die and I just tell the police will he had a cerebral hemorrhage like you're so guilty? Well she said that she came home with a headache and she gave him this powder to make him feel better to get rid of the pain and then she did some errands. I checked upon him oh my god he was dead!

So the authorities, they ruled it a heart failure and she got paid out close to $200,000 in today's money. So she gets the fork out of town because his family is trying to get suspicious of her and she uses the insurance money to buy this massive farm on the outskirts of Indiana and that's where she meets Peter, her second husband. It was also a Norwegian born immigrant, and this was perfect. They get married. Now their happy marriage doesn't last long, because Peter had an infant from a previous marriage, and he was like, well, you're my new wife, Belle. So do you mind taking care of my baby while I go to work? So she's like, of course, I love children.

Child ends up dead. She's like, I don't know what it was. Probably caught, caught, steth or whatever. You's like, I don't know what it was. It's probably Cots, Cots death or whatever, you know, set an infant death syndrome. Oh well. And they move on. This is just like the other serial killer. Yeah.

The woman. Yeah. And then they move on with their life. And then Peter uses all of his money to open up a little meat market for them. And they start working in there. And then one day Peter is reaching for his slipper. And there was a sausage grinder on a shelf on a really high shelf and just fell out of nowhere and it bonked his head, it crushed his skull, it crushed his head, it brutally killed him and of course the

police they're questioning Belle but they have no proof like that she's evil, they have no proof why she would want to kill him and they ruled it an accident and a lot of people say she's kind of like Linda That's why people kept making this comparison like she was so confident and determined of a woman who's like I don't need no man type of woman But you just like can't even question what she's saying because you know when people say things so like Yeah, this guy's right. You're like yeah, it's right and then you like no, it's not wait a minute Hold on like can we backtrack right there because I feel like you try to like why did you tell me it's right. And then you're like, no, it's not. Wait a minute, hold on. Like, can we backtrack right there? Because I feel like you try to like, why did you tell me it's red?

She's like one of those people. So she gets another $80,000 for her death. And then she starts sleeping with like the farm hand, the employee. She starts sleeping with him. This is really important. And we know this because anytime you would get drunk, he would go brag about it in the streets.

He'd be like, guess what? I'm sleeping with my boss. And people were like, that's not really that cool. Cause she's not even that pretty. She like butt-chose her own pigs. Just wait till Wednesday's episode, okay. She like butt-chose her own pigs. That's what they kept saying about Belle.

And she has these four children. And then one day, one of these children just disappears. 15-year-old Jenny, just like, vanishes. Neighbors are confused. They're like, we should call the cops, because that's weird. So the police, they come and question her and she's like, well,. Neighbors are confused. They're like, we should call the cops, because that's weird. So the police, they come and question her, and she's like, well, she's in California.

Just like getting a better education in California. So again, they don't do anything about it. This is really important. And then she decides, you know what? I'm kind of lonely. I'm gonna put out these ads. So she puts out a personal ad on the paper, so which sounds crazy,

but I'm thinking that's what Tinder is. It's just like an ad. So she writes, I'm thinking that's what Tinder is. It's just like an ad. So she writes, I'm a widow that owns a large farm in one of the finest just districts of La Porte County, Indiana. I desire to make acquaintance of a gentleman with a view to join four chins. No replies by letter will be considered unless Sunday is willing to answer with a personal visit. Triflers need not apply. What is it? Triflares need not apply. Someone who behaves lightly or not seriously, I do nothing.

A bum. So a bunch of these suitors come in, typically middle-aged men, widowers, first was John Mel, who bought $30,000 in cash with him and to Indiana. He was like, I'm gonna woo this woman. I'm gonna pay off her mortgage, which is honestly really romantic. So he's like, I'm gonna pay her mortgage. So he shows up he vanishes and then we've got George from Missouri He shows up. He's an immigrant from Norway. Wait, he vanished meaning he He's gone after the visit. Yeah, just got no one's on him ever since. Oh my god

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including free shipping. That's HelloFresh.com slash Rotten 12 and use that code for 12 free meals including free shipping. That's hellofresh.com slash rot in 12 and use that code for 12 free meals including free shipping. So then we got George Anderson who comes from Missouri and during dinner she kept asking, are you gonna pay my mortgage, which is like really romantic dinner talk. And he was like, yeah, Iall pay it if we get married.

So that night he goes to bed in the guest room. And in the middle of the night he opens his eyes because he feels a presence. And she's just standing there with a candle in her hand. Because this is like the 1900s. There's no electricity yet. Well, she didn't have electricity. I don't know if there was electricity.

