A Grammy-nominated heavy metal Christian rocker confessed his biggest sin Tuesday, telling a California court he tried to have his estranged wife murdered. 
 
 Tim Lambesis, the 32-year-old lead singer of the band As I Lay Dying, could face up to nine years in prison for asking a personal trainer at his gym last April to off Meggan Lambesis. 
 
 "He wanted to know if maybe I could find someone to do it for him," the trainer, Brett Kimball, testified at a pretrial hearing, KNSB-TV reported. 
 
 Kimball tipped off cops, who sent an undercover to meet with the heavily tattooed, long-haired rocker from Carlsbad, Calif. 
 
 Lambesis met the undercover, San Diego County Sheriff's Deputy Howard Bradley, and handed over $1,000 cash for expenses, as well as his wife’s address, including gate codes and pictures of her. 
 
 Singer Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying performs live on Nov. 7, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. (Frank Hoensch/Redferns via Getty Images) 
 
 He even gave the undercover the times of day the couple’s three adopted kids would be with him so no one would suspect the rocker had committed the crime. 
 
 Lambesis worried his wife would take more than half of his income during a messy divorce and refused to let him bring their children, whom they adopted from Ethiopia, on tour with him. 
 
 He eagerly agreed to pay the hitman $20,000 to do the deed, KNSB reported. 
 
 “Just to clarify, just so you know, I do want her dead,” Lambesis told Kimball as he sent the “assassin” on his way. 
 
 Tim Lambesis allegedly had become 'obsessed with bodybuilding' and may have been using steroids, his wife said in divorce papers. (Chris Pizzello/AP) 
 
 Cops later arrested Lambesis in a sting operation. 
 
 The couple spent eight years married before Meggan Lambesis filed for divorce in September 2012. She claimed in divorce papers that the rocker had become “obsessed with bodybuilding,” spent thousands of dollars getting inked up and paid little attention when the children were around. 
 
 Cops found steroids in a search of his home after police arrested the metal-head. 
 
 He’s out on $2 million bond as he awaits sentencing May 2. 
 
 Tim Lambesis seen after his May 2013 arrest for allegedly plotting to have his wife killed. (Bill Wechter/AP) 
 
 The band had recently returned from a tour in Asia shortly before his arrest. 
 
 The long-haired singer's band, formed in 2000, has released six albums. 
 
 The band's biggest hit was "An Ocean Between Us" which soared to No. 8 on the Billboard charts in 2007. 
 
 With News Wire Services 
 
 sgoldstein@nydailynews.com or follow on Twitter 
 
 Sign up for BREAKING NEWS Emails privacy policy Thanks for subscribing! ||||| VISTA, Calif. (AP) — The lead singer of Grammy-nominated metal band As I Lay Dying pleaded guilty Tuesday to trying to hire someone to kill his estranged wife. 
 
 FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2013 file photo, Timothy Lambesis, a co-founder of the Christian heavy metal band As I Lay Dying, appears in Vista Superior Court in San Diego, Calif. Lambesis pleaded guilty... (Associated Press) 
 
 Timothy Lambesis, 32, remains free on $2 million bond until he is sentenced May 2 on one count of solicitation of murder in Vista Superior Court, north of San Diego. 
 
 Lambesis was recorded telling an undercover agent that he wanted his wife killed, according to prosecutors. The investigation began last April after Lambesis allegedly told a personal trainer at his gym that he wanted to get rid of his wife. 
 
 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.'" 
 
 Lambesis said his wife, Meggan Lambesis, had restricted his visits with their three adopted children after they separated in September 2012, Bradley testified at a preliminary hearing. 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." 
 
 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. ||||| The singer of the Grammy-nominated Christian metal band As I Lay Dying has pleaded guilty to his role in a murder-for-hire plot. 
 
 Tim Lambesis entered a guilty plea to one felony count of solicitation of murder in San Diego court Tuesday, admitting that he hired a hit man to kill his estranged wife. 
 
 As a result of a plea agreement, Lambesis could serve nine years according to a court clerk. 
 
 The Carlsbad resident was arrested in May 2013 on charges of solicitation of another to commit murder and conspiracy to commit a crime. 
 
 Prosecutors alleged that Lambesis approached a trainer from his gym 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 at a pretrial hearing. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Lambesis is out on $3 million bail. Sentencing is scheduled for May 2.
– A Christian heavy metal rocker pleaded guilty yesterday to hiring a hit man to murder his estranged wife, NBC San Diego reports. Prosecutors say Tim Lambesis, lead singer of Grammy-nominated California band As I Lay Dying, asked a personal trainer at his gym in April of last year if he could find someone to kill wife Meggan Lambesis, because she had filed for divorce in 2012 and he feared she would be granted a large settlement and would keep their three children from touring with him. Lambesis then gave $1,000 cash and all of his wife's information to an undercover agent who was supposed to carry out the plot, and was subsequently arrested in May. Lambesis was recorded telling the undercover agent he wanted his wife "gone," and when asked by the agent if Lambesis wanted his wife murdered, he said, "Yes, I do," the AP reports. The New York Daily News reports that he was willing to pay the "hit man" $20,000 for the job. In her divorce filing, Meggan Lambesis claimed her husband had become "obsessed with bodybuilding" and tattoos, may have been using steroids, and was inattentive while watching their children to the point that he once fell asleep. Lambesis claimed she started restricting his visits with the children when they separated after eight years of marriage. The 32-year-old will be sentenced May 2; he faces up to nine years in prison on charges of solicitation of murder and conspiracy to commit a crime.