Dash camera captures woman fatally injecting husband with ‘poison’ in Ohio, US feds say

An Ohio woman was sentenced to prison after officials say she killed her husband then buried his body.

Amanda Hovanec, 37, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in connection to the death of her husband, Timothy Hovanec, in April 2022.

McClatchy News reached out to Amanda Hovanec’s attorney, but he declined to comment.

Timothy goes missing

Amanda and Timothy Hovanec shared three children together, according to an Oct 1 news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

In 2018, while Timothy was on a work assignment in South Africa, Amanda Hovanec began a relationship with a South African citizen, Anthony Theodorou, officials said.

Two years later, in 2020, Amanda Hovanec filed for divorce. Then in December 2021, she refused to allow Timothy to see their children, according to officials. After filing several complaints with the court, Timothy was granted visitation, the release said.

After an April 2022 visitation, Timothy returned the children to Amanda Hovanec at her Wapakoneta home, officials said. However, Timothy never returned to his hotel and a missing persons investigation was opened.

Killing caught on video

Investigators found Timothy’s car abandoned in Dayton. That’s when they discovered dash camera video that was recorded the day Timothy dropped his children off to Amanda Hovanec, according to the release.

The video showed that Timothy pulled up to Amanda Hovanec’s residence around 7pm on April 24, 2022. The video showed Amanda Hovanec and her mother, Anita Green, waiting outside near a garage, officials said.

Amanda Hovanec then walked toward the driver’s side of the car and told the children, “I have a surprise for you inside,” officials said. The children are then seen going inside the home with Green.

Moments later, Timothy is heard saying, “What the heck are you doing? Did you just assault me?” and then, “Get away from me … Get off of me,” officials said.

“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,” officials said in the release.

Amanda Hovanec got up and took Timothy’s cellphone and smartwatch, then turned off his car, which ended the recording, according to officials.

Investigators said Amanda Hovanec admitted to injecting her husband in the shoulder with “poison” that she knew would “kill him within minutes”, officials said.

After injecting him with what was later discovered to be Etorphine, a substance 1,000 times more potent than morphine, Green drove Amanda Hovanec and Theodorou to a wooded area near their home, where the two buried Timothy’s body, according to officials.

Amanda Hovanec contemplated killing Timothy for at least a year, court records said, according to the release.

“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 US Attorney Rebecca Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio.

Theodorou is also accused of providing the Etorphine to Amanda Hovanec, officials said.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a controlled substance, importation of a controlled substance, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance and distribution of a controlled substance, according to court records. He will be sentenced Oct 3.

Green pleaded guilty to accessory and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

McClatchy News reached out to attorneys for Green and Theodorou but did not immediately hear back. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service