WAPAKONETA, USA — An Ohio woman was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for the murder of her husband, whom authorities say she killed by injecting him with a powerful veterinary drug during a child custody exchange in 2022.
Amanda Hovanec, 37, was handed the sentence after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including distributing a controlled substance that led to the death of her husband, Timothy Hovanec, a U.S. Department of State employee.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, in a statement on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, revealed that Hovanec had plotted to kill her husband for over a year due to a contentious custody battle over their three children.
Timothy was killed on April 24, 2022, during what was meant to be a routine drop-off of the children at Hovanec’s home in Wapakoneta.
The incident, captured on dash camera footage from Timothy’s car, showed Hovanec and her mother, Anita Green, waiting outside the home.
After instructing her children to go inside, Hovanec approached Timothy’s vehicle.
Seconds later, Timothy can be heard asking, “What the heck are you doing? Did you just assault me?” before pleading, “Get off of me,” according to court documents.
The footage revealed Hovanec pulling Timothy to the ground and rendering him unconscious.
Authorities say Hovanec injected him with M-99, a highly potent opioid used in veterinary medicine that is 1,000 times more powerful than morphine, leading to his death within minutes.
Hovanec then disposed of Timothy’s body, burying it in a wooded area near her home with the help of her South African boyfriend, Anthony Theodorou, and her mother.
The killing stemmed from a long-standing custody dispute, and authorities say Hovanec denied her husband visitation with their children for months despite court orders.
In 2021, Timothy filed several contempt motions, and a judge had ordered that he gain residential custody of the children starting in May 2022.
The murder occurred just weeks before the court-ordered custody transfer was set to take effect.
Court records revealed that Hovanec had considered other means of killing her husband, including hiring a hitman, before deciding to use M-99, which she obtained through Theodorou.
“Hovanec’s violent and intentional actions were cold-blooded, calculated, and cruel,” U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko said in a statement.
“Her extreme malevolence toward her husband and complete disregard for how his murder would affect their innocent children is incomprehensible and unforgivable.”
In addition to her 40-year prison sentence, Hovanec was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release and pay $2 million in restitution.
Anita Green, Hovanec’s mother, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in the crime, after pleading guilty to being an accessory.
Anita Green. | Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office
Theodorou, who aided in disposing of Timothy’s body, is expected to be sentenced on Thursday, Oct. 3.
The case has shocked the local community, and authorities hope that the sentencing will bring some measure of justice for the family and the couple’s children, who are now left without both parents.
