A bizarre case involving an assassination plot and the frontman of a Grammy-winning metal band is winding towards its conclusion.
Timothy Lambesis, the vocalist for American metalcore group As I Lay Dying – who last toured Australia in 2011 and previously played Soundwave – was facing charges last September in the San Diego Superior Court after he was arrested last year on suspicion of hiring a hitman to have his estranged wife killed.
Now the 33-year-old Christian metal singer has pleaded guilty to allegations he paid US$ 1,000 to a hitman to murder his wife of eight years, Meghan Lambesis, who had made life difficult for the vocalist in a messy divorce over their three adopted children.
Though previously maintaining his innocence, in a San Diego court hearing held on 25th February, the As I Lay Dying frontman admitted to the felony charge of soliciting the murder of his spouse, as Radio.com reports. Lambesis could face up to 9 years in prison, or as little as “time already service” plus 4 years probation.
The singer was originally caught red-handed and arrested in May in an undercover sting operation. Prosecutres alleged that Lambesis had organised with a personal trainer – that was actually a County Sheriff agent posing as an assassin for hire – to have Meghan Lambesis killed. The 33-year-old Christian metal singer has pleaded guilty to allegations he paid US$ 1,000 to a hitman to murder his wife…
After making contact, the vocalist gave the ‘hitman’ $US 1,000 in cash and instructions for the murder – including photos of his wife, security gate codes to her address, and dates the singer would be with his adopted Ethiopian children to use as an alibi.
After being bonded out on US$ 2 million bail, Lambesis was placed under house arrest at his Californian home for nine months. The metal musician’s defense attorney, Thomas Warwick, had previously cited a ‘not guilty’ defence, claiming that the singer was a ‘gym junkie’ who had been using steroids at the time of the muder-for-hire plot, alleging the drugs had affected his mental state and impaired his judgement.
Lambesis is currently out on $3 million bail with final sentencing scheduled to be handed down by Honorable Carlos Armour on 2nd May in the San Diego court.
As for the rest of the band, As I Lay Dying appears to be in stasis since their frontman’s arrest last May, cancelling a co-headline tour with Killswitch Engage in a statement on their website saying “we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted.”
When the band’s bassist/vocalist Josh Gilbert spoke to Tone Deaf at the start of 2013, the band were in high spirits, enjoying the success of their 2012 album Awakened.
“We feel so great. We’re just happy to be able to play overseas in a place like Australia to awesome fans and any time we can get over there we’d love to,” said Gilbert. As I Lay Dying were last in Australia on a 2011 tour with Disturbed, having previously played on the Soundwave 2008 lineup.
It’s not the first time a heavy metal frontman has been embroiled in a murder charge. Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe was involved in a long-winded court case in connection with the 2010 death of a 19-year-old fan at a Lamb of God concert in Prague. After much turmoil, the sing was finally acquitted of murder charges and issued a personal plea – after speaking personally to the deceased fan’s aggrieved family – for greater venue security at live shows in an emotional open letter to the metal music community.
