Self-Help Guru Arrested

Motivational speaker James Arthur Ray was arrested Wednesday and now faces multiple manslaughter counts.

Ray, a Carlsbad resident was arrested Wednesday on three counts of manslaughter following the deaths of three people at a sweat lodge ceremony. He was booked into jail in Camp Verde, Ariz.
    
Ray led the Oct. 8 retreat near Sedona, Ariz. About 60 people took part in the sweat lodge ceremony that  three people died at after collapsing; 18 others were hospitalized. The event was supposed to be a religious awakening, the culmination of a $9,000-plus-a-person retreat aimed at helping people find a new vision for life. But it wasn't long before the ceremony turned into a terrifying experience.
   
Authorities allege that Ray encouraged people to stay inside the sauna-like lodge, even though many began vomiting and passing out.   

Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown, N.Y., and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee, died upon arrival at a hospital. Liz Neuman, 49, of Prior Lake, Minn., died more than a week later at a Flagstaff hospital.

No drugs, alcohol or stimulants of any kind were used in the sweat lodge or during the retreat, participant Beverley Bunn told The Associated Press.
   
Lawyers representing Ray have said the deaths were not criminal.
   
Ray's bond was set at $5 million.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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