Ohio woman sentenced to 40 years in prison for husband’s murder

TOLEDO — Amanda Hovanec, 37, of Wapakoneta, Ohio, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including distributing a controlled substance that led to the death of her husband, Timothy Hovanec.

U.S. District Judge James R. Knepp, II, also sentenced Hovanec to 10 years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $2.1 million in restitution.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Amanda and Timothy Hovanec were married with three children and had moved frequently for Timothy’s job with the U.S. Department of State.

After returning to the U.S. from South Africa in 2018, Amanda began a relationship with a South African citizen, Anthony Theodorou, and initiated divorce proceedings against her husband in 2020.

In April 2022, following a court-ordered visitation, Timothy Hovanec went missing.

Law enforcement later discovered his abandoned car in Dayton, Ohio, and dash camera footage revealed Amanda had physically assaulted him outside her Wapakoneta home shortly after he dropped off their children.

She later confessed to injecting him with M-99, a powerful veterinary anesthetic, and disposing of his body with Theodorou’s help.

The investigation found that Amanda had considered killing her husband for over a year and had plotted the murder with Theodorou, who provided the lethal substance.

Amanda’s mother, Anita Green, was also implicated, helping to transport and bury the victim’s body.

Theodorou was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Green received a 10-year sentence for her role as an accessory.

Federal prosecutors described the murder as “cold-blooded, calculated, and cruel,” emphasizing the devastating impact on the couple’s children.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office, and Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.