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Two of “spiritual warrior” James Arthur Ray’s employees were granted immunity for their role in the October sweat-lodge ceremony that left three people dead and dozens injured.
Megan and Josh Fredrickson had worked for Ray’s company, James Ray International, since 2005 and participated in the October ceremony as part of Ray’s spiritual “dream team.”
The Fredricksons were interviewed by authorities in Yavapai County back in January on the condition that nothing they said could be used against them in a criminal trial, court documents released Friday show.
According to the documents, the pair never thought they had any reason to be alarmed when people started passing out and throwing up in the sweat tent because Ray had told them that sort of response was to be expected.
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The Fredricksons claim that members of Ray’s staff had handed out water bottles to participants but aside from that, nobody on the staff had any formal training on how to treat heat stroke or other types of heat-related injuries.
In the documents, Megan Fredrickson says her only experience with sweat-lodge ceremonies had been ones she had conducted with Ray. That’s turning out bo be like having your only experiences with Kool-Aid be with Jim Jones.
“James is my boss so I listened to what he says, and I listened to what he told participants,” she tells investigators, according to the documents.
In the words of mothers everywhere: If James Ray told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?
Ray was arrested last week on three charges of manslaughter — one for each participant who died. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday and remains in jail on $5 million bail.
