The two deaths that occurred at a sweat lodge retreat near Sedona last week are now officially being investigated as homicides.
Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh confirmed to reporters today that the deaths were not an accident and the leader of the group, "spiritual warrior" James Arthur Ray, is the prime focus of the investigation.
Pretty sure we all saw this coming.
Yesterday, Ray held a conference call with several people who participated in last week's retreat, and the Associated Press got a transcript of the conversation.
Wait 'til you get a load of this.
In the conversation, the "self-help" specialist asked everyone to imagine they were in a prayer circle. He then had this to say: "Remember all that we've learned and experienced and knowing, by law of the universe, that out of every apparent chaos comes a greater state of order, an order that never existed prior to the chaos."
Let's hope that one of the things Ray learned from this "apparent chaos" is that putting 60 people in a small, hot, poorly ventilated sweat-tent for hours on end is a horrible idea.
"Laws of the universe" can unfortunately be trumped by laws of basic human physiology: People need oxygen to live!
