Unpacking The Eerie
Unpacking the Eerie is a passion project that merges the intersections of our dark curiosities with our deeply held values. Each episode we’ll dig past the surface of morbid fascination, scavenging for unasked questions surrounding the stories that creep the hell out of us. We hope that when you listen, you’ll experience the feels, the enjoyment, the horror and interludes of comedic relief that we do. - 2 politicized social workers based in the PNW and in India.
Visit our website at www.unpackingtheeerie.com | Follow us on instagram @unpackingtheeerie & Facebook at Facebook.com/unpackingtheeerie.
Music Credit: Creepy Mood by Oleg Fedak
Unpacking The Eerie
Pilot: Tortured Whispers & Exquisite Corpses
MAIN TOPIC: Linda Hazzard & Starvation Heights
In our pilot episode, we take inspiration from a ghost tour-pub crawl (Nightly Tours) we went on and recap one of our favorite “haunted” sites in Seattle: Kell’s Pub. Formerly home to a corrupt mortuary, you’ll hear about the ghosts as well as some history about the one-stop-shop Butterworth & Sons funeral home active in the early 1900s. We’ll also take a deep dive into the life of quack, fraud, swindler, alternative medicine practitioner, confidence trickster, and serial murderer, “Dr.” Linda Hazzard. Hang out with us as we unpack the eerie, and learn about how all of these stories connect.
Content warning: extreme restrictive eating and starvation, abuse and murder
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Hazzard
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Ray_Butterworth
- http://www.the13thfloor.tv/2016/12/22/the-bizarre-and-gruesome-saga-of-linda-hazzard-the-starvation-doctor/
- https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2012/03/butterworth-mortuarys-exquisite-corpses-april-2012
- smithsonianmag.com/history/doctor-who-starved-her-patients-death-180953158/
- https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/washington/starvation-heights-wa/
- https://www.hauntedplaces.org/item/starvation-heights/
- https://www.wahauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/starvation-heights.html
- https://seattle.curbed.com/2018/10/31/18048486/pike-place-butterworth-haunted-history
- https://kellsirish.com/seattle/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ0PRi3mWCU&feature=youtu.be
- https://livingdeadgirlreview.wordpress.com/tag/kells-irish-pub/
- https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/white-supremacy-culture-characteristics.html
- Female Criminals Podc
Theme Song Title: Creepy Mood | Artist Name: SoulProdMusic
Thank you for listening to our passion project <3 You can find us on social media here! We're a team of 2 people & have always been ad-free. If you are enjoying, please consider supporting our sustainability on Patreon or through Buzzsprout.
- your grateful hosts
P.S. We're in the process of updating our intro and making edits to our episodes. You may notice inconsistencies as we do that!
Wow, okay. Sounds like a fart. [laughs]
Akshi :Hello, I'm Akshi.
Shaena :And I'm Shaena and you're listening to UnpackingThe Eerie. Over the course of our friendship we quickly learned that we had very specific overlapping interests in true crime, the occult
Akshi :conspiracy theories and other unknowns and also
Shaena :intergenerational and historical trauma,
Akshi :social racial, gender and economic justice
Shaena :attachment in the human condition,
Akshi :psychology, humor,
Shaena :and obviously lots of podcasts. After many conversations, we thought the intersections of all of these things would be prime content for a podcast we've always wanted but have never found. This is that podcast
Akshi :Stay tuned for Unpacking The Eerie
Shaena :Before we get started, we want to offer a content warning that In this episode we're going to be talking about extreme restrictive eating and starvation. We'll also be talking about abuse and murder.
Akshi :For anyone who is listening to this not in 2020 We're currently experiencing a global pandemic. And I guess we decided that this is a great time to start our podcast because we have some very specific overlapping interests, which we figured out one day in class.
Shaena :Yes.
Akshi :Yeah, I wanted to go on a ghost tour, because I had just moved to Seattle. And so I kind of threw it out to the class. I said, I want to go on a ghost tour, but I don't want to go by myself. So if anyone wants to go on one with me, let me know. And, Shaena responded.
Shaena :I did, I came up talk she after class and was like, I absolutely want to go on all the ghost tours. And just friendship took off from there.
Akshi :We realized that like we listen to podcasts that are about these topics and consume media that are about these topics. But very few of them really cover these subjects from a social justice perspective, and like there's a lot missing. And so we thought, why don't we start that? So that's what this is.
