PARIS – An Oxford County jail inmate has been accused of trying to hire someone to “torture and murder” his ex-girlfriend and her husband, Oxford County Sheriff’s Lt. Hart Daley said Friday.

Mark Ambrose, 31, of 101 Hancock St., Rumford, is charged with two counts of solicitation to commit murder, jail supervisor James Hoyt said Friday.

After his arrest Wednesday, he was immediately transferred to York County Jail in Alfred for tighter security, jail administrator Capt. Ernest Martin said.

“I think he’s going to be there for a very long time,” Martin said Friday night. “I think it’s going to be unlikely that we’re going to want him back,” because “He has a resentment toward people here.”

He said the couple targeted in the alleged plot “didn’t have a clue this was coming down.”

Ambrose had been in Oxford County jail since April 6 when he violated his probation for criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, according to Hoyt. He must serve the remainder of that sentence of seven months and 26 days, making him eligible for release in October at the earliest.

According to jail records, he is disabled.

Lt. Daley said that between Aug. 15 and 23, Ambrose corresponded with someone and asked them to commit the crimes for him. He offered the person an undisclosed amount of money, he said.

That person notified the Sheriff’s Office.

Daley said when he first heard of the plan, he began intercepting communication between Ambrose and the person he tried to hire.

“He (Ambrose) even went so far as to request photos of the individuals (he wanted to kill),” Daley said.

Daley said Ambrose’s motive for wanting the two people killed may have been related to child custody. Ambrose has a 10-year-old child with the woman, he said.

The lieutenant said Ambrose and his ex-girlfriend were together for several years. She has been married to her new husband for less than a year and lives in Oxford County.

With the help of undercover officers from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Daley said he set up a visitation at the jail. One of the undercover officers posed as the hired gun.

During the visit, according to Daley, the undercover officers recorded a conversation in which Ambrose stated he would pay them money to kill the couple.

The Sheriff’s Office has also obtained letters Ambrose allegedly sent the individual. They are being sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C., for handwriting analysis, Daley said.

FBI special agent Pam Flick of the Portland office, who helped with the investigation, could not be reached for comment.

Ambrose was arraigned in a York County court Friday, Daley said, but results of that proceeding were not available. His bail when arrested Wednesday was $75,000 cash or $250,000 worth of real estate, Hoyt said.

Ambrose has an extensive criminal record with the Sheriff’s Office. Recent convictions include: criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, theft, assault, violating conditions of release, probation violation, furnishing alcohol to minors, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, Daley said.

Staff Editor Mary Delamater contributed to this report.


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