One of the strangest, saddest stories to ever come out of CCM received its coda today as As I Lay Dying lead singer Tim Lambesis pleaded guilty to hiring an assassin to kill his wife. Fortunately, the assassin was an undercover cop and Lambesis’ plan didn’t come to fruition, but he’ll still be going away for about nine years. As I Lay Dying was a much-loved Christian metal group in their earlier, pre-assassin hiring days.

The couple were in the process of splitting when Lambesis tried to have his wife killed, saying he was upset that she was going to be getting 60 percent of his income and wouldn’t allow their children to go on tour with him. For her part, Lambesis’ ex-wife, Meggan, says his behavior had become erratic, including an obsession with bodybuilding and expensive tattoos, and a disinterest in looking after their adopted children …