Shaena :That's what this is. We also have a background in psychology. So
Akshi :yeah, I actually feel like the reason I majored in psychology may be had to do with my kind of morbid interests because I used to watch a lot of documentaries when I was in high school that were about serial killers. And I've been into creepy things since
Unknown Speaker :I was a little kid. Me too. I can't remember a time where I was not into creepy things you neither.
Akshi :Me neither. So
Shaena :we're here to fill that gap. You're welcome.
Akshi :So what's today's episode about
Shaena :so today's episode is about multiple things. But it's inspired by the ghost tour that we went on. We went on a haunted pub crawl. And we we went to a pub called Kells pub and learned about the many ghosts there and the history attached to it. And it inspired us to kick this off with that story. Yeah, actually start with the ghosts.
Akshi :So Kells apparently is one of the most haunted bars in America, but I think a lot of bars claim to be like the most haunted bar in America. And Kells is one of those bars. It opened in 1983 and was founded by the Mk aleast. mk Elise family. They're Irish, I may not be pronouncing that correctly. But on their website it says that the bar brings traditions and cultures of the Glens of Antrim to Seattle. And it was created by their family. It's located in Pike Place Market. But the reason why there's a lot of ghosts there and that it's supposedly very haunted, was because it was a mortuary for 20 years in the early 19 hundred's and Shana is going to tell us a little bit more about that later. But here are some of the ghosts that are commonly cited at Kells. So the most commonly cited ghost is classic little girl ghost, an eight year old girl who is either redheaded or blonde. She shows up when traditional Irish music is being played in the main room. And apparently she wears a red dress and carries around a teddy bear and hangs out in the stairway in the back. I did see some things some instances that said that she doesn't have legs, but I only saw it on a couple places like that. Apparently a security worker at one point saw her feet on the stairwell. So another ghost less commonly cited. His name is Sammy. I don't know how they know his name, but we actually heard about this on our tour. It's the man who shows up in the mirror on the back wall. fav
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, the one who likes music.
Akshi :Yeah, all about it. Um, people say that when you look in the mirror, you'll see a man and his face will be staring right at you. But if you look behind you to check if he's there he vanishes. But if you turn back the mirror, he'll be there and he'll be like smirking. Just the gross forever. So apparently, the bar is more active and November and they suspect that this is because that Spanish influenza was going wild. In November of 1918. Another another pandemic or epidemic? I'm not sure. But Fun fact, did you know that it was required to wear a surgical mask in 1918 because of the Spanish influence A very time people used to wear masks everywhere, which is very interesting as that's over 100 years ago and there's still people today who don't want to wear masks. Yeah. So so it kind of smaller hauntings candles light on their own in the small whiskey bar that's the back corner. Hmm. Glasses move and break on their own people have seen silverware levitating. People have heard disembodied voices of women.
Unknown Speaker :What does that mean? I
Akshi :guess they like it means you hear a voice and there's no body to go with it. Oh,
Shaena :why do they have to say like that?
Akshi :I always hear does somebody have used as a term when I? When I'm listening to things about ghosts or watching things about ghosts, they're always like disembodied voice
Shaena :like Vince just say it. There's nobody there. There's voices. They don't know where they're coming from.
Akshi :They want to make it sound fancy, I guess. So like very professional, disembodied voices of women. Wow. They see dirty handprints on windows that were just cleaned. One time, I think I saw a picture of this on or maybe it was a reenactment. I'm not sure but a mirror on the on the wall fell down. And what was weird was like, it was like completely cracked, but there was no glass or anything like around it. It was just like it just like fell, and like didn't make a mess around it at all. Does that make sense? So like just the mirror was cracked and glass didn't fly anywhere. So I guess that's questionable. Maybe it could have been a ghost. The stairway in the back where the little girl is free frequently sighted people have seen other spirits there and sometimes they show up in photos as orbs. The one of the people who owns the bar said that there's motion cameras that often get triggered when there's nothing there. So it's kind of weird. Um, there's actually a picture that someone took what so when they were renovating the building, a work man demolished that was working on demolishing the upper floor took pictures to show progress. And in one of these pictures, they captured a person's face that was very pale and had gaping eyes, but the creepiest part about it was that the man's mouth was sewn shut with the red. I don't like that at all. And I guess they their guess is that that's what they used to do to corpses. Like I guess they used So their mouth shut. I actually have a picture of it. It's really blurry and you can't really see it that well. But
Unknown Speaker :yeah, no cute. not cute. It's not cute
Akshi :when the renovation was going on they also stayed overnight a couple of times and they said that they heard footsteps when no one else should have been in the building a metal door opened on its own at 3am the devil's hour and then one person and one person well while they were changing a light bulbs that he saw up a procession of people walking underneath the ladder that he was standing on. Okay. Okay, no. Um, so because of all of this, they actually had the building blessed as a priest because most of this happened while they were renovating the pub In 2005, Karen McCauley, who is the sister of the bars owner said she saw ghost in the pubs kitchen. She said quote, he was a tall man who looks like he was part black with a suit jacket on. He had very thin hands. He walked to the end of the bar and just kind of faded. So I guess she saw a full bodied apparition.
