Rocker to stand trial on charge of hiring hitman
Submitted by silent1 on Mon, 2013-10-07 19:25.
Rocker to stand trial on charge of hiring hitman
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/article_9bd50ff6-1c0d-55d8-9a03-8a0a25dcefcb.html
In this May 9, 2013 file photo, Tim Lambesis, 32, front man for the Christian-inspired heavy metal group As I Lay Dying, appears in Vista Superior Court in Vista, Calif. Lambesis is facing a court hearing Monday Sept. 16, 2013 to determine whether he will stand trial on charges he tried to hire someone to kill his estranged wife. Bill Wetcher/U-T San Diego
Posted: Monday, September 16, 2013 3:20 pm | Updated: 3:52 pm, Mon Sep 16, 2013.
Associated Press
VISTA, Calif. — The frontman of the Grammy-nominated metal band As I Lay Dying will stand trial on a charge of trying to hire someone to kill his estranged wife, a judge in San Diego ruled Monday.
The decision came after a preliminary hearing for Timothy Lambesis that featured several hours of testimony by prosecution witnesses, including an undercover officer who said he posed as a hitman named “Red” and met with the singer.
San Diego County sheriff’s Officer Howard Bradley testified that Lambesis met him at a book store in May in Oceanside and told him he wanted his wife “gone.”
Bradley told the court he asked Lambesis directly if he wanted his wife killed, and the singer replied, “‘Yes, I do.’”
Lambesis said his wife, Meggan Lambesis, had restricted his visits with their three adopted children after they were separated in September, Bradley recalled, adding he was also angry because she was going to get a chunk of his income in a divorce settlement.
Bradley said Lambesis told him at the end of their meeting, “‘just to clarify, just so you know, I do want her dead.’”
The officer said the singer then gave him a manila envelope containing his wife’s name, photo, security code to her condo complex, description of her vehicle and $1,000. Lambesis also wrote down three dates that would be best for carrying out the hit because he would be with his children and have an alibi, Bradley testified.
He said they agreed to set the total price at $20,000. Officers then arrested Lambesis.
Lambesis has pleaded not guilty to solicitation for murder. If convicted, he could face up to nine years in prison. San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert Kearney set his arraignment for Oct. 22 at the courthouse in Vista.
Sheriff’s Officer John Buckley also testified during the hearing, telling the court that he initiated the investigation after receiving a report that Lambesis had asked a
personal trainer at his gym to help him get rid of his wife.
After talking to the gym acquaintance, authorities arranged for the man to set up a meeting between Lambesis and Bradley.
Defense attorney Thomas Warwick did not present any arguments during the hearing. He previously said his client had been using steroids for body building and the drugs had a devastating effect on his mind.
Lambesis has been free on $2 million bail since May and wearing a GPS monitor. The conditions will continue until he is arraigned, Kearney ruled.
The singer also has been ordered to stay home and not contact Meggan Lambesis and their three children, who were adopted from Ethiopia.
As I Lay Dying formed in San Diego in 2000 and has released six albums, including 2007’s An Ocean Between Us which reached No. 8 on Billboard’s charts. A single from the album, “Nothing Left,” was nominated for a Grammy for top metal performance.
The band plays in an aggressive style that features lightning-speed metal guitar riffs. The group’s philosophical lyrics have attracted a following of Christian rock fans.
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Steriods, murder-for-hire plot, 3 adopted children
Steriods, murder-for-hire plot, 3 adopted children <-- which of these three things does not belong with the others??
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Steroids Found in Christian Metal Singer Tim Lambesis' Home: Detective
The singer of the Grammy-nominated Christian metal band "As I Lay Dying" was arrested on May 7 in Oceanside
By R. Stickney | Tuesday, Sep 17, 2013 | Updated 5:30 AM PDT
A judge determined there is enough evidence to send Christian heavy metal singer Tim Lambesis to trial. In court Monday, a witness described how he said Lambesis came to him to hire a hit man to kill his wife. NBC 7’s Rory Devine reports.
San Diego officials investigating an alleged murder-for-hire plot involving Christian metal singer Tim Lambesis found dozens of vials of what appeared to be steroids and thousands of dollars in cash in the musician’s bedroom, a detective testified Monday.
Homicide investigators found a lock box in Lambesis’ Carlsbad home containing “a lot of different quantities” of male enhancement-type drugs, male libido-type drugs and estrogen blocking drugs, Det. John Buckley with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department testified.
There were approximately 30 to 40 vials along with different types of pill packages with more than $12,000 in cash, the detective said.
The steroids were found after the singer of the Grammy-nominated Christian metal band "As I Lay Dying" was arrested on charges of solicitation of another to commit murder and conspiracy to commit a crime on May 7.
Prosecutors allege that Lambesis approached a trainer from his gym on Apr. 23 and asked if the person knew anyone who could kill his wife, Meggan Lambesis of Del Mar.
"He wanted to know if maybe I could find someone to do it for him," personal trainer Brett Kimball testified in court Monday.
Prosecutors claim Lambesis provided the undercover agent with an envelope containing $1,000 cash for expenses, his wife’s address and gate codes, pictures of her and specific dates when he would have the children and thus, an alibi.
Deputy Howard Bradley described the meeting in which Lambesis handed him a manila envelope containing 10 $100 bills during a preliminary hearing Monday in San Diego Superior Court in Vista.
“He told me he wanted his wife gone,” Bradley testified.
He went on to explain how Lambesis immediately agreed to the $20,000 fee and said he had already withdrawn the money from his bank account.
Lambesis explained he wanted his wife dead because she was going to get up to 60-percent of his income and would not allow their children – ages 4, 8, and 10 – to go on tour with him, the deputy testified.
Court documents reveal Meggan Lambesis had filed for divorce in September 2012 to end the couple’s 8-year marriage.
In the divorce records obtained by the Associated Press, Meggan Lambesis claims the rocker had become "obsessed with bodybuilding" and was distracted with the children, even falling asleep once while watching them. She also claimed he has spent thousands of dollars on tattoos.
The divorce and custody issues are still pending.
The judge bound over Lambesis for trial. He'll be in court next on Oct. 22 for an arraignment. At that time, a trial date will be set.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Christian-Metal-Singer-Tim-Lambesi...