An Ohio mother has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after she was caught on camera ambushing and fatally injecting her ex-husband with a powerful animal tranquilizer during an ugly battle over custody of their children. announced federal prosecutors.
Amanda Hovanek, 37, pleaded guilty this week to poisoning Timothy Hovanek, 36, who arrived at his Wapakoneta home in 2022 to drop off his three daughters.
Newly released footage of the disturbing attack, recorded on her father's dashcam, shows Hovanek telling the girls as they emerge from the car that he has a “surprise” for them. federal officials said.
Just seconds after the girls were led into the house by Hovanek's own mother, Timothy, a US State Department researcher, was heard screaming. Did you just attack me? ” and “Get away from me… stay away from me.”
Footage released after Hovanek's sentencing showed the killer's ex-wife tugging on Timothy's shirt and struggling with him as he administered the toxic jab.
“She then pulled him by the back, pushed him to the ground, and held him by the neck until he went limp and unresponsive, leaving him lying in the driveway,” the prosecutor said.
“Mr. Hovanek stood up, grabbed her husband's cell phone, removed his smartwatch, and turned off the car's engine. At that point, the dashcam stopped recording,” police added.
Investigators later determined that Timothy had been injected with M99, or etorphine, a semi-synthetic opioid 1,000 to 3,000 times more potent than morphine.
“Hovanek's violent and deliberate actions were callous, calculated and cruel,” said Rebecca Lutzko, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
“Her extreme malice towards her husband and her complete disregard for how his murder would affect innocent children is incomprehensible and inexcusable.
“We know that no amount of time in prison can bring back a family's loved one. However, our hope is that the victim's family will work hard to recover from this unimaginably horrific tragedy.” It's about making people feel a sense of closure while doing so.”
The deadly saga unfolds as the former couple are embroiled in a messy custody battle over their three daughters.
Prosecutors said Hovanek filed for divorce in 2020, shortly after the family returned from a two-year stint in South Africa for Timothy's State Department job.
While abroad, Hovanek met and began a relationship with her soon-to-be boyfriend, Anthony Theodore, according to the criminal complaint.
The parents began their legal battle in late 2021 after Hovanek tried to prevent her from seeing her ex-husband and their daughters.
Then, in early 2022, a judge ordered Timothy to be allowed to have a baby girl for an extended period of time over the coming summer, prosecutors said.
He was killed before the visitation period began, according to the complaint.
Following the fatal poisoning, prosecutors said Hovanek initially tried to cover up her crime, but later confessed to injecting her ex-husband with drugs, disposing of his car and burying his body in the woods near her home. said.
Authorities initially searched for Timothy after she was reported missing after failing to check out of a nearby hotel.
When police found his abandoned car, they found dashcam footage.
Investigators later determined that the substance used in the attack was suspected to have been obtained by Hovanek's South African boyfriend, prosecutors said.
Teodor, who was charged as an accomplice, is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday.
Hovanek's mother, Anita Green, was also charged as an accomplice and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
