James Arthur Ray was a charismatic self-help guru who promised his followers ...
but not all who followed him finished their journey. After Ray appeared on Oprah, thousands flocked to his events,
“but what many didn't know about or his more extreme methods, methods that push his followers to their limits,”
giving some the transformative experience they envisioned and killing others. I'm about to play a clip from the latest series on the Audible True Crime podcast. Listen to Audible True Crime wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes, ad-free, right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. It was March 2009 and in a big chain hotel in New Jersey, a crowd milled around, waiting. Once the doors opened, everyone headed for the same place. It was a large auditorium with a big stage in front.
The event was called The Harmonic Wealth Weekend, a rigorous two-day seminar that promised to get participants on the fast track to personal and professional success.
It wasn't the kind of thing Ginny Brown was normally into, but her daughter, Kirby, had insisted that they go together. As they walked in, she had to admit the atmosphere was exciting. We had to walk through a gauntlet, I would say, of cheerleaders who would jump up and down,
“revving up the energy in the room, and I remember saying to one woman I said, "Man, you girls really had your coffee this morning, and she said to me, "Oh, we don't drink coffee."”
Like that's poison, I was like, "Oh, okay, well I do, and I love it." As everyone took their seats, the lights dimmed. James Arthur Ray stepped onto the stage and began a version of a speech he often gave. Let's talk about what's changing right now in your world. You see, I firmly believe that you live in the most exciting time in our world history. It's a time where science and spirituality are realizing that their sister studies. James was tanned with a bright, white smile wearing a bright, white shirt. Pretty trim, athletic build, fairly good looking.
Just can't get going in the morning without my coffee. Get me a fricking break! Total command of the audience. People laughed. They nodded their heads like, "Yeah."
“That high energy environment is just kind of fun. You want to be part of it. You want to belong. You don't want to stand down and be kind of against what's going on.”
Because James Ray was a star. Law of the practices like attracts, like, and as you lock your attention upon that, then another particle which is in harmony with it is attracted. And another's attracted, another's attracted, and a bang you've got a Mercedes. On stage, he talked about reflecting on yourself and your position in life. Then he began to pull audience members onto the stage and ask them questions. And I'd like to have for two volunteers to help me out here. I need a couple volunteers, okay? Come on. Come on. Give him a hand. Give him a hand as they come up.
The first, Jenny was impressed.
I was fascinated by his ability to really read someone. You know, he read people really well. But as she watched, something began to nag at her. There were a couple of times where he brought people up on this stage and had them reveal very deep personal troubling things in their life. Jenny is a clinical social worker. And I sat there thinking, hmm, you know, as a trained therapist, those are the kinds of questions that I would ask if someone was sitting in my office.
Not in front of hundreds of people. I was both fascinated and uncomfortable. I turned to her daughter, Kirby, who was mesmerized. Just said, you know, that's really not such a great thing to do. But Kirby was focused on James. Kirby was in her late 30s and had bounced around careers and relationships.
She wanted more success and stability in her life. Jenny knew that Kirby had been doing her own soul searching and that James's teachings had already helped. She was going to stay there to get the most out of the experience, whether she believed everything or not. But neither of us ever thought he was dangerous. Later that year, after attending another James Ray event with her father, Kirby Brown would get in her car and drive to Sedona, Arizona for a five day intensive retreat with James called spiritual warrior.
For James's followers, it was the pinnacle event of their journey, and Kirby spent her life savings nearly $10,000 to be there.
The retreat started on October 4th, 2009.
Five days later, Jenny was at home in Upstate New York, around 8am, the doorbell ring.
“At 8am, the troop becomes to the door and asked me if I know Kirby Brown.”
You know, my first thought was, "Oh my God, I've seen some kind of trouble."
But it was more than trouble.
“Jenny would never see her daughter again.”
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