As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis was arrested Tuesday (May 7) after allegedly soliciting an undercover police officer to have his estranged wife killed.

According to Reuters, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department learned that Lambesis sought an accomplice to kill his wife, and he was taken into custody in Oceanside, California, after reaching out to the detective.

"The information came to us late last week," San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell told Reuters. "We acted quickly on it. I believe that we averted a great tragedy."

Lambesis has said he considers himself to be a Christian and acknowledges that he finds inspiration for lyrical content from biblical texts. He is incredibly prolific, having released eight albums with As I Lay Dying between 2001 and 2012, as well as five releases via his solo side project Austrian Death Machine, where he sings and performs on all instruments. He also produced 11 albums for other artists and is part owner of Lambesis Studios.

Representatives from Metal Blade, the record label for As I Lay Dying, were not available for comment. There is no word on whether Lambesis already has an attorney.

In 2008, As I Lay Dying were nominated for the Best Metal Performance Grammy for their song "Nothing Left." As I Lay Dying's 2012 album Awakened peaked at #11 on the Billboard albums chart, while 2010's The Powerless Rise hit #10, and 2007's An Ocean Between Us debuted at #8.

Back in '07, Lambesis talked to MTV News about Ocean and how, lyrically, it deals with the idea that "we no longer have the same dreams as the rest of the world, that all of the qualities of life that it seems we're taught we should focus on, whether it be money or a certain type of education or a certain type of job — the dreams that are handed down to us — it's about how we have nothing in common with those dreams anymore. It's about the whole idea of fulfillment — if you do these things and take these steps, you will be happy — and how really, wealth, the prestige of being in a band, all that stuff is ultimately meaningless."