As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis remained behind bars at a Vista, California detention facility on Friday (May 10), one day after pleading not guilty to a charge of solicitation of murder.
The singer was arrested on Tuesday by officers with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, who allege he attempted to hire an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. At his arraignment hearing, prosecutors requested that Superior Court Judge Martin Staven set Lambesis’ bail at $20 million, saying he was a flight risk and a danger to his wife, Meggan.
Prosecutors also laid out their case against Lambesis, alleging he had twice told a man at a gym that he wanted his wife killed, then met with an undercover detective to set up the potential hit, giving the agent an envelope containing, among other things, $1,000 in cash, photographs of his wife, and the security gate code to her house. He also allegedly told the agent the dates he would be with the couple’s three adopted children, in order to give himself an alibi.
“When specifically asked do you want her dead, he said ‘Yes that’s exactly what I want,'” Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso told the judge. “The victim now is terrified and living in seclusion … [Lambesis] is substantially motivated to kill his wife.”
Lambesis’ attorney, Anthony Salerno, disputed those claims, saying his client was “set up” by the man at the gym and never intended to hurt anybody. Salerno also pointed to the large crowd of supporters who had shown up for the hearing — including Lambesis’ bandmates and As I Lay Dying fans — as proof that the frontman was not a flight risk.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen so many people in support of someone at a bail hearing,” Salerno said.
Judge Staven ultimately set Lambesis’ bail at $3 million, ordered him to wear a GPS monitor and turn in his passport and warned that, if he is released from jail, he must and stay away from his immediately family. According to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department website, as of Friday afternoon, Lambesis had yet to post bail. His next court date is set June 10, and, if convicted of the felony solicitation of murder charge, he could face nine years in prison.
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