An Ohio mom has been sentenced to 40 years behind bars after she was caught on camera ambushing her ex-husband and fatally injecting him with a powerful animal tranquilizer during an ugly custody dispute over their kids, federal prosecutors said.
Amanda Hovanec, 37, pleaded guilty this week to poisoning 36-year-old Timothy Hovanec when he arrived to drop off their three daughters at her Wapakoneta home in 2022.
Newly released footage of the disturbing attack, which was captured on the father’s dashcam camera, showed Hovanec telling the girls she had a “surprise” for them when they emerged from the car, the feds said.
Just seconds after the daughters were led inside by Hovanec’s own mom, Timothy — a US State Department researcher — could be heard shouting: “What the heck are you doing? Did you just assault me?” and “Get away from me… Get off of me.”
The clip, released after Hovanec’s sentencing, showed the killer ex-wife pulling on Timothy’s shirt and struggling with him as she administered the poisonous jab.
“She then pulled on his back to bring him to the ground, holding him around the neck until his body went limp and he became unresponsive, lying on the driveway,” prosecutors said.
“Hovanec stood up, picked up her husband’s cellphone, removed his smartwatch, and turned off his vehicle’s engine, at which point the dash camera stopped recording,” the feds added.
Investigators later determined Timothy had been injected with M99, or etorphine — a semi-synthetic opioid that can be 1,000 to 3,000 times stronger than morphine.
“Hovanec’s violent and intentional actions were cold-blooded, calculated, and cruel,” said Rebecca Lutzko, US Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
“Her extreme malevolence toward her husband and complete disregard for how his murder would affect their innocent children is incomprehensible and unforgivable.
“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.”
The deadly saga unfolded as the former couple were embroiled in a messy custody battle over their three daughters.
Hovanec had filed for divorce in 2020 shortly after the family arrived home from a two-year stint living in South Africa due to Timothy’s State Department job, prosecutors said.
During their time abroad, Hovanec met and struck up a relationship with her soon-to-be boyfriend, Anthony Theodorou, according to a criminal complaint.
The parents started battling it out in court in late 2021 when Hovanec tried to prevent her ex-husband from seeing their daughters.
Then, in early 2022, a judge ordered Timothy be allowed to have the girls for a lengthy period over the upcoming summer, prosecutors said.
He was killed before that visitation period even started, according to the complaint.
In the wake of the fatal poisoning, prosecutors said Hovanec initially tried to cover up her crimes — but later confessed to injecting her ex with the drug, disposing of his car and burying his body in a wooded area close to her home.
Authorities initially zeroed in on her after Timothy was reported missing when he failed to check out of the hotel he’d been staying at nearby.
Cops uncovered the dashcam video when they found his abandoned car.
Investigators later determined the substance used in the attack had allegedly been obtained by Hovanec’s South African boyfriend, prosecutors said.
Theodorou, who was charged as an accessory, is due to be sentenced Thursday.
Meanwhile, Hovanec’s mom, Anita Green, who was also charged as an accessory, was earlier sentenced to 10 years in prison.