Gleaned this latest info from Salty Droid's site, saltydroid. info
the Angel Valley site owners speaking out in rebuttal to DeathRays self-exculpatory PR piece:

Angel Valley interview

Angel Valley interview 2

Angel Valley Video interview


Also of possible interest to anyone following this story is that San Diego law enforcement are now in contact with Arizona law enforcement (after being alerted via the Droid and his commenters) with a view to taking a second look at the death of Colleen, still listed by them as a suicide. It appears that they didn't question any of the JAR staff or participants with any degree of rigour at the time and may now reopen this closed case.

Hi Stoic. I certainly hope they do reopen Colleen's untimely death at the James Arthur Ray Seminar in San Diego that happened only a few months before the Sweat Lodge deaths...

Clarification to Stoic's comment -

I left a comment at Salty Droid's site about a message I received from from the San Diego Police Dept. They didn't say anything to indicate they may reopen Colleen Conaway's case, and said simply "at the moment it is classified as suicide". They do seem to know the facts.

From the wording it seems completely clear that they did not interview any of Ray's staff.

I am hoping that a bit of public pressure might influence them to tackle reopening the investigation. If any of the commenters here feel like they might want to do something to get this case re-examined, now would be a good time...!

Thanks for the clarification, Yakaru. On re-reading I probably put too much hope and optimism into this! A few more gentle reminders from concerned citizens would not go amiss.

Returning to these threads, after some days away, I am once again disturbed by the obvious lack of action against this person and his cohorts. Four of my favorite threads on this forum have shown more than just a little reason to investigate these people and their organizations for genuine criminal activity. With no other explanation, I could easily come to the conclusion that New Wage, Self-Help, LGAT-running hucksters have buddies in high places.

Everything I've been reading lately, about JAR, seems to be answered by the authorities, whose job it is to 'serve and protect', with a feeble "We're looking into it."

What gives?

qd

p.s. to paraphrase a not-so-old saying: Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean this ain't a scary situation.

I think law enforcement are looking into it, and probably finding it tricky to put together a watertight case. Manipulation and undue influence is notoriously difficult to prove to legal standards. If you feel like giving the nice policemen some encouragement to keep probing to the bottom of this mess, Yakaru posted some addresses elsewhere that could be useful.

Yakaru/saltydroid


"Yakaru said:
I don’t know how practical this suggestion is – someone with legal knowledge might correct me – but anyone wanting to do something positive might want to write to the San Diego police and ask them to re-open Colleen Conaway’s case.

San Diego Police Department
Headquarters
1401 Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101-5729

or

citizensreviewboard@sandiego.gov

They say they would only do that if new evidence appeared. Well –
Emerging pattern of systematic abuse
Psychological abuse of participants in seminars
Activities specifically designed to induce “altered states”
No screening of participant health
Inadequate monitoring
No safety procedures
Withholding and falsifying information
Possible fraud

….just to name a few.

A polite inquiry into the current situation might make them realise they may face more questions in the near future."


Yakaru has also posted a blog showing the letter written to Senator Klobuchar:

Justice for Colleen

"Update:
I have just sent a letter along with a copy of the letter to police, to Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office.
You can also send a short email refering to the matter here

[klobuchar.senate.gov]

or better still, send post to:

302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
………………
Dear Senator Klobuchar,

I am writing in regard to your call for a federal investigation into the activities of James Arthur Ray and his company, following the deaths of three during one of his seminar retreats in Arizona.

As well as questionable business practises by James Ray International, a pattern of abuse and negligence has emerged, revealing dozens of hospitalizations and, in particular, the apparent suicide of one of his participants during a seminar barely three months before the sweat lodge incident. I refer here to the the death of Minnesota resident Colleen Conaway.

It appears to me that the police investigation was prematurely closed. I would like to draw your attention to this matter, as it seems to me that there is clear evidence of a blatant cover up of the death by James Ray and his staff, as well as destruction and falsification of evidence. This evidence has emerged since the investigation was closed.

I have included a copy of a letter I sent to the Citizen’s Review Board of the San Diego Police Department, and I would like to know your position on the matter, and ask for your support in calling for the investigation to be re-opened.

Please note, I am an Australian citizen, living in Germany. I am writing purely because I think a grave injustice has been done to an innocent woman who trusted a well known person, promising he was both interested and capable of helping her. Ray is of course an internationally known figure, and the way this case is handled has implications beyond the borders of the US."


