Insurance providers for James Arthur Ray, the self-help author convicted of negligent homicide in the deaths of three people during a sweat-lodge ceremony in Arizona, have agreed to pay the victims’ families more than $3 million.
Other lawsuits are pending against the imprisoned guru.
Self-help author James Arthur Ray, convicted of negligent homicide, has been sentenced to three, two-year prison sentences to run concurrently and ordered to pay restitution of more than $57,000.
Three people succumbed to extreme heat of an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony led by Ray in 2009.
A self-help author convicted of negligent homicide expressed extreme remorse for the deaths of three people following an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony he led and vowed never to conduct another one, a probation officer wrote in a presentence report obtained by The Associated Press.
James Arthur Ray said he’s hopeful a Yavapai County judge sentences him to probation, while prosecutors say he deserves the maximum nine-year sentence for senselessly robbing three families of their loved ones.
A jury has found self-help gury James Arthur Ray guilty of negligent homicide on Wednesday in the deaths of three of his followers during a botched sweat lodge ceremony near Sedona in October 2009.
By finding Ray guilty of negligent homicide, the jury in effect decided that while Ray’s conduct caused the deaths, he wasn’t aware of or didn’t recognize the risk of death caused by his conduct – in this case, the manner in which he ran the sweat lodge.
Jurors in the manslaughter trial of James Arthur Ray have heard the complete briefing the self-help author gave to dozens of people before they entered a northern Arizona sweat lodge ceremony he conducted.
In the recording, Ray told participant, who paid up to $10,000 each to attend the event, that as “true spiritual warriors” and their “altered state” they would endure heat so intense it would make it feel like their skins was coming off of their bodies.
The trial of self-help guru James Arthur Ray, who is charged in the death of three people at a sweat lodge in Arizona, resumes Tuesday.
Opening arguments in the manslaughter trial of the self-help guru James Arthur Ray begin today.
Ray is charged with three counts of manslaughter stemming from a sweat-lodge ceremony in 2009. More than a dozen other people had to be treated for various heat-related illnesses.
Lawyers for James Arthur Ray, the man who led a fatal sweat-lodge ceremony near Sedona, are trying to keep a couple of the prosecution’s proposed expert witnesses from testifying in his upcoming trial.
James Arthur Ray, 52, is currently awaiting trial on three counts of manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile Ray, a junior college dropout with a background in telemarketing, continues to peddle his beliefs — for a price — on his website.
Self-help guru James Arthur Ray — charged with manslaughter in Arizona for the sweat lodge deaths of three people — has now taken his motivational messages to the Internet.
His online activity has sparked a backlash from former followers and their families.