Shaena :full bodied apparition.
Akshi :Yep. Okay. And her mom actually apparently said that she was pushed down the stairs by a spirit and it scared her a lot so she put holy water behind the bar so I guess they keep holy water behind the bar at couse no stone stay still to this day. Oh, apparently also, so you know how Kells is like on the ground floor. There's been businesses on the upper floors of the building to which were also part of the mortuary And I couldn't find a lot of information to back this up. But one one of the sources that I looked at said that a lot of businesses that have existed on the top floor of Kells have been failed businesses, so they suspect that it could be cursed. And so I watched the Ghost Adventures episode from the travel channel where they visit the pub. And honestly, the episode was really hard to find and it was really glitchy. So I really had to push myself to sit through it, but at one point, they take a picture and then they're like this, there's a disfigured child sitting on the steps, but I couldn't see anything so I was skeptical even though I do believe in ghosts, but they apparently also reported footsteps and tortured whispers
Unknown Speaker :Oh, what does that sound like?
Unknown Speaker :These words?
Akshi :Okay, I can I can I can I can tell you so basically you're gonna tell us why Why this mortuary is corrupt but Zack Baggins who's like the person who is the host of Ghost Adventures said that the reason that he thinks Kells is so haunted is not just because it was a mortuary, but because it was a corrupt mortuary. And they were trying to get like, Electronic Voice phenomenon. You know what those are. So we're trying to get those on their devices and they heard a couple. I don't know how much I trust them. But one of them said, Get me out of here. It was like very muffled but that's what they thought it said. Someone. They also heard footsteps of someone walking around with heavy boots downstairs, and it was completely sealed and there was no one there. One of the camera people got chills while they were sitting on the fourth floor. And at 1.1 of the cameraman saw a male ghost And they were like, Oh, that's actually a crew member, but then they realized that the crew member was somewhere else completely and there's no way that he could have been there. But they didn't show that on camera. So, you know, they didn't really get that much footage that I can really believe in, but some stuff happened while they were there, but yeah, that's kind of all the ghosts, ghostly stuff at Kells, we didn't have any ghostly experiences there. It was very crowded when we were there. Yeah.
Shaena :But I did enjoy the stories. I really wanted to see the bowler man, or the polar man like I with the bowler hat in the mirror in the mirror. Yeah,
Akshi :yeah.
Shaena :Okay, so I don't have a ton of information on the Butterworth mortuary. I got a little bit of it because I focus most of my energies on a serial killer, which I'll get to in a sec.
Unknown Speaker :Um,
Shaena :but basically, I'm just going to read this straight from Seattle Met, they have a feature called exquisite corpses, which
Akshi :Wow, I like the title.
Unknown Speaker :But basically
Shaena :they said that the the mortuary was super corrupt as actually mentioned. And that Butterworth & Sons the there were brothers right to? Uh huh. Yeah, the two brothers were accused of collecting corpses for cash.
Akshi :Well, the dumb thing was that literally the city of Seattle was like upset that there were corpses on the streets and so they told people that they would give them $50 right if they brought their corpses to Butterworth & Sons. Right.