A polite inquiry to YCSD or the DA in Arizona as to progress might also remind the investigators that this is still a case of great interest to many who would not wish to see it minimised or quietly dropped.

I think the police in Arizona probably want to be thorough so they can make a strong case, but I think the San Diego PD need to re-examine Colleen Conaway's case. It was ruled as a suicide, I'm not sure how they can prove otherwise, but the behavior of JR and his staff after Colleen's death is very strange and should be at least looked into.

I've talked to the Salty Droid and posted on Cosmic Connie's blog about my experience at a free James Ray seminar in 2006. This was when I was very much into New Age ideas, and even then I found him really obnoxious and more of a high-pressure salesman than a spiritual 'teacher'. I saw him before the seminar started hanging out with some people in the crowd and the whole time he had this big phony smile plastered on his face. If you've seen his pictures you'll know what I mean. I mean, nobody smiles like that, it looked like it hurt his face, it was so forced. Then at one point he told us to put our credit card numbers on one of the forms for buying his products and seminars, not that we had to buy anything but if we didn't put our cc #s we weren't trusting the Universe. He said we could even tear up the form at the end of the seminar, but do we have what it takes to trust the Universe? It extremely pushy and he made it sound like if we didn't we were wimps and didn't have any confidence. I didn't put mine but I looked around and almost everybody was, including the friend I came with.

I trust that the Universe will give Mr. Ray what's coming to him.

Quote
Penelope
I think the police in Arizona probably want to be thorough so they can make a strong case, but I think the San Diego PD need to re-examine Colleen Conaway's case. It was ruled as a suicide, I'm not sure how they can prove otherwise, but the behavior of JR and his staff after Colleen's death is very strange and should be at least looked into.

I've talked to the Salty Droid and posted on Cosmic Connie's blog about my experience at a free James Ray seminar in 2006. This was when I was very much into New Age ideas, and even then I found him really obnoxious and more of a high-pressure salesman than a spiritual 'teacher'. I saw him before the seminar started hanging out with some people in the crowd and the whole time he had this big phony smile plastered on his face. If you've seen his pictures you'll know what I mean. I mean, nobody smiles like that, it looked like it hurt his face, it was so forced. Then at one point he told us to put our credit card numbers on one of the forms for buying his products and seminars, not that we had to buy anything but if we didn't put our cc #s we weren't trusting the Universe. He said we could even tear up the form at the end of the seminar, but do we have what it takes to trust the Universe? It extremely pushy and he made it sound like if we didn't we were wimps and didn't have any confidence. I didn't put mine but I looked around and almost everybody was, including the friend I came with.

That is a very popular and crooked technique these mega-salespeople scammers use in LGAT seminars. Its called the YES SET. They get a small yes, and build from there.
They also use bullying tactics to manipulate people, as shown.

Once he has your credit card number, they are half-way there, the people have written their number on the company order form, and then the company will keep that. How many got ripped up? Zero.
It goes into their database.
That is all they care about, getting your money.
As shown in other seminars, they will literally push people on their breaks to call their credit card companies to raise their credit limits to 100K, and then charge tens of thousands over the seminar, using high pressure tactics
Just getting the credit card number is the first step, of many.
When some seminar Guru asks you to put your credit card number on a blank order form, that is like someone asking you to SIGN a blank invoice, or blank check, or sign a blank piece of paper, as some cults do. That is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

That is when to tell them to GET LOST, and to directly leave the room. If they try to stop the person from leaving, tell them if they do not get out of the way in 3 seconds, 911 will be called, and grab the phone.
If they charge something without approval, get a chargeback immediately from the credit card company.
These LGAT seminars do this all the time, everyday.

Rich Dad Robert Kiyosaki $45,000 SCAM exposed on hidden camera [forum.culteducation.com]

Quote
Penelope
... Then at one point he told us to put our credit card numbers on one of the forms for buying his products and seminars, not that we had to buy anything but if we didn't put our cc #s we weren't trusting the Universe. He said we could even tear up the form at the end of the seminar, but do we have what it takes to trust the Universe? It extremely pushy and he made it sound like if we didn't we were wimps and didn't have any confidence. I didn't put mine but I looked around and almost everybody was, including the friend I came with.

Death Ray arrested. Three counts of manslaughter.

arrest