Followers mourn Middletown Tantra teacher killed on Marin County trail

FAIRFAX — Stunned students and supporters mourned a beloved teacher of Tantra yoga on Wednesday after he was shot dead while walking his dog along a scenic California hiking trail.

The body of Steve Carter, 67, was found Monday in Marin County, where he was living and caring for his cancer-stricken wife Lokita Carter.

He was still holding the leash of his wounded Doberman pinscher, which is expected to recover.

The Marin County Sheriff's Office said it was seeking three people of interest after their images were captured on a surveillance camera at a nearby convenience store before the shooting.

Investigators won't publicly discuss any possible motives for the attack.

However, authorities believe Carter drove to the trail near Fairfax in his silver 2003 Volkswagen Jetta station wagon. The car was missing, and the killer is believed to have stolen it, sheriff's Lt. Doug Pittman said.

Anyone inside the car should be treated as armed and dangerous, he said

Followers credited Carter with improving their romantic relationships by teaching Tantra, a philosophy of meditation, yoga and sexuality famously embraced by the rock star Sting.

The Carters launched the Ecstatic Living Institute in rural Middletown, California, about 16 years ago to teach Tantra to couples around the world. They held workshops nearby at the clothing-optional Harbin Hot Springs, which was destroyed last month in a wildfire.

"He was my mentor," said Greg Whitmore, 37, a firefighter who attended several weeklong retreats led by the Carters. "It was intoxicating. People wanted to be around him."

Last year, the couple turned the institute over to a former student, Logan Rose, and moved to Costa Rica in semi-retirement, teaching an occasional class. But soon after moving, Lokita was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"It has been a very traumatic season for us with Lokita's cancer, then the Valley fire that destroyed our beloved Harbin Hot Springs," Rose said.

"This is the most devastating blow," Rose said of the homicide. "We are heartbroken."

Lokita Carter didn't respond to requests for comment.

Followers, students and friends have been pledging money and offering sympathy since the Marin County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Steve Carter was the victim.

Joya Petra Gallasch said in an interview that Carter was responsible for adding her new first name during a training session at Harbin Hot Springs. Gallasch said she was depressed at the time and Carter led her to adopt the new first name of Joya.

"I've always been a super joyous person," Gallasch said. "He knew intuitively that it was time to get a new name. He exuded a form of brilliance."

A hiker found Carter's body. Sheriff's deputies responding to a report of shots fired 45 minutes earlier in the area didn't see anything suspicious, Pittman said.

Carter's brother, Michael Carter, said he knew of no one who disliked his brother.

"I can't imagine that it's anything other than a random thing," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "All of it seems very random and unbelievable. Nothing makes any sense."