UPDATE: First Lawsuit Filed in Sedona Sweat Lodge Debacle

The first lawsuit stemming from the sweat lodge fiasco that left three people dead and dozens injured was filed today in Coconino County Superior Court. A lawyer on behalf of the family of 48-year-old Liz Neuman, one of the three people who died in the incident, filed the suit this...

By James King

October 30, 2009

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The first lawsuit stemming from the sweat lodge fiasco that left three people dead and dozens injured was filed today in Coconino County Superior Court.

A lawyer on behalf of the family of 48-year-old Liz Neuman, one of the three people who died in the incident, filed the suit this afternoon.

The suit names "spiritual warrior" James Arthur Ray (pictured), his company James Ray International, and Michael and Amayra Hamilton, who own the land where the retreat was held, as defendants in the suit.

The suit alleges that Ray and the other defendants weren't monitoring the victim as she "became ill and demonstrated visible signs of dehydration."

The suit seeks unspecified compensatory damages to cover Neuman's hospital stay and lawyer fees, as well as punitive damages.

Ray has not been charged with criminal wrongdoing, but about a week after the incident, Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh said the investigation had been changed from an accidental death inquiry to a homicide investigation, with Ray as its focus.

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