Shaena :So, basically, this article says that, in the early 1900s undertakers raced each other to stockpile dead bodies for the The city would pay $50 a head,
Akshi :which is a lot of money. Now,
Shaena :it is a lot of money now I was listening to Well, I don't even know where I heard this anymore because I did so much podcast listening and reading for this. But like $1 25 is like $35 or something like that. Oh my god,
Akshi :so $50
Shaena :a lot of money to collect that body. Yeah,
Akshi :I did read somewhere that $25 was like a year's salary. For some people. Yeah, it was. So $50 definitely a lot of money. How does a lot
Shaena :but yeah, the implication was that the butterworths were among the horse racers. So
Akshi :the horse race they called them hearse racers. What a what a title.
Shaena :So they got paid lots of money to collect dead bodies and then they would be the people to provide The services just to go over what they provided they were kind of like an all in one funeral place they were just like they had it all going on there. We did it all
Akshi :they did it all package deal.
Shaena :This article was like they might have defined funeral service as we know it today with
Akshi :Wow, what's pretty
Shaena :concerning, but also telling considering the death industry is among the most like lucrative industries in the United States right next to weddings. Talk about capitalism being locked up. Yep.
Akshi :Um, I mean, just this whole thing in general of like, how it even became corrupt is a product of capitalism, right?
Shaena :True, true.
Unknown Speaker :Um, but uh,
Shaena :so the this is the first time in history, or at least documented in history, that services and rituals of death were combined in a kind of one stop shop for people who were grieving over the their loved ones who died. They would get this itemized Butterworth and sons bill that would detail the firm's typical funeral package, which would include removal of body from residents to mortuary bathing, embalming, dressing and all care of body, directing funeral at the chapel and cemetery with assistance in arranging arranging all the details, notices and the Daily Press procuring doctor certificate and burial permit. Gray cloth covered casket crushed silk interior fully trumped
Akshi :Oh my god. So fan so fancy.
Shaena :Wow. Um, I wonder if there was like ever a discounted one where they didn't do all that or it was just like you take it or leave.
Akshi :I feel like there must have been discounted ones to who's like who Can't afford all this stuff, especially if you know you're murdering people in order to get money and you don't want to have to spend all your money. I mean,
Shaena :I imagine that they would just not
Akshi :have the whole the whole thing
Shaena :or just not given this. Yeah. They would do a hearse service and to limousines, they would cut roses for interior of casket, they would they would be they would put the bodies in awards, air sealed vault, and they would also pay for an organist, all these, that's what the typical package deal would look like. So I imagine that just having a funeral service at all was something that was reserved for people who are well off, because I remember reading that the mortuary ended up like collecting bodies that like didn't like no one would claim and they were just like this place that is now a pub in that same building. There was just an entire floor stacked to the top with That people didn't know what to do with.
Akshi :Yeah. And then they also did cremations there. Right? They did do that,
Shaena :I believe.
Akshi :Yeah. They did have a cream crematorium, as part of the building. And apparently, like they would cremate bodies to get rid of evidence of foul play. Mm hmm. shady, so they were very driven
Shaena :by money. I think like their shining star service was their embalming practice.
Akshi :shining stars.
Shaena :That's what that's how they're making it sound in this article. They drain the bodies of natural fluids and pump them with formaldehyde and they charge the families $100 a pop just for the privilege of an open casket funeral and so
Akshi :on. dollar
Shaena :Yeah. $100 Oh my God, because This is the first time people saw that, like, dead people didn't look dead after this process. And they said that they were exquisitely preserved. Which is where the title of this article comes from exquisite
Akshi :corpses.
Shaena :Sounds like a good band name.
Akshi :That's true. So capitalize on that. Yeah, someone started a band, call it Exquisite Corpses.
Shaena :Now I want to hear about it. So, aside from that, they were also pals with this lady named Linda Hazzard, who I'm going to talk for a long time about because she's a wild ass lady. So, quick overview. Linda hazard was known as the starvation doctor. I don't know why they keep calling her doctor everywhere, but they do. She was a practicing quote unquote fasting specialist in the late 80s. 1800s and early 19 hundred's she convinced anywhere between 15 and 40. That's a really broad number. But I all these different sources said different things. It sounds like they were able to confirm 15 cases to her, but some sources said letter died of people who died from her. But some places were like it could be up to the hundreds we'll never know. So she convinced all these people that her special fasting methods would cure them of their ailments causing them to starve to death.
Akshi :That's not funny. I don't know why I'm, it's uncomfortable law. It's true.
