James Arthur Ray - Sweat Lodge Deaths

Sweat Lodge Deaths

On October 8, 2009, at a New Age "Spiritual Warrior" retreat conceived and hosted by Ray at the Angel Valley Retreat Center in Yavapai County near Sedona, Arizona, two participants, James Shore and Kirby Brown, died as a result of being in a sweat lodge exercise. Eighteen others were hospitalized after suffering burns, dehydration, breathing problems, kidney failure, or elevated body temperature. Liz Neuman, another attendee, died October 17 after being comatose for a week.

The attendees, who had paid up to $10,000 to participate in the retreat, had fasted for 36 hours during a vision quest exercise before the next day's sweat lodge. During this vision quest, participants were left alone in the Arizona desert with a sleeping bag, although Ray offered them Peruvian ponchos for an additional $250. After this experience, participants ate a large buffet breakfast before entering the sweat lodge. A site owner reported she learned after the event that participants went two days without water before entering the lodge.

Following the deaths Ray refused to speak to authorities and left Arizona. According to sweat lodge participants, a note was left that said Ray was unavailable as he was in "prayer and meditation".

Investigations were commenced by the Yavapai County Sheriff department. Initial investigations concerned construction of the sweat lodge, which according to investigators was constructed by a local group under hire. Jack Judd, the county building safety manager, said that there was no record of a permit or an application for a permit to build the sweat lodge.

On October 15, 2009, the Yavapai County sheriff's office upgraded the investigations into the deaths of James Shore and Kirby Brown to a homicide investigation after talking with participants. Officials claimed the sweat lodge lacked the necessary building permits. Print media began reporting that Mr. Ray conducted a conference call with some victims, one of whom recorded the call and provided it to the AP. During this call, a self-described channeler said that they had communicated with the dead and they had said they "were having so much fun" out of their bodies that they didn't want to return. On October 27, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar asked the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the event to complement the local investigations. On October 30, a wrongful death lawsuit claiming negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and other actions on the part of Ray and the site owners was filed for the family of Liz Neuman. A similar action was filed for Sidney Spencer who was seriously injured. The suits sought compensatory and punitive damages alleging that defendants failed to provide adequate prior warnings, to monitor the participants' well being in the sweat lodge, and to provide medical treatment. On November 10, Dennis Mehravar, an injured attendee from Canada, joined the Spenser suit.

Ray was arrested in connection with the deaths on February 3, 2010, and bond was set at $5 million. Ray's attorney stated that he could not afford the $5 million. Ray was released on February 26, 2010, after bail was reduced to $250,000.

Three of the victims' lawsuits against Ray were settled before his criminal trial for a total of more than $3 million dollars.

The court case began on May 1, 2011. The prosecution rested its case on June 3, 2011, after 34 witnesses had taken the stand and 43 days of testimony. On June 22, 2011, Ray was found guilty on three counts of negligent homicide, and not guilty of the manslaughter charges brought against him. On November 18, 2011, Ray was sentenced to two years in prison.