Several musicians from As I Lay Dying, a well-known metal band led by a frontman who was previously convicted for attempting to hire a hitman to kill his wife, have resigned within a short period.

Guitarist Ken Susi took to Instagram on Thursday to declare that his “time playing with As I Lay Dying has come to an end today.”

Susi expressed, “I joined the AILD camp aware of its complicated past but wanted to focus on making great music with friends. Sadly, my personal ethics have recently been challenged to an extreme, and this marks a heartbreaking conclusion to what could have been a fantastic revival for the band.”

Drummer Nick Pierce also announced his departure in a separate Instagram message on the same day, stating, “This isn’t the conclusion I hoped for, and I need to step away from the band to preserve my health and integrity.”

YSL News has reached out to representatives of As I Lay Dying for their response.

These announcements followed bassist Ryan Neff’s announcement on Friday that he was leaving the group. “This decision comes after much reflection, and I feel it is the best step for my personal and professional journey,” he shared.

In Susi’s Thursday message, he noted that Neff was “facing a lot of criticism for being the first to leave, and I regret not expressing my support for this decision sooner.”

These departures come just as the Grammy-nominated band prepares to release its eighth studio album, “Through Storms Ahead,” on November 15. A European tour had been planned to begin on the album’s release date, but currently, there are no tour dates available on the band’s official site.

Susi, Pierce, and Neff all joined As I Lay Dying in 2022—eight years after the band’s founder, Tim Lambesis, pleaded guilty in 2014 to trying to hire an undercover officer to murder his wife.

What happened to Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying?

Lambesis was taken into custody in California in May 2013 on charges of solicitation to commit murder, reported by sources like San Diego Reader and BBC News. He allegedly contracted an undercover detective, who was posing as a hitman, to kill his then-estranged wife, Meggan Lambesis.

In February 2014, after changing his plea from not guilty, Lambesis was found guilty. He reportedly received a six-year prison sentence, according to reports from Radio.com and Rolling Stone.

Lambesis was released from prison and placed under the Division of Adult Parole Operations in December 2016, as confirmed by a representative from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as reported by Alternative Press at the time, according to Rolling Stone.