Shaena :I'm full of uncomfortable laughter. So that's just going to be the centerpiece of my contribution.
Akshi :Okay, there's nothing else to do except uncomfortably law.
Shaena :Yeah, I laugh or cry. Yep. My friend says laugh or cry. Sometimes both, um, she also brutally beat her patients and in the process got them to hand over their valuables and
Akshi :sign off all their wealth.
Shaena :So she was also very money motivated. She had no medical degree but was licensed to practice in Washington state through a loophole that grandfathered in some practitioners of alternative medicine without degrees which she
Akshi :so I don't even understand that like, it is so hard to get a licensed Yeah, so practice medicine. I
Shaena :I looked this up. Apparently medical licensure requirements were really unclear and consistent during this time, and the only real requirement to enter and graduate med school was that you're able to pay for it. Oh my god. So she did go to nursing school. I was unclear if she finished or not. Either way, she did not go to like actual medical school, but even if she had the What got someone in and what like what it was like?
Akshi :Didn't mean much didn't mean anything.
Shaena :So I'm sure they were just like, well, it's alternative. There's no regulations on that. Some do
Akshi :yeah.
Shaena :Free Market, so she had no medical degree. According to her book, the science of fasting. She studied under Edward hooker dewy, MD, a champion of fasting. She became obsessed with this dude who believed that fasting was a curative treatment. He also said that overeating is the root of all disease. So this woman believed that you could like fast out all of your ailments that you would like. Get rid of all your dirty blood. And she's quoted saying appetite is craving hunger is desire. craving is never satisfied, but desire is relieved when want is supplied. You may be asking yourself, what the fuck does that mean? That is exactly what
Akshi :I'm asking myself. Like 50 bucks, or like Original Sin stuff, you know?
Unknown Speaker :Yeah, it does.
Shaena :This makes absolutely no sense. She was troublesome. Um, so I read about a bunch of her stuff and I asked myself, why is she like this? Did something happened to her and so I found some info or question that
Akshi :we ask. Yeah, why is this person this way? Yeah. Why are they like this?
Shaena :Oh, yeah, I mean, it's not an excuse. She was pretty horrid, but it gives me some context. I'm like, Oh, I'm seeing how this is playing out.
Akshi :Yeah, it's not an excuse more just like a information on why This had to occur or occurred.
Shaena :Yeah. So, uh, she was born Linda Laura berfield in Carver, Minnesota, she was one of eight children born Tim Montgomery and Susanna Neal burfield in 1867. So their home was a vegetarian household. That was her you know, they apparently it was not too uncommon during the time, especially for like people who are like well to do it's like, was like an alternative diet. They were trying to live a healthier lifestyle and I was like, Okay, I can stand behind that doesn't this doesn't explain anything. Her dad thought that her children needed to see a physician sick or not. And thought that modern medicine could also prevent and not just treat illness and I was like, can stand behind that
Akshi :too.
Shaena :where's this going?
Akshi :It takes us right? It's like going Oh, no,
Shaena :because the family physician who Montgomery put a lot of trust into No, I'm told the family that their children were suffering from intestinal parasites and prescribe them blue mass pills that included licorice glite glyceryl, Rose honey and a lot of mercury. Okay guys, the mercury.
Akshi :Um, and people at the time think that mercury was Yes,
Shaena :it was really common to also like give them Calla Mel which is basically just mercury. It induce severe vomiting and diarrhea. Needless to say, Linda's teeth fell out she was chronically fatigued and thin. She later learned that her symptoms were from mercury and not parasites, like the doctor told her that they were and years later she wrote that she knows that the treatment did irreparable damage to her intestines and for the rest of her adult life. She has to use an enema daily.
Akshi :Oh, crap,
Shaena :put a pin in that,
Akshi :because that I'm putting a pin in that. Yeah.
Shaena :I mean, it was also really unclear. Well, the internet said it was unclear but quite frankly, I don't trust the internet because this whole time I'm reading about this woman, and they keep calling her a quack a fraud, a swindler, and alternative medicine practitioner a confidence trickster. I was like you're getting real creative with the words here.
