James Arthur Ray, self-help guru, guilty in deaths of Liz Neuman and two others

James Arthur Ray's self-help business empire has crumbled.

​James Arthur Ray, the self-help guru who once charged clients thousands of dollars to sit in a pseudo-Indian sweat lodge so they could be "spiritual warriors," has been found guilty of negligent homicide.

He presided over a sort of spiritual cleansing that turned into a searing nightmare outside of Sedona, Arizona, in 2009. Prior Lake mom Liz Neuman was one of three people who died in the debacle.

She was hauled out of the overheated lodge unconscious, and died later in a Flagstaff hospital. Kirby Brown, of New York, and James Shore, of Milwaukee, died inside the hellish tent.

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Three people died from a "spiritual warrior" ceremony in this sweat lodge.

​Witnesses at the time described a bizarre scene in which Ray told his clients that they might feel like they were going to die, and then sat in a shaded chair outside the lodge as two of them did.

Ray has denied those accusations; his legal team says the deaths were nothing more than a tragic accident, and he still offers self-help advice online via social media.

An Arizona jury saw him differently, though, convicting Ray on three counts of negligent homicide after a four-month trial. A sentencing date has yet to be set.

Previously:

• Ray accused of sitting in shade as sweat lodge client clients died
• Ray charged in sweat lodge deaths of Prior Lake woman, two others
• Liz Neuman died of multisystem organ failure

Video from the scene: