We’re still taken aback by this, but vocalist Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying and Austrian Death Machine has supposedly been arrested for attempting to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife. According to FOX 5 San Diego and Reuters, the singer was arrested at a store in Oceanside, CA around 2pm PST today (May 7) after allegedly soliciting an undercover detective to murder his spouse, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Police reportedly started their investigation on Lambesis last Thursday, after learning he was supposedly trying to get someone to commit the act. He was booked into the Vista Jail on suspicion of solicitation of murder.
Details are still emerging, but this has certainly blindsided us. After all, Lambesis has been pretty busy as of late, touring with As I Lay Dying (with another tour slated for this summer), launching a crowdfunding campaign for Austrian Death Machine’s next album, and just released the debut EP from Pyrithion. And this is certainly a horrible thing to be accused of. As of now, Lambesis’ bands and label Metal Blade have yet to issue a statement about the matter, but hopefully more will be explained soon. As for now, we’d presume that As I Lay Dying’s tour with Killswitch Engage, which was supposed to kick off on May 30, is on hold for now.
UPDATE: A PDF of the official press release from the San Diego County has been released, a screenshot of which can be seen below.
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