Okay, I'm making these bold ass statements. I'm like, noissini, okay? So she didn't have electricity. She's got this candle in her hand and she's got this like sinister look in his face So he's like, what are you doing? It just makes eye contact and leaves the room calmly. So without even packing his stuff He just flees the house takes a train straight back to Missouri and just like leaves house, takes a train straight back to Missouri and just like leaves. Then more suitors come. There was an old B. Budsburg, a widower from Wisconsin, and he was last seen at the Laporte bank getting several thousands of dollars worth of cash.

Never seen again. Andrew, he started writing to her and they started talking about life and she was like a sweet talker. These were some of her letters. No woman in the world is happier than I am. I know that you are now to come to me and be my own. I can tell from your letters that you were the man that I want. What? So he brought out a check from his savings account about $80,000 in today's money. And he brought it, started visiting it, and he disappeared. And about $80,000 was cashed in into Bell's account. So he disappears. Now around this time, the farmhand that she was having enough hair with,

he starts getting jealous. Like, what's going on, Bell? I thought I thought this was, I thought I was gonna have a sugar mama. I thought this was gonna be the whole setup. Like, why are you dating all these other people? I thought we were the real deal. So she fires him.

She's like, you are out of line. Get the heck out of my farm. And Andrew's brother starts reaching out to her. And she's like, well, where's my brother? I know that he was at your farm. Where is my brother? And she's like, well, I can help you look for him if you come on over to my farm. Weird.

So then around this time, I think a lot of the stuff was closing in on her. You know, Andrew's brother kept counting her. A lot of these family members kept counting her. So she goes to an attorney and she tells them, I'm scared for my life. I'm scared for my children. My old employee is threatening to kill me. And not long after that, her entire farm was set ablaze. So the police come and the lawyer was there telling them, oh my god, she came to me earlier talking about how her employee was gonna kill her. All of this, this is insane.

So they start treating it like arson and murder and they find the remains of the three children and they find what they think is Belle's remains. But it's a corpse of a woman who has been burned in the flames, but it's super strange. This woman is wearing Belle's clothes. So it must be Belle, right? But she's headless.

So they can't confirm, you know? But she was headless. So they can't confirm, you know, they didn't have like DNA and then have finger printing like that. So they're like, and she's burnt. But it must be Bell, right? But she's significantly smaller than Bell. I mean, just something felt strange. So they start talking to the old employee Ray, and he was linked to the murder, but he had this wild card up his sleeve. He was like, no, no, no, I didn't kill her. She's the one killing people. There are bodies in her backyard. So they go digging in this farm ladies backyard and they they dig up five bodies in the backyard, mutilated and butchered. One of them was the 15 year old foster child,

Jenny. Then we have Andrew and another man and then we have like two eight year old girls. Then they find four more bodies. It was just like bags of just limbs and Amputated parts of the body and hands and arms and torso There was like decapitated heads with lime shoved in the ears It was just a lot So the remains are all over the property and the dentist came and they're trying to verify is this bell because if it's not bell The person that died in the fire we need need a fine bell, because it's just like, it's just a serial killer.

So he says, well, I mean, there's some teeth laying here, and these do look like her fake teeth, because I had done some dental work on her. There's only one dentist in this area. So he's like, yeah, this has to be bell. So later, Ray confesses to digging the graves, but that's it. He says, I never helped her murder anyone.

I only dug the graves. So he confesses to that, and he's in prison for murder. Now, it that's it. He says, I never helped him murder anyone. I only dug the graves. So he confesses to that and he's in prison for murder. Now it gets really sick. So he's about to die. So then suddenly his story starts changing. He says, well, I did drug her and the woman that I was with set the house on fire. And then later it changes again. And this time he tells it to a priest. He says, I never murdered anyone. I only helped her bury the victims. This is how it would happen. I know it was going on. The victim would arrive, she would make them comfortable, they would eat dinner, she would charm them really, and then she would

drug his coffee and wait for him to pass out. Sometimes she wouldn't even drug them, she would wait for them to go to sleep and then chloroform them, like which she was probably going to do to George, you know, standing over them chloroform them, and then chloroformed them, like which she was probably gonna do to George, you know, standing over them chloroformed them. And then she would bunk their head open with a meat cleaver, take them into the basement to dismember and bury them in the pig pen. And he claimed that the headless lady, Lord her to the farm, hired her as a housekeeper, was like, listen lady come, I'm Belgenna, speed my housekeeper, I'll pay you a bunch of money.

But then ended up drugging the woman, bashed her head and decapitated her, disposed of her head in a local swamp, removed her own fake teeth, because she had dental work done, placed it near the body so that it could be identified as Belgenus, and then chlorformed her own children, took them to the basement, set the place on fire, and re-new this because he was waiting to whisk her away. This is like a plan that they plotted together. He was waiting, they were going to get into the car together, drive off into the sunset, make sweet, sweet love, but then he saw her run into the woods.

