NSW wellness guru charged over man’s death during ayahuasca and frog toxin ceremony | New South Wales

A man has been charged with manslaughter more than four years after his spiritual retreat client died after consuming psychedelics and frog toxin.

Soulore Solaris, 52, was arrested and charged on Tuesday morning in connection with the 2021 death of a man at the Arcoora rest stop he operated in Collins Creek, about 60 kilometers from Byron Bay in northern New South Wales.

He was charged with involuntary manslaughter of Jarrad Antonovich, who died from a perforated esophagus after consuming the plant-based psychedelic ayahuasca and the frog-based poison kambo.

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Police allege Solaris presided over an ordination ceremony using these substances on October 16, 2021, and provided ayahuasca to Antonovich.

The operator, formerly known as Peter George McIntyre, is also accused of delaying medical treatment for the 47-year-old man, who collapsed from drug use.

Kambo is found only in the Amazon rainforest and must be obtained by scraping the clear, mucus-like substance from the back of a giant tree frog.

It is classified as a Schedule 10 poison by the Therapeutic Goods Administration; This is the highest level of classification, meaning its use is prohibited.

The use of kambo was banned two weeks before Antonovic’s death.

Ayahuasca, banned in 2022, is a plant-based psychedelic normally consumed as “tea” that tastes bitter and has a strong odor.

The use of both substances is based on the traditional knowledge of indigenous South American communities; Adherents believe that they can detoxify the body.

Solaris was banned by the state’s Health Complaints Commission from “providing paid employment or any voluntary form of health care to any member of the public.”

Antonovic’s family had previously called for similar ceremonies to be banned.

“He had a heart of gold… no one deserves what happened to him,” the victim’s brother Chris told reporters after the inquest into the death in 2024.

Solaris was released on bail Tuesday on the condition that he not leave the country, report to police three times a week and agree to a $20,000 security agreement if he fails to appear in court.

He will appear at Lismore local court on March 30.