AS I LAY DYING Vocalist’s Attorney Says ‘Set-Up’

Saturday, 11th May 2013

Tim Lambesis, frontman for AS I LAY DYING and AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE may have been set up in a murder for hire plot against his wife says his attorney Anthony Salerno. Salerno’s preemptive intervention made quite the difference in the charges filed against him and the bail amount set as the vocalist plead ‘Not Guilty’ to the charge of solicitation of murder. The Artisan News caught up with Lambesis’ attorney in their report available below. Salerno reveals some of the avenues he will be exploring including the fact that his client’s wife’s brother is a San Diego County police officer.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Lambesis, who is accused of trying to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife, pleaded not guilty on May 9 to a felony charge of solicitation of murder and was ordered held on $3 million bail. He faces nine years in state prison if convicted.

At Lambesis’ arraignment in Vista Superior Court in Vista, California, Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso said that the musician told someone at a gym that he wanted his wife dead. He met with an undercover agent posing as a hitman, who asked Lambesis if he wanted his wife of eight years gone, and Lambesis replied, “Yes, that’s what I want,” the prosecutor said. Lambesis then gave the agent an envelope containing $1,000 in cash with detailed instructions — including pictures of his wife, her address and the code to get through a gate and dates when the “hit” could take place; when he had his children, saying that would be his alibi on how to kill his estranged wife.

The prosecutor argued at the arraignment — which was attended by Tim’s family, fans, AS I LAY DYING manager and band lawyer — that Lambesis be held on $20 million bail, but his defense attorney argued that the amount was unreasonable.

A readiness conference has been scheduled for June 10 with a preliminary hearing to follow on July 10.

Lambesis’ wife Meggan filed for divorce in September, citing “irreconcilable differences.” The couple, who had been married for eight years and were separated at the time, had adopted two girls at ages 6 and 8 in 2011 and a 1-year-old boy in 2009, all from Ethiopia.

 

 

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