Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-02-20
RICH GIRL STARVED TO
DEATH BY FASTING CURE


cent conviction of "Dr." Linda Bur
field Hazard of Seattle, charged
with murder, in the superior court
Of Kitsap county. Wash, concludes
story which rivals the imagination |
Of Edgar Allen Poe. The aphorism
that truth is stranger than fiction"
is emphasized in this remarkable
case.
The woman, who posed as a ply
stefan and fast cure specialist, was
found guilty of having starved tol
death Miss Claire Williamson, sI
young Englishwoman of wealth, in
an attempt to obtain her fortune.
Not only that, but Miss Dorothea
Williamson, an older sister, was
about to follow Claire to the grave
when rescued by Margaret Conway,
nurse of the Williamson sisters
since childhood.
The testimony of Dorothea Will
Hanson marks a new ANIMAL in Grim
inal jurisprudence. Seldom, except
In the sensational novels, is a story
so CHASTITY recounted. The sisters
were educated in the leading schools
of England, Switzerland and Paris.
In the trial of the physician" Doro-
thea told Of having found Mrs. Haz-
zard while travelling on the Pacific
coast in search of health. Both girls
being vegetarians, the artful prac-
titioner persuaded them to go to Sc
attic with her and then enter her
sanatorium at Ollala, on Puget
sound, where, she said, by fasting
and getting rid of the "poisons" in
their bodies, they would be able to
regain their health. This was in
February, 1911.
Upon their arrival at Ollala, a
lonely spot with a few scattered
ranches near by, the two girls were
put upon restricted diet. Gradually
even this was reduced until they
were subsisting upon few spoon
fuls of asparagus broth daily. Claire
Williamson weighed 115 pounds up
on her arrival at Ollala, while Doro-
thea weighed 10S. In April the
young women lost more than 20
pounds each and were daily growing
weaker. They were not allowed to
see each other nor were they per-
mitted to write their relatives and
friends. To each girl Mrs. Hazard
talked OF insanity and Of the danger
they were in of losing their reason,
Then began the plot to obtain pos
session of the fortune Of $125, 200
left the girls by their father, Major
George Williamson, an officer in the
English Indian army. Much of the
fortune was in Australian debenture
bonds.
At this period Mrs. Hazard In
duced her patients to sign statements
in which she was held not RESPONSE
BILE should they die while undergoing
treatment. Claire Williamson con
tinued to weaken much more rapidly
, than her sister. Mrs. Hazard, &C
cording to the unchallenged testi
mony of Dorothea, at times beat the
emaciated girls, and Watson Webb
, and Frank Lille, farmhands, WHIT
\ were strangers to the patients, as
; sisted Mrs. Hazard in giving then
, baths. A paper, purporting to be 1
, portion of Claire's diary, was OBJ
) tanned by Mrs. Hazard during thi
: period, in which she was given thu
, diamonds and other jewelry belong
ing to the slowly dying girl.
, Funds were removed from a banl
in Victoria, B. c., and made over t
a Mrs. Hazard. A power of attorne
, was made out to her husband, Sam
= lel c. Hazard, a West Point gradu
. ate, and formerly lieutenant in tn
Fifth United States infantry. Haz
: zard had been dropped from tn
@ army for desertion.
. Besides the power of attorney 70
= her husband, Mrs. Hazard obtaine
! an order on London bank maxim
over all funds in Claire's name sui
: ject to her order. A will was dc
vised in which the Ollala sanatoriur
was to have a yearly income fror
the girls estate in case of her deatf
May found both girls weakening
They were subsisting on but pin
of thin asparagus broth daily an
with small portions of orange juic'
On the night of May 20, 1911, Clair
Williamson died. Her sister, Dort
thea, was not even allowed to sc
her body. At the trial, Elsie Can
7 eron, a nurse, testified that she ca
ried the body on an ironing boar
and it weighed less than SO pound
An effort on the part of DR." Hai
zard to dispose of the remains brough
John Herbent, an uncle of the girl
8 from Portland, Ore. A body said
Q be that of the girl was at last PR
duced by Mrs. Hazard and cremate
8 but the relatives deny that 1t Wa
l. that of Claire Williamson.
b In the meantime. Or" Hazzar
n had succeeded in being appointe
|. guardian of Dorothea Williamson
!, The girl weighed but 60 pounds 1
J. the time and daily hot baths wei
It helping her become weaker. The a
8 rival from Australia OF Margar,
o Conway, the old family nurse, an
o Rev. Van Deerlin, pastor of Christ
d EPISCOPAL church of Los Angelo