Suspect, 77, in 1969 teen murder cold case will stay in jail until his trial

WAHOO, Neb. (WOWT/Gray News) - The 77-year-old suspect in the murder case of a Nebraska teenager 55 years ago will stay in jail until his trial.

Joseph Ambroz is charged with first-degree murder of 17-year-old Mary Kay Hesse in 1969.

On Monday, the judge denied bond and ordered Ambroz to remain in jail until his trial.

The defense team said that with his health issues, he is not a flight risk. Ambroz is reportedly in remission from lung cancer and has Type 2 diabetes, pneumonia and COPD.

The prosecution argued that even though the alleged murder happened 55 years ago, people often act differently when facing murder charges.

“Temptation is too great once that ultimate sentence is on the table,” said Corey O’Brien from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.

The state also turned over a box of evidence with four volumes in it to Ambroz’s defense team on Monday. Investigators said there are many more.

Ambroz was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Oklahoma last week after a grand jury indicted him in the 1969 murder of Mary Kay. Ambroz was 22 years old at that time.

Mary Kay’s body was found along a country road near Wahoo, Nebraska. Investigators said she got out of a car and ran but someone caught her. Detectives said she had been stabbed more than a dozen times and fought back.

Ambroz has been on investigators' radar for years. They interviewed him three times in 1969, 30 years later in 1999 and then again in 2021.

“We’ve been able to exclude everybody mentioned as a suspect way back when except for this guy,” Saunders County Attorney Investigator Ted Green said.