EXCLUSIVE: Self-Help Guru James Arthur Ray's Mug Shot
Feb. 4 2010, Published 9:45 a.m. ET
RadarOnline.com has exclusively obtained the mug shot of James Arthur Ray, the disgraced author/self-help guru who was arrested on manslaughter charges Wednesday in connection with a sweat lodge ceremony that left three people dead.
Ray was leading a ceremony at the Angel Valley Retreat Center near Sedona, Arizona during a five-day retreat he was hosting last October, when participants Kirby Brown, James Shore and Liz Neuman died. Eighteen other attendees suffered burns, dehydration, respiratory arrest or kidney failure.
Self-Help Guru James Arthur Ray Arrested For Sweat Lodge Deaths
Dubbed the "Spiritual Warrior," Ray charged $9,695 for the five-day retreats. During the sessions, he led followers through 36 hour-fasting sessions, as they were crammed into a 415-square foot, sauna-like hut.
"Sheriff Waugh would like to thank the victim’s families for their patience while the Sheriff’s Office completed a thorough and comprehensive investigation," according to a statement by Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh. "With the arrest of James Ray, Sheriff Waugh hopes the families of the three victims will now have some measure of closure to this tragedy."
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Ray, the author of Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want, has appeared everywhere from The Oprah Winfrey Show to Larry King Live to the Today Show. He said he "did everything he could to help" in a December interview with New York Magazine.
"Someone came up to me and said that there were some individuals that were having problems on the back side of the lodge," Ray told the magazine. "I held people's hands, I stroked their hair, I talked to them, I held IV for the paramedics."
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Ray is being held on a $5 million bond and is awaiting transfer to the Camp Verde Detention Center.