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It seemed only a matter of time, but the leader of the “spiritual warrior” sweat lodge tragedy has finally been arrested on manslaughter charges.
According to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, a warrant was delivered to the attorney of “spiritual warrior” James Arthur Ray, and Ray was arrested “a short time later.”
Ray is the snake-oil salesman who organized a self-help retreat in Sedona that left three people dead and dozens injured.
Ray is charged with three counts of manslaughter — one count for each of the three people who died during the retreat.
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Kirby Brown, James Shore, and Liz Neuman all died after sitting in a poorly ventilated sweat tent constructed by Ray and his staff as part of a self-help retreat that cost participants as much as $10,000.
Since the incident, Ray has denied responsibility for their deaths, calling what happened a “tragic accident.“
Ray, offered the victims’ families $5,000 to show how, um, sorry he was. Considering the victims paid twice that amount to follow him to their deaths, the gesture was not well received.
A statement from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office says Ray was taken to a booking station and will eventually be brought to the Camp Verde Detention Center.
His bail is set at $5 million.
