Dashcam Captures Moment Woman Injects Deadly Poison Into Ex-Husband Over Custody Dispute: Prosecutors

Amanda Hovanec, 37, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the killing of her ex-husband when he arrived at her house to drop off their three young daughters. While she initially tried to deny any involvement in his death, she confessed after being confronted with the damning footage.

Amanda and her mother, Anita Green, are seen in the footage dated April 24, 2022, standing on the porch of the home they shared as Timothy Hovanec, 36, pulled into the driveway with their children in tow.

According to Northern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney's Office, this was two days after Timothy had been "given visitation" of his daughters for that weekend and for the summer, with a judge granting he be "the residential parent of custody and legal custodian of the three children for the summer beginning May 28, 2022 until August 5, 2022."

Per a press release from the Northern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney's Office, the video shows Amanda telling the girls, "I have a surprise for you inside," shortly after Timothy pulled into her driveway. After the children and Green went inside, and as Timothy was unloading car seats from his vehicle, Amanda made her move, according to a government sentencing brief in the case.

The footage captured Timothy saying, "What the heck are you doing? Did you just assault me?" followed by, "Get away from me ... Get off of me," per the prosecution. Shortly after, as detailed in the release, the former couple came into view of the camera, with Amanda holding onto his shirt and ultimately knocking his 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," said prosecutors.

She then picked up his cellphone, removed his smartwatch, and turned off his vehicle engine, which ended the dashcam recording, according to the court documents -- which included a screenshot of the footage (above).

Authorities later uncovered the video when they recovered his abandoned vehicle.

They also determined, per the prosecution, that Timothy had been injected with a substance known as M-99, or etorphine, a substance used as an animal tranquilizer that is 1,000 times more powerful than morphine and lethal to humans within minutes.

The investigation into what happened to Timothy Hovanec began when he failed to check out of the hotel he'd been staying at, leaving behind his belongings, as detailed by the U.S. State Department. As he was a federal employee, the FBI got involved.

A missing persons investigation eventually uncovered his abandoned vehicle in Dayton, Ohio. Inside the vehicle was dashcam footage of what appears to have been his final moments alive.

Amanda had initially denied any involvement with her ex-husband's death, according to the filings via Law & Crime, saying he'd left after dropping off their children. After being shown the video footage, she reportedly confessed to injecting him in the shoulder.

She admitted that she knew what she'd injected her ex-husband would kill him within minutes, but did not know specifically what it was, only referring to it as a "poison" or "drug," per court documents.

The suspect further admitted to trying to get rid of his car in Dayton and attempting to deal with his body. In court documents reported by The Daily Mail, she "put a plastic bag" over his body "because she was concerned about fluids."

The documents then stated that her mother, who was present in the dashcam video before the attack that took Timothy's life, helped her the following day to dispose of the body. They took it to a pre-dug grave near property owned by Amanda's grandfather and buried him.

Court documents revealed that while they were married, Amanda and TImothy traveled several times with his job as a researcher for the U.S. State Department. One of those moves brought them to South Africa in 2018, where prosecutors argued Amanda began a relationship with a local citizen named Anthony Theodorou.

After their return to the United States, Amanda began divorce proceedings in 2020, and in 2021 began to deny him visitation rights with their daughters, violating a court order. It was this that led to Timothy taking his case to court and being granted visitation for the summer, as well as the judge enforcing his existing visitation rights.

It was after the judge had granted Timothy rights for that weekend, which he spent swimming with his daughters at his hotel, that Amanda reached out to Theodorou to see if he knew of anyone who might be able to kill her ex-husband, according to The Lima News.

According to the testimony of FBI Special Agent A.J. Eilerman at the sentencing hearing, Theodorou did find two hitmen for the job, but they either backed out or disappeared. It was at this point, he argued, that the plan shifted to poison.

Testimony in the hearing claimed Amanda allegedly suggested Theodorou hide the vial with jewelry and other items for shipping to the United States, which happened in February 2022.

After the murder, and subsequent arrests of all three accomplices, Theodorou challenged assertions that Green's involvement was limited to helping dispose of the body.

He testified that Green took both him and Amanda to the wooded site so they could "dig the hole" the evening before the murder, and then came back by every hour to see if they were ready to be picked up. All three left their cellphones at the house to avoid location tracking to the gravesite.

Amanda Hovanec pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a controlled substance, importation of controlled substances, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and distribution of a controlled substance that resulted in death.

She was sentenced to 40 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $2,105,559.36, per the U.S. Justice Department.

At her sentencing hearing, she said, "No matter how I try to explain my actions, it comes down to me being selfish."

Her mother, Anita Green, pled guilty to being an accessory after the fact. She was given the maximum sentence allowed of 121 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

"I pray for Tim’s family every day," Green said at the hearing. "And that comes with tears and that comes with shame and trying to overcome guilt."

Theodorou's sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. today.