Jailed Singer Tim Lambesis Admits He Lied To Sell Records

Jailed singer Tim Lambesis who plotted to have his wife murdered, has admitted he lied about his faith in order to sell more records.

Timothy Lambesis, lead singer and founder of the band As I Lay Dying, was sentenced to six years prison last month for trying to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife Meggan Lambesis.

The 33-year-old’s conviction shocked his devoted fans, some of whom prayed with the singer after concerts believing he was a devout Christian.

However in an exclusive interview with Alternative Press, the Californian confessed he described himself to fans as ‘not a Satanist’ in order to avoid saying he was an atheist.

In the interview, Lambesis talked about a YouTube video he made in which he addressed fans who believed his new side project, ‘Pyrithion’, was satanic.

‘As far as the [YouTube] video I did explaining ‘Pyrithion”s lyrics… I was trying to put out a fire. I was afraid it would affect As I Lay Dying sales, which would affect my overall income. I was trying to put out the fire by saying the easiest thing, ‘I’m not a satanist!'” he explained.

‘Truthfully, I was an atheist. The ‘strategy’ I had at the time was cowardly. Two of the songs on that record were about coming to grips with the idea that life has no purpose, no meaning.

‘These were negative themes I wasn’t ‘allowed’ to deal with in As I Lay Dying songs. I thought making As I Lay Dying darker would be bad for my career. That was my thinking.’

He said some of his band members, and many other Christian bands, shared his views. He said the charade became awkward.

‘When kids would want to pray with us after shows, I’d be like, ‘Um, go ahead and pray!’ I would just let them pray. I’d say ‘Amen.’ If praying while I have my hand on their shoulder makes them feel better, I didn’t want to take that away from them,’ he confessed.

‘When they would specifically ask me to pray for something, I’d say, ‘I don’t really like to pray out loud, but I’ll take that with me to the bus’.’

He was arrested in May last year after giving an undercover agent acting as a hitman, money, gate codes and an alibi to kill his estranged wife, Meggan Lambesis, NBC San Diego reported.

He said he wanted his wife dead because she was going to get up to 60 percent of his income and would not allow their three young children to join him on tour.

According to court documents, Meggan Lambesis filed for divorce in September 2012 to end the couple’s eight-year marriage.

In divorce records obtained by the Associated Press, Meggan Lambesis claimed the rocker had become ‘obsessed with bodybuilding’ and was distracted with the children, even falling asleep once while watching them.

Last year, as their relationship further soured, Lambesis told a personal trainer at his gym, Brett Kimball, that he wanted to get rid of his wife.

‘He wanted to know if maybe I could find someone to do it for him,’ Kimball testified at a pretrial hearing.

Police began an investigation in April following a tip-off.

Lambesis was recorded telling an undercover agent that he wanted his wife killed, according to prosecutors.

The undercover agent, San Diego County Sheriff’s Officer Howard Bradley, testified last year that Lambesis met him at an Oceanside bookstore in May and said he wanted his wife ‘gone’.

Bradley said he asked Lambesis directly if he wanted his wife killed, and the singer replied, ‘Yes, I do’.

The heavily-tattooed gym junkie said his wife had restricted his visits with their children aged four, eight and 10, adopted from Ethiopia, after they separated in September 2012.

The singer also told the agent that he was angry that Meggan Lambesis would get a large share 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.’

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 therefore, an alibi.

As I Lay Dying formed in San Diego in 2000 and has released eight 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 attracted a following of Christian rock fans.

Lambesis in the past openly declared he was Christian.

He allegedly stated during an August 2010 radio interview on The Full Armor of God Broadcast that his writing was inspired by his Christian faith.

‘I can only really write about what I’m passionate about in life, so naturally my faith, my belief in the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection come across in our lyrics,’ he said.