And he was like, that's weird. So at this point, she was like a really rich woman. She had murdered, he suspected 42 men. We don't know the number for sure because this is such an old case. And she had close to in today's money $6.7 million if she had actually murdered that many men now the police check her bank account It was almost all completely drained right before the fire She was also cited by a bunch of people in Mississippi and Los Angeles So the children were positively ID'd but the the headless corpse never was, but they buried

her next to the first husband because they didn't know, maybe it is Belle. So in 2007, yeah, so recent, okay? So in 2007, they got permission from the descendants of Belle Gunnaces sister. So but you like, you know, ancestors later, they said, okay, yeah, you can exume the body and the grave to like put an end to this crazy mystery that America's concerned about and they compared it to an envelope flap on a letter that they found at the farm but there wasn't enough DNA. So they don't know.

Yeah, they can't even compare because there's not even enough of Bel Guinness's DNA anywhere. I'm sure they really wanted to, there's gotta be a way but I think it would be so costly that no one really wants to. So anyways, they started comparing Linda to the next Bal Guinness and it was like this whole thing and she had her medical license revoked, she only spent two years in prison and the governor of Washington gave her a full pardon. So she decides you know what, I'm gonna move to New Zealand and write another book, she made a shit ton of money in New Zealand, moved back to Ola-la and finished her three-story beautiful white hospital and called it the School of Health because she doesn't have a license.

So she can't call it like a hospital or a sanatorium. Was she gone out of prison and then resumed back to the hospital? There was at least three to four more patients that died afterwards of starvation and that's just the ones that we know of. That's just the ones we know of. So three years after that, the place mysteriously burned down. And when I say mysteriously, the locals came and they were like, well, we know that the couple has spent so much money on getting like the best of the best in there.

So let's go help them. So they start bringing out all this like expensive stuff from inside of the fire, like throwing it out the window for the couple. And Sam was just like, don't do that. It's fine. It's insured. Like they weren't even freaking out.

So it just feels mysterious. So another three died on that property, and then another patient had died under the care of just reading her book. And the reason that this person didn't come to Linda was because they didn't have money. So Linda didn't want to take them on. Okay. So then Linda gets super sick, she decided, you know what? This is gonna be my last thing that I'm gonna do is I'm gonna fast and I'm gonna show the world that I'm right. And she fasted and ended up dying.

Starvation? Yeah. Now, nobody knows the true estimate of how many people that she's killed. It estimated to be around 20 to 40, but that's what that's just so we know. And Dora moved back to England, got married, but he tragically drowned. And she never remarried again, and she died in her 70s. It's a weird story. I don't know how to feel about it. What would Dora say anymore about the whole thing or not really?

I mean, she did say that this person is just so charismatic. And they're just promising you health, they're promising you this. And she said like, everything makes sense. You know, at the time it made sense. Like, because even today, there's so many people who do juice cleanses and they're like well it makes sense I'm cleansing my body getting rid of all the alcohol that I drank at coach Allah I mean juice cleanse has its like scientific I think it's scientifically proven to not work

Oh seriously So essentially what I read is that your liver just cleanses your whole body or your kidney There's an organ that literally the whole purpose is to cleanse your body So technically if you really want to cleanse you can still like eat in cleanse But there's different cleanse right there's so many different types. Yeah, I don't know I can't make a statement because I know nothing. It's very interesting I guess this is like a lifelong thing Maybe when you have too much money you start getting bored and start doing these very

odd, strange things like the silent retreat that I'm talking about. It's true, yeah. Then you just got to like find a way to like fix yourself, I guess. You're brain dustings. Let me know. What are your thoughts on this case? And do you really think, I mean, do you consider her a murder? Some people don't. Some people think that this is like a, this is a situation of really, really bad malpractice of just the law not working in people's favor. I think it's, these are the worst type of murder. Yeah. Like the murder that with a, with a shell, you know, in the name of medical practice, in the name of saving you, in the name of this that, and they don't get the Consequences because you know by law they're okay. Yeah, and what's the difference between her doing this versus her being a regular doctor

And then killing 20 people on her free time not a big difference at all. Yeah, I feel like this is where yeah 20 people died anyway. That's true And she still had followers still the day that she died like people who were devoted to her who said that her method was the right method. Don't do anything said in today's video because you'll literally die people died from this it's crazy and I'll see you guys on Wednesday because that one just wait till Wednesday it's insane and I hope you guys enjoyed this week's mini-shoot. Bye!

Sweet to Wednesday, it's insane. And I hope you guys enjoyed this week's mini-stod. Bye!