TOLEDO, Ohio — An Ohio woman was sentenced to prison for 40 years after investigators said she killed her husband with a controlled substance, described by prosecutors as an anesthetic typically reserved for zoo animals and large wildlife.
In a press release from the US Department of Justice, Northern District of Ohio, prosecutors detailed how Wapakoneta woman Amanda Hovanec, 37, killed her husband, Timothy, with the help of her mother and a South African citizen.
According to the DOJ, Hovanec sought a divorce with her husband, who worked for the US Department of State, after she met and began a relationship with South African citizen Anthony Theodorou in 2018. At the time, Hovanec, her husband and their three children lived in South Africa, where Timothy was working on assignment in the country.
The divorce proceedings began in 2020 in the US. Despite a judge's order, Hovanec denied her husband visitation with their children in December 2021, prosecutors said. Then, in April 2022, a judge ordered that Timothy would be given visitation, and would, beginning in May, become the legal custodian of the children for two months during the summer.
Missing person investigation
On April 24, 2022, Timothy dropped off his children at Hovanec's Wapakoneta residence following a weekend visitation.
When he did not check out of an area hotel at which he'd been staying, a missing person investigation began.
Law enforcement ultimately discovered Timothy's vehicle, abandoned in the nearby city of Dayton. The vehicle was equipped with dashcam video capabilities, which led investigators to turn their attention to Hovanec.
What investigators determined
Investigators reviewed the dashcam video, which showed Timothy dropping off his and Hovanec's children to the Wapakoneta residence on April 24, 2022, around 7 p.m.
Hovanec and her mother, Anita Green, were seen on dashcam video from Timothy's car waiting outside the home. Green took the children inside the home. Then, according to prosecutors, the dashcam video picked up the sound of Timothy's voice saying, "Did you just assault me? Get away from me... Get off of me."
Prosecutors said the video showed Hovanec pulling on the victim's shirt when he tried to use his cellphone. She then wrestled with him, according to the release, and knocked his phone out of his hand. Hovanec then pulled on the victim's back to bring him to the ground and held around his neck until his body became limp.
When the victim went limp, Hovanec picked up his cell phone, smart watch and turned off his vehicle - stopping the dashcam recording.
Controlled substance used in the homicide
Prosecutors said Hovanec admitted to injecting the victim with a controlled substance she said she knew would kill him quickly. The substance was M-99, or Etorphine, a controlled substance used in veterinary medicine to tranquilize zoo animals and wildlife. It is 1000 times more potent than morphine.
Up to a year before the victim's death, Hovanec had considered killing her husband, prosecutors said. She had considered using a hitman to kill him, but ultimately decided on M-99, which she obtained from Theodorou.
Accomplices convicted
Theodorou was also convicted in the incident. He was accused of not only providing M-99 to Hovanec, but also helping bury the victim's body. Theodouru's sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3.
Green, Hovanec's mother, was also convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. She pleaded guilty to being an accessory to these crimes, which prosecutors said she knew about in advance, and agreed to help in by driving Hovanec and Theodoru to the location where they buried Timothy.
Prosecutors described this incident as "cold-blooded, calculated and cruel" in the press release.
"Her extreme malevolence toward her husband and complete disregard for how his murder would affect their innocent children is incomprehensible and unforgiveable," US Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Rebecca Lutzko said in the release. "We know that no amount of time served can bring back a family’s loved one. But our hope is that the victim’s family may find some sense of closure as they painstakingly work to heal from this unimaginable and horrific tragedy.”
Following her 40 year sentence, Hovanec will serve 10 years of supervised release. She must also pay restitution in the amount of $2.1 million.