Ambrozuk returns
LT. Dave Leib of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office escorts Jaroslaw “Jerry” Ambrozuk through Glacier Park International Airport on Wednesday night. Ambrozuk was a fugitive for 24 years before being arrested last month in Texas. Craig Moore /Daily Inter Lake
Suspect in 24-year-old homicide appears in Flathead court, ordered held without bond
The last time Jerry Ambrozuk flew over the Flathead Valley, it was dark and he was the pilot. Wednesday night, it was dark and he was the prisoner.
It's been 24 years and a month since Ambrozuk allegedly flew a rented Cessna 150 into Bitterroot Lake west of Kalispell, leaving it and a friend, Dianne Babcock, 240 feet underwater.
He was 19. She was 18. Ambrozuk called a friend later and described Babcock's inability to unhook her seat belt in time to escape the sinking plane as they had planned.
He said he wasn't going home to Canada. Ever.
For almost a quarter-century, a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of negligent homicide yellowed in a file drawer at the Flathead County Sheriff's Office.
Then, in August, Ambrozuk was arrested in Plano, Texas, after Sheriff Jim Dupont received a tip that he was living there under the alias Michael Lee Smith. At first, Ambrozuk resisted returning to Montana to face charges.
Last week, he decided he'd voluntarily come back, rather than waiting for a governor's warrant to order him to return.
Undersheriff Mike Meehan flew Tuesday to Texas to pick up Ambrozuk. They returned just before midnight Wednesday, Ambrozuk dressed in shorts that probably were more comfortable in Texas than in the cold Montana night air.
Other passengers on the commercial flight wondered who the shackled prisoner in the back of the plane was.
"He was really quiet," said passenger Lori Rainwater of Bigfork.
Meehan said Ambrozuk was also quiet throughout their daylong journey.
He was polite and well-spoken, Meehan said.
The men didn't talk about the criminal trouble Ambrozuk is in, but Ambrozuk said he is ready to deal with the charges against him.
Freshly shaved Thursday, he appeared in Justice Court with his attorney, Patrick Sherlock, of Kalispell.
Sherlock said he's been in touch with Ambrozuk since Sept. 8, when Ambrozuk was in jail in Texas and a friend of his contacted Sherlock for him.
Justice of the Peace David Ortley explained to Ambrozuk that he would enter a plea to the charge against him Oct. 5 in Flathead District Court. Ortley ordered Ambrozuk to be held without bond on the negligent homicide charge.
Meehan said that while they have not been filed yet, federal charges are pending against Ambrozuk. He allegedly has been illegally in the country since that flight 24 years ago from Canada. He has reportedly been living under an assumed identity with a false Social Security number and has left the country for business trips to Japan, using false passport information.
Ambrozuk reportedly ran his own computer software business in Texas, designing internal computers for race cars.
He answered Ortley's questions quietly, saying he had never been convicted of a felony.
He listed his home address in Plano and said he has no family here. Relatives from Canada "will be here shortly," Ambrozuk said.
If convicted of negligent homicide, Ambrozuk faces as long as 10 years in prison.
His case will be heard by District Judge Stewart Stadler.