Retreat operator Soulore Solaris, was accused of delaying medical treatment for Jarrad Antonovich, and was released on bail on Tuesday. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAPView image in fullscreenRetreat operator Soulore Solaris, was accused of delaying medical treatment for Jarrad Antonovich, and was released on bail on Tuesday. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAPNSW wellness guru charged over man’s death during ayahuasca and frog toxin ceremonySoulore Solaris charged with manslaughter of Jarrad Antonovich, who died of a perforated oesophagus after taking psychedelic
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A man has been charged with manslaughter more than four years after his spiritual retreat client died after consuming psychedelics and a frog toxin.
Soulore Solaris, 52, was arrested and charged on Tuesday morning over the 2021 death of a man at the Arcoora retreat he ran in Collins Creek, about 60km from Byron Bay in northern New South Wales.
He was charged with the manslaughter of Jarrad Antonovich, who died of a perforated oesophagus after consuming the plant-based psychedelic ayahuasca and frog-based poison kambo.
Police allege Solaris presided over a ceremonial ritual using the substances on 16 October 2021, and provided Antonovich with ayahuasca.
The operator, formerly known as Peter George McIntyre, is also accused of delaying medical treatment for the 47-year-old after he collapsed from using the drugs.
Kambo is only found in the Amazon rainforest and has to be obtained by scraping the clear, mucus-like substance off the back of a giant tree frog.
It is classified as a Schedule 10 poison by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the highest level of classification, meaning it is banned from use.
The use of kambo was banned two weeks before Antonovich’s passing.
Ayahuasca, banned in 2022, is a plant-based psychedelic normally consumed as a bitter-tasting “tea” with a strong odour.
The use of both substances is based on the traditional knowledge of Indigenous South American communities, with adherents believing they can detoxify the body.
Solaris has been banned from “providing any health services, either in paid employment or voluntary, to any member of the public” by the state’s Health Care Complaints Commission.
Antonovich’s family has 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 an inquest into the death in 2024.
Solaris was released on bail on Tuesday, on the condition that he not leave the country, report to police three times a week, and provide a $20,000 security agreement should he fail to appear in court.