Akshi :But confidence trickster. Yeah, I'm
Shaena :one of the only female doctors of the time which is a very white feminist thing to say,
Akshi :also wasn't a doctor wasn't
Shaena :a doctor. They keep referring to her this way. Never like very rarely is she referred to as a serial killer or mass murderer even though that's what she was. And I'm just thinking about how, like our vision of white womanhood has shaped the way that we even like talk about this person who did these horrific things. to people, like this language just like softens our image and minimizes like how dangerous she was, and probably also has a lot to do with why she was able to do it for so long. I just
Akshi :I think people got away with it.
Shaena :Yeah, people were like, Whoa, just like some some socialite was
Akshi :a nice She's a nice lady. She's trying to help people. Yeah,
Shaena :she's nice to me. She's a little weird, but you know, she's her ideas are a little wacky.
Akshi :Well, yeah, they're sure wacky some people have gone missing. You know, but um, but you know, and we all got her things. Is there secrets?
Shaena :Yeah, we all got our quirks. Um Okay, so she's she's an adult. She's like, I use an enema daily. This fucked up my stomach. So she's acknowledges this. It's in writing. That she acknowledges that this practice is what fucked up her body and it wasn't the parasites. She then gets married to her when her father dies. So it's a hard time for her. It seems to trigger something for her, I think. And three years later, she has two children, a son and a daughter. Those who knew the family this woman's name was Helen said that Linda was strangely cold to her only daughter, um, and like, really, really adored her son class. My
Akshi :God. Why? Uh huh. qlogic Classic. Yeah. And I just
Shaena :I kind of kept wondering like, what else happened to her childhood? Why you have all this internalized misogyny? Like she really hated her daughter. Like hurt the neighbor noticed.
Akshi :You know, you you hate your daughter so much that your neighbor noticed. Yeah, that's Yeah,
Shaena :yeah, it's documented because the neighbor said something and it's just something that we know now. Yeah, it wasn't even just kept quiet or it wasn't shared directly from the daughter.
Akshi :Yeah. Um, but
Shaena :yeah, she really spoiled and coddled the sun And the same neighbor I actually don't know if this was a neighbor or family friend missed that part. But her name was Helen.
Akshi :Helen said what it was that the sun was worthless. She was like
Shaena :she was like, she was like I don't get it. Why is she so mean to her daughter and why she's so nice. They're
Akshi :so really just like classic like, script of moms really obsessing over their male children who are honestly just trash probably cuz they're obsessed over so much and not allowed to, like grow and become like, people. Yeah, independent people. For what what reason? Are they so cruel?
Shaena :I don't know. their daughters. I just feel like you know what, I bet you Linda had some internalized shit. She had some I mean, she sounded pretty tortured her childhood sounded like it Yeah. Great. Bye. Severe vomiting, diarrhea and like intestinal, it sounds awful.
Akshi :Yes, that sounds really awful. That would definitely fuck with your body and your brain just, it does mercury has a psychological effect. And so,
Shaena :again, not an excuse, but could be a contributing factor. So I'm just wondering, I feel like when we talk about abuse when we're going into abuse, but I feel like when we talk about intergenerational trauma, we don't ever talk about how, you know, when you're unhealed. And you look at your child and you see yourself inside your child and you don't love yourself, you're going to like fuck with that child. Because you can't, you can't like integrate any of that. And like if you're unworthy of care, or you didn't get care as a kid and you didn't heal that shit, you're gonna take it on your kid because you see yourself in it freaks you out.
Akshi :True.
Shaena :So I really do think that this was happening. I have no proof of this. I'm just psychoanalyzing
Akshi :analysis and I think it's an accurate analysis for a lot of people, not just Linda but yeah, specifically for Linda. I think it's a good analysis as well. All right.
Shaena :Yeah. She does replicate a ton of her shit moving forward. I'm excited to hear about it. Yeah. Um, yeah, so weird, weird part 19 1898. Or when disappears. Her husband just disappeared. Why? Yeah. She says that he abandoned them. And she was just distraught. So she fired divorced. She fired she filed divorce papers four years later.
Akshi :Why is she wait so long?
Shaena :I don't know. I was like, Did she Carole Baskin Irwin? I don't know. I'm unsure.
Akshi :Yeah, but given her track
Shaena :track record, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm Irwin disappears. Linda filed for divorce. And then Linda starts fasting herself.
