Founder/frontman Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying is currently in police custody after being arrested May 7th on suspicions of soliciting a hitman to murder his wife. Read on for more details.

Photo credit: Raymon Flotat

Lambesis, known for the founding of his hometown San Diego based metalcore group As I Lay Dying, is now in custody in Oceanside, CA after unknowingly soliciting an undercover police officer to plan and execute the murder of his wife. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department learned of Lambesis’ plans early last week, and immediately took action to get the situation under control. Spokeswoman for the SDC Sheriff’s Department Jan Caldwell had this to say:

The information came to us late last week…We acted quickly on it. I believe that we averted a great tragedy.

UPDATE (5/8): Earlier today, the band issued the following statement::

To our fans,

As we post this, the legal process is taking it’s course and we have no more information than you do. There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. We’ll keep you informed as best we can.

Our thoughts right now are with Tim, his family, and with everyone else affected by this terrible situation – and with our fans, whom we love and draw strength from.

Thank you for understanding, and as always, for your support of As I Lay Dying.

– Jordan, Nick, Phil, and Josh

As I Lay Dying has recorded six studio albums, one split album, and two compilation albums since their founding by Lambesis in 2000. They quickly gained notoriety and fame, and have been on a non-stop tear ever since; most recently beating out reputable hardcore bands such as Anthrax and Lamb of God for “Metal Band of The Year” as presented by Loudwire in 2012.