Ohio Woman Sentenced to 40 Years for Murdering Her Husband with Poison

In a disturbing story out of Toledo, Ohio, on October 1, a woman named Amanda Hovanec was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the poisoning death of her husband.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a press release that:

Amanda Hovanec, 37, of Wapakoneta, Ohio, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison by U.S. District Judge James R. Knepp, II, after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including distributing a controlled substance that resulted in the death of her husband. Amanda Hovanec was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,108,559.36.

A custody dispute gone wrong

Hovanec and her husband Timothy were married with three children. Timothy’s job with the U.S. Department of State had them moving several times, including a stint in South Africa in 2018. While there, Hovanec developed a relationship with a man named Anthony Theodorou. She initiated divorce proceedings after returning to the United States in 2020. In December 2021, Hovanec began to deny her husband visitation rights with the children, even though there was a court order permitting him to see them.

The DOJ further elaborates that, “After her husband filed several contempt motions against Hovanec for denying visitation, a judge ordered that the children be given visitation with their father in April 2022, and further ordered that the husband become the residential parent and legal custodian of their children for two months that summer, beginning in May.”

The children had visitation with their father as scheduled during a weekend visitation in early April, after which he returned them to Hovanec’s residence. Later, when Timothy failed to check out of an area hotel, a missing persons investigation was opened.

An investigation found his car abandoned in Dayton, Ohio. It had been equipped with a dash camera, and a review of the camera’s footage found that he returned the children around 7:00 pm on April 4, 2022. Footage showed Hovanec and her mother, Anita Green, waiting by the garage. Hovanec sent the children and her mother inside, telling them she had a surprise for them, and then approached the driver’s side of Timothy’s vehicle.

Per the DOJ:

Seconds later, the victim was heard saying, “What the heck are you doing?  Did you just assault me?” and then, “Get away from me  . . .  Get off of me.”  The victim and Hovanec came into the camera’s view, at which time video footage captured her pulling on her husband’s shirt as he tried to use his cellphone. She wrestled with him and eventually knocked the phone out of his hand. 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. Hovanec stood up, picked up her husband’s cellphone, removed his smart watch, and turned off his vehicle’s engine, at which point the dash camera stopped recording.

Hovanec confessed to investigators that she injected Timothy in the shoulder with a poison that would kill him within minutes. She also confessed to disposing of his car in Dayton and burying his body in a wooded area not far from her home. Further:

Theodorou was in Ohio at the time of the incident.  He not only obtained the substance used to kill the victim, but also helped Hovanec bury her husband’s body. Green, who both Hovanec and Theodorou confirmed knew about the plan to murder the victim in advance, was charged as an accessory after the fact. She agreed to drive them and the victim’s body to the grave site, which was dug in advance of the murder.

Authorities determined Timothy was injected with something called M-99, also known as Etorphine. Etorphine is a Schedule I controlled substance almost “1000 times more potent than morphine.” M-99 is generally used in veterinary settings for zoo and wildlife anesthesia.

Court records show that Hovanec planned to kill Timothy for more than a year, and at one point, she considered hiring a hitman.

“Hovanec’s violent and intentional actions were cold-blooded, calculated, and cruel. Her extreme malevolence toward her husband and complete disregard for how his murder would affect their innocent children is incomprehensible and unforgivable,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “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.”

For his part in the murder, Theodorou was sentenced to 18 years in prison and three years of supervised release after he pled guilty to conspiracy to import, importation and distribution of a controlled substance that resulted in death.

The DOJ further reports, “This case was investigated by the FBI Cleveland Division, Lima Resident Agency, the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), and the Lucas County Coroner’s Office.”

At Epperson Law Group, we fight for the rights of parents and their children. If you are involved in a child custody dispute, don’t wait to get help. We have the resources to handle any case, no matter how complex. For questions about your specific child custody case, please call us in Charlotte or contact us today. We also maintain offices in Boone, Concord, and Weddington.