Akshi :Wait was this before after before
Shaena :before? It was pre as soon as like in early 20 Okay, okay or mid 20s
Akshi :mid 20s I guess it's the 19 hundred's
Shaena :she got married at 21 okay like had kids shortly after so I think she was in her like mid 20s Okay,
Akshi :late mid to late 20s
Shaena :yeah Could you imagine just like being like having some fucked up shit and then like deciding you want to
Akshi :having kids wow what a mess not doing that everybody. PSA. Children are not going to solve your life problems. No, you cannot
Unknown Speaker :fill your voids with
Akshi :children cannot fill your voids with children. You cannot. You cannot fill your voids with romantic relationships either. Let's just be real.
Shaena :Yeah, that's real and you can't redo and undo your childhood by having kids because clearly what the fuck no. That all being said she did live during the time where like birth control was not a thing, abortion was not a thing. Probably sex education was not a thing.
Akshi :Yeah. And I'm sure there was pressure to get married and have children. That's probably
Shaena :a really normal thing at the time. Yeah. For her age group. Especially as like someone who comes from like a. I don't know, something sounds like she came from a pretty cookie cutter. White. Well, to do well to do family. At least middle class.
Akshi :Yeah. So I'm sure that was expected. From her. Yeah.
Shaena :So that happened. So that's when she goes to nursing school. And she starts her own practice in 1902, in Minneapolis, and she puts out ads talking about the power of fasting and claims it to cure disease and people were all about it. She gets tons of inquiries. They're like, Wow, I've never heard of this. Nothing is working for me. I'm like, give it a go. So we're gonna go into the first patient. The podcast, listen to female criminals said that This person's name with Gertrude so just want to call her groceries. Okay?
Akshi :Okay, so you're about Gertrude
Shaena :Gertrude was partially paralyzed and desperate for a solution after traditional doctors couldn't help her. Linda offered to treat her in her apartment in gertrudes apartment. And Gertrude becomes horribly jaundiced and vomits a lot because this is 40 days after Linda imposed this fast
Akshi :on her.
Shaena :The Fast typically was it started off pretty small and then it got more severe as days go on. It was sometimes a mix of like boiled tomatoes or boiled asparagus and sometimes people would be given orange juice. Yum yum. Gourmet
Akshi :gourmet.
Shaena :So, Linda impose a 40 day fast Gertrude was committed to it even though her primary doctor doctor Williams told her that she needed to eat on day 39. Gertrude died. She was 105 pounds. Linda claimed that she died of chronic paralysis, which was the what is chronic paralysis? That's a good question. Gertrude was partially paralyzed. And so she wanted a cure for her paralysis. She said it really was like intruding in her life. She had a nurse and she just couldn't do anything independently. And I imagine that during that time, it was a lot harder to be functionally paralyzed. And so I don't I don't know if chronic paralysis is an actual term, but it's the term that Linda used to describe why her patient died. Right.
Akshi :And also, she was saying that she probably died from the ailment that she had prior to her doing the fasting. That's exactly what she
Shaena :said about all of the death. Wow. Basically if people survived and she was like I cured them and if people died, she'd say that they couldn't they succumb to their ailments. Um, and but Dr. Williams, the gertrudes primary doctor was like, absolutely not. He insisted that he performed the autopsy because Linda was like, I'll do the autopsy. He was like, No, I'm going to do the autopsy because he was also the county coroner. And he found that Gertrude died of starvation. Investigators also found that Gertrude was missing expensive items from her home Linda was like she gave it away to her nurse but no one was able to track down the unnamed nurse down Oh, go figure. And Williams was like I'm taking you to court. But Linda gets off analyzes cuz she lives a bunch. Like Linda goes to court and like gives people the most detailed lies about what happened and how things happen. And, and that's exactly what liars do.
Akshi :Yeah, that's like I just knew what the fuck she was doing. Yeah. Because she's stealing stuff from people. This nurse disappearing. It's very questionable to me like what actually happened to this person like did did she die? Was? I don't know. I don't know. I really don't know. I'm not sure very questionable
Shaena :just she just said a nurse that she she loved. She gave away her belongings to them. So Dr. Williams knew and she just still got away with it probably because we were like, Who? how harmful could this little woman be? You know? Yeah, she was just trying to help. Yeah, right. Um, so after that she moves away to Washington with her new husband. And then she writes, fasting is the cure of disease. This is when she really starts working or shut up. I'm gonna super go into This story with the sisters. So buckle
