Phil Rudd Pleads Guilty In Murder-For-Hire Plot – Rocker Miffed Over Failed Solo Album?


AC/DC drummer, Phil Rudd, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a New Zealand court to charges that he asked an “associate” to commit some dirty deeds for him, and the price was far from dirt cheap.

Rudd could spent up to seven years in prison if convicted of the charge, Fox News reported.

Phil’s alleged request? To kill his personal assistant, who Rudd evidently blamed for the failure of his solo album Head Job. After the album tanked, Rudd fired nearly his entire staff, but allegedly directed most of his rage toward this person, Rolling Stone reported.

In exchange for taking him out, this associate stood to earn $200,000, or have his pick of motorcycles, cars, or even a house.

The threats allegedly took place in September last year, when Phil called this friend in Australia with the murder request. His reasoning at the time: “they were a bunch of f**ers and c**ts,” the New Zealand Herald reported. Rudd made his offer of $200,000 and called the alleged victim the next day to ensure he was working.

After that was confirmed, Phil allegedly told the victim twice (as if it needed repeating) that he was “going to come over and kill” him. A couple days later, the drummer called again, but the victim hung up, evidently “very fearful for his safety.” And according to Rolling Stone, he may have been afraid for someone else, too – Rudd had been accused of threatening to kill the victim’s young daughter, but that charge was ultimately dismissed.

Following all these threatening exchanges, police paid Phil a visit at his mansion where they uncovered a few inconvenient items – 91 grams of pot in various spots and some meth in the drummer’s jeans pocket. Rudd pleaded guilty on Tuesday to both the murder-for-hire charge and the drug charges.

But his lawyer, Craig Tuck, said he plans to use the rocker’s sentencing hearing to argue for his discharge without conviction, Rolling Stone added.

“This matter essentially revolved around an angry phone call, that was it. There was a complaint to the police. The apparatus of the police then turned up with a search warrant based on cannabis for own use situation … Nine police officers, a dog and media turned up at Phil Rudd’s home, the home was turned over, and [police] subsequently charged him with attempting to procure a murder.”

The drama since Rudd’s arrest has been rife with other incidents – the rocker apparently got into a spat with a trial witness and his bodyguard after Rudd and the witness crossed paths at a coffee shop. His lawyer quit in February.

[Photo Courtesy Joel Ford/Getty Images]

Share this article: Phil Rudd Pleads Guilty In Murder-For-Hire Plot – Rocker Miffed Over Failed Solo Album?
More from Inquisitr