NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The family of a man who collapsed and died during a self-awareness seminar run by Werner Erhard Associates says the 26-year-old victim apparently was in good health before he attended the private 'est' session.
Jack Slee, 26, of Montville, passed out and died Sunday just hours after another seminar participant blacked out in the same meeting room in the Park Plaza Hotel.
The incidents were not made public until Wednesday.
'I want this settled,' said James Slee, the victim's older brother. 'I'm not out for a vengeance thing at all. We just want some questions answered. We want to know what happened.'
An autopsy Tuesday was inconclusive and further investigation is necessary to determine why Slee died, said Danial Onofrio, a New Haven police detective.
'At this point we don't know of anything criminal, but the death has the medical examiners stumped,' Onofrio said.
The other man, Thomas Kruh, 31, of Saybrook, was revived by paramedics and spent a night at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Onofrio said he was disturbed at reports fire department paramedics were delayed from getting to the stricken men by 'est' employees or participants.
Participants in the training program reportedly were deprived of food, water and access to restroms for long periods of time, Onofrio said.
Nancy Foushee, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based Werner Erhard Associates, denied paramedics were delayed. She said participants are allowed breaks from training at four-hour intervals during the 16-hour seminar.
Slee was in good health before the session, his family said. Arthur Kruh said his son also was in reasonably good health, although he blacked out briefly five months ago when he was involved in a car accident.
