AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd's murder-for-hire charge has been dropped by New Zealand police after the supposed hitman said the charges were "hot air," the Independent reported on Friday.
The 60-year-old drummer is still facing charges for drug possession and threatening to kill, but his lawyer said the murder-for-hire charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
The "intended hitman" said the situation had been exaggerated and described himself as a family man who was friends with Rudd. He said it was a good thing that charges had been dropped.
Rudd was placed under arrest after his home in Tauranga, an island off the coast of New Zealand, was raided by police. Authorities accused him of threatening to kill someone and trying to procure a hitman to kill two more people. Marijuana and Methamphetamine were also found in the home.
"The charge alleging an attempt to procure murder should never have been laid," Rudd's lawyer Paul Mabey said in a statement. "Mr. Rudd has suffered unnecessary and extremely damaging publicity as a result of widespread and sensational reporting of a very serious allegation, which on any basis was never justified."
Prosecuting lawyer Greg Hollister-Jones said on Friday that Rudd's case had been renewed and it was discovered that there was "insufficient evidence to proceed with the charge of attempting to procure murder," the BBC reported.
Rudd is due in court on Nov. 27 and has lived in New Zealand for more than 20 years. AC/DC is slated to release a new album in the beginning of December.
The drummer was booted from the band in 1983, but rejoined AC/DC in 1994.
But Rudd has been missing from recent photos of band members, sparking online speculation about whether he's been bounced from the band.
