Ohio Woman Sentenced to 40 Years for Murdering Ex-Husband with Animal Tranquilizer

A 37-year-old woman from Wapakoneta, Ohio, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison after admitting to killing her ex-husband using an animal tranquilizer during a custody exchange in 2022. Amanda Hovanec was convicted of ambushing and injecting her ex-husband, 36-year-old Timothy Hovanec, with a fatal dose of a drug known as M-99 on April 24, 2022. The incident occurred amid an ongoing child visitation dispute following the couple's divorce. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio stated that Amanda, along with her mother Anita Green and her new boyfriend from South Africa, Anthony Theodorou, plotted the murder to gain sole custody of their three daughters. According to court documents, Timothy, a U.S. State Department researcher, traveled from Virginia to Ohio to spend time with his daughters after a judge granted him visitation rights. Upon arriving at the home where Amanda lived with her mother, Timothy was attacked while unloading the children's car seats from his vehicle. Video evidence from his dashcam showed Amanda injecting him with the tranquilizer and struggling with him until he became unresponsive. After the attack, Amanda placed a plastic bag over Timothy's head and, with the help of Theodorou, loaded his body into her Honda Pilot. The following day, Anita Green drove them to a pre-dug burial site on farmland that once belonged to Amanda's grandfather. Amanda and Theodorou buried Timothy's body using shovels taken from Green's home. The plot unraveled when investigators confronted Amanda with the dashcam footage, leading to her confession. While she initially claimed that Timothy had left after dropping off the children, she later admitted to the murder, stating that it "comes down to me being selfish." Anita Green was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role as an accessory after the fact. Theodorou is awaiting sentencing. U.S. District Judge James Knepp II remarked that he was "left with the inescapable conclusion that she helped facilitate a murder, not just after the fact," regarding Green's involvement. "This is as bad a crime as I have seen or could have imagined," Judge Knepp said during the sentencing. He emphasized the premeditated nature of the crime and the involvement of multiple family members in the murder plot. In addition to her prison sentence, Amanda has been ordered to pay $2,108,559.36 in restitution. The funds are intended to cover the financial losses resulting from Timothy's death, including support for their three daughters. Timothy's family and friends expressed relief at the sentencing but remain grief-stricken over the loss. The case has drawn attention to the complexities of custody disputes and the potential for such situations to escalate tragically. Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK’s Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, Justice for Harmony Montgomery, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com