24 years later, questions remain

Flathead County detective would like a sit-down with murder suspect Ambrozuk

Detective Pat Walsh plans to inventory the evidence in a 24-year-old case before fugitive Jaroslaw "Jerry" Ambrozuk returns to Kalispell to face a murder charge.

Ambrozuk was arrested Wednesday on a Montana warrant for negligent homicide. He was in Plano, Texas, where he has lived since at least 1997 as Michael Lee Smith.

It was in 1982 that Ambrozuk vanished, leaving behind his drowned girlfriend, an airplane at the bottom of Bitterroot Lake, and so many questions.

He was 19 then and flying a plane that was scheduled to go from Penticton, British Columbia, to Vancouver, B.C. His girlfriend, Dianne Babcock, 18, was strapped in the passenger seat of the plane when it was raised from the water.

It was no accident that Ambrozuk landed the plane in the lake, according to a taped telephone conversation he had with a friend later. Ambrozuk told his friend that he intended to do that and then vanish.

"He wanted to disappear," said Walsh, of the Flathead County Sheriff's Office.

Whether or not Babcock knew about Ambrozuk's plans and whether her death was an accident are questions only he can answer.

Based on a tip to Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont, Ambrozuk was found in Plano, where documents say he was self-employed in computer software work.

How soon he will be delivered to Montana depends on whether he fights extradition. If he does, Gov. Brian Schweitzer must send a warrant to Texas with evidence that a crime was committed and that Ambrozuk is who investigators say he is.

If he agrees to extradition, Ambrozuk could be back in Montana in a week or so, after a court hearing in Texas.

Walsh, who began investigating the case decades ago, wants to know "what he's been doing all the time since he's been gone."

Walsh knows that Ambrozuk changed his name and Social Security number. Ambrozuk has a passport and was recently in Japan, Walsh said.

Records from Plano show that in 2000, Ambrozuk bought a $300,000 house on Berwick Drive. That's where he was arrested Wednesday and immediately said he wanted a lawyer.

Walsh said he's been in touch with Babcock's father and sister. If Ambrozuk's case goes to trial or sentencing, Babcock's father plans to come to Kalispell to see for himself the man who left his daughter to drown, Walsh said.

In the meantime, the detective will go through a box of evidence - including clothing and Babcock's autopsy results - that has remained at the Sheriff's Office all these years. Walsh said he hopes the Royal Canadian Mounted Police still have the tape of that phone call Ambrozuk made to his friend after the crash.

Ambrozuk called his friend from Whitefish, Dallas and New York.

In the recorded call, Ambrozuk said, "I tried to get her out. I feel like a murderer. I'm so depressed."

Walsh has a certified copy of a 75-page transcript, he said.

Better yet will be having Ambrozuk back in person to perhaps answer some of Walsh's questions.