Little Sweat Lodge of Horrors

According to accounts of family members, Kirby Brown, James Shore and Liz Neuman were blocked inside the Sedona Sweat Lodge by James Ray himself who prevented anyone from leaving. They say these actions amount to murder. In addition, the record keeping was so poor by James Ray’s organization that Liz Neuman had to be admitted to the hospital as a Jane Doe.

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From CBS here:

McFeeley said, “We’ve talked to many people in the lodge. And what we found out is that it was a very confusing scene because people were passing out and coming to. There were a lot of people who wanted to leave the tent, wanted to leave the lodge, but when people could leave was controlled by James Ray.”

Ray, McFeeley said, was at the door.

“You could you only leave after each session, this was about 15 minutes, and he controlled when the session was over and how long that door stayed open, so we believe there were very dangerous decisions made by him about when people were allowed to exit, re-enter to help other people out,” McFeeley said.

McFeeley said he believes three people who died in the sweat lodge were “definitely murdered. There’s no question they were murdered,” he said. “We think it’s lucky that 52 other people survived. What they did to them through sleep deprivation and a 36 hour fast, and they came off the fast with a breakfast buffet like it was the Holiday Inn. This is not the way do you these physical things.”

And from the Prescott News here:

A relative, speaking on behalf of the victim’s family, said, “Our family is very disappointed by the way the situation with Liz was handled by James Ray International. Neither Mr. Ray nor anyone from his organization contacted our family after the tragic incidents of October 8. We only learned of the occurrence through family in Arizona and through media coverage.”

“Liz spent several years of her life as a faithful follower of the teachings of James Arthur Ray. She put her faith and her trust in this man. To not hear anything from him or his company for over a week is inexcusable, We expected more in return from this relationship than silence and insensitivity .”

The family was eventually able to locate Ms. Neuman over 24 hours after she was admitted to Flagstaff Medical Center. She had been admitted as a “Jane Doe,” no one was available to make an identification of the patient upon admission to the hospital.

All of these victims had paid James Ray a fortune. Each. And when they were dead, James Ray was stunned at the sudden loss of recurring income. The money paid to Ray was not as an investment in a business, to which a shareholder has voting rights in a company. It was paid to a goofy New Age cult leader. Sadly, for the family to expect care and sensitivity from James Ray- even the simplest help to ID a dying woman in a hospital- is too much to hope for from someone who sells empty promises at outrageous prices. James Ray saw the dead bodies and lawyered up.