Ohio mother, Amanda Hovanec, fatally poisoned ex-husband throughout custody battle

An Ohio mother has been sentenced to 40 years behind bars after she was caught on digital camera ambushing her ex-husband and fatally injecting him with a robust animal tranquilizer throughout an unsightly custody dispute over their youngsters, federal prosecutors stated.

Amanda Hovanec, 37, pleaded responsible this week to poisoning 36-year-old Timothy Hovanec when he arrived to drop off their three daughters at her Wapakoneta dwelling in 2022.

Newly launched footage of the disturbing assault, which was captured on the daddy’s dashcam digital camera, confirmed Hovanec telling the ladies she had a “shock” for them once they emerged from the automobile, the feds said.

Simply seconds after the daughters had been led inside by Hovanec’s personal mother, Timothy — a US State Division researcher — may very well be heard shouting: “What the heck are you doing? Did you simply assault me?” and “Get away from me… Get off of me.”

The clip, launched after Hovanec’s sentencing, confirmed the killer ex-wife pulling on Timothy’s shirt and battling him as she administered the toxic jab.

“She then pulled on his again to convey him to the bottom, holding him across the neck till his physique went limp and he turned unresponsive, mendacity on the driveway,” prosecutors stated.

“Hovanec stood up, picked up her husband’s cellphone, eliminated his smartwatch, and turned off his automobile’s engine, at which level the sprint digital camera stopped recording,” the feds added.

Investigators later decided Timothy had been injected with M99, or etorphine — a semi-synthetic opioid that may be 1,000 to three,000 occasions stronger than morphine.

“Hovanec’s violent and intentional actions had been cold-blooded, calculated, and merciless,” stated Rebecca Lutzko, US Legal professional for the Northern District of Ohio.

“Her excessive malevolence towards her husband and full disregard for the way his homicide would have an effect on their harmless kids is meaningless and unforgivable.

“We all know that no period of time served can convey again a household’s liked one. However our hope is that the sufferer’s household might discover some sense of closure as they painstakingly work to heal from this unimaginable and horrific tragedy.”

The lethal saga unfolded as the previous couple had been embroiled in a messy custody battle over their three daughters.

Hovanec had filed for divorce in 2020 shortly after the household arrived dwelling from a two-year stint dwelling in South Africa as a consequence of Timothy’s State Division job, prosecutors stated.

Throughout their time overseas, Hovanec met and struck up a relationship together with her soon-to-be boyfriend, Anthony Theodorou, in keeping with a legal criticism.

The dad and mom began battling it out in court docket in late 2021 when Hovanec tried to stop her ex-husband from seeing their daughters.

Then, in early 2022, a decide ordered Timothy be allowed to have the ladies for a prolonged interval over the upcoming summer season, prosecutors stated.

He was killed earlier than that visitation interval even began, in keeping with the criticism.

Within the wake of the deadly poisoning, prosecutors stated Hovanec initially tried to cowl up her crimes — however later confessed to injecting her ex with the drug, disposing of his automobile and burying his physique in a wooded space near her dwelling.

Authorities initially zeroed in on her after Timothy was reported lacking when he failed to take a look at of the lodge he’d been staying at close by.

Cops uncovered the dashcam video once they discovered his deserted automobile.

Investigators later decided the substance used within the assault had allegedly been obtained by Hovanec’s South African boyfriend, prosecutors stated.

Theodorou, who was charged as an adjunct, is because of be sentenced Thursday.

In the meantime, Hovanec’s mother, Anita Inexperienced, who was additionally charged as an adjunct, was earlier sentenced to 10 years in jail.