In a shocking crime, an estranged wife killed her husband using an imported animal tranquilizer, with the help of her mother and South African lover.
Amanda Hovanec, 37, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering her ex-husband, Timothy Hovanec, during a heated custody battle.
Estranged wife kills husband
The murder, carried out with the assistance of her mother, Anita Green, and her South African boyfriend, Anthony Theodorou, involved a calculated ambush using a deadly animal tranquilizer.
The unfortunate event unfolded on April 24, 2022, in Ohio, when Amanda ambushed Timothy in the driveway of her home, injecting him with M-99, a potent animal tranquilizer.
Dash camera footage from Timothy’s car, caught the act that ended the life of the 36-year-old a State Department researcher, who had recently won visitation rights for their three daughters.
Just two days before the murder, a judge had ruled that Timothy would have custody of his children for the summer, from May 28 to August 5, 2022.
Timothy dropped off his children at their mother’s home, and after they entered the house, the camera captured audio of Timothy confronting Amanda, asking, “What the heck are you doing? Did you just assault me?” He then yelled, “Get away from me… Get off of me.”
Prosecutors said Amanda ambushed Timothy while he was unloading the children’s car seats, wrestling him to the ground and injecting him with the tranquilizer.
What is M-99?
The potent drug, etorphine (M-99), is a substance 1,000 times stronger than morphine, primarily used for tranquilizing large animals.
After Timothy went limp and became unresponsive, Amanda removed his phone, smart watch, and turned off his car, cutting off the dash camera footage. She then placed a plastic bag over his body to prevent fluids from secreting, court documents revealed.
The poison had been procured months earlier with the help of Theodorou, Amanda’s boyfriend. He had sent the vial of M-99 hidden within a package of jewelry from South Africa.
Prosecutors revealed that Amanda had initially sought out hitmen to kill Timothy, but when two potential assassins backed out, she and Theodorou devised the plan to use poison instead.
The aftermath of the murder was just as calculated. Green, Amanda’s mother, assisted in disposing of the body.
The day after the murder, Green drove Amanda and Theodorou to a grave that had been dug prior to their arrival on farmland owned by
Amanda’s grandfather, where they buried Timothy’s body. Green left, but drove back later to pick them up.
The murder came to light when Timothy failed to check out of the Best Western hotel he had been staying at during his custody time with the children. His belongings were still inside, leading law enforcement to launch a missing person investigation.
Due to his employment with the State Department, the FBI was brought in to assist local authorities.
Timothy’s abandoned car, found in Dayton, Ohio, contained the crucial dash camera footage that ultimately led to Amanda’s arrest.
Initially, Amanda claimed that Timothy had left after dropping off the children, but when confronted with the dash camera evidence, she confessed to the crime.
Estranged wife admits to killing husband
In court, she admitted to injecting her ex-husband with the poison, understanding that the substance would kill him within minutes.
She pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to import a controlled substance, importation of controlled substances, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death.
Her relationship with Timothy reportedly began deteriorating in 2018 after they moved to South Africa for his State Department job, where she met Theodorou.
When the couple returned to the U.S. in 2020, Amanda filed for divorce and denied Timothy visitation rights despite court orders.
Timothy had been fighting for visitation rights for years, filing multiple contempt motions against Amanda. Just days before his death, he had traveled from Virginia to Ohio for court proceedings, which finally granted him visitation rights for the summer.
In addition to her 40-year prison sentence, Amanda was ordered to pay over $2.1 million in restitution and will face 10 years of supervised release after serving her time.
Her mother, Green, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and two years of supervised release for her role as an accessory to the crime.
Theodorou was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison, along with an additional three years of supervised release.
