In Ohio, a 38-year-old woman is facing a life sentence after being convicted of murdering her husband, whom she ambushed and lethally injected with animal tranquilizer during a 2022 custody exchange. This tragic incident has left a profound impact on all parties involved.

Amanda Leigh Hovanec recently stood before the Auglaize County Court of Common Pleas, where she confessed to one count of aggravated murder in the tragic demise of her 36-year-old husband, Timothy Hovanec, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.

Already serving a 40-year sentence in a federal prison, Amanda had previously pleaded guilty to various felonies, including distributing a controlled substance that resulted in death. During her federal sentencing, Amanda admitted to the court that the motive behind her husband’s murder was rooted in her own selfish desires.

Amanda and Timothy Hovanec were parents to three daughters. Timothy, a researcher for the U.S. State Department, had his family relocate multiple times, including a notable stay in South Africa in 2018. It was during this period that Amanda became romantically involved with a South African citizen, Anthony Theodorou.

Theodorou, along with Amanda’s mother, Anita Green, have also been implicated in federal crimes related to Timothy’s murder. Both are awaiting trial in state court, adding another layer of complexity to this tragic family saga.

Upon returning to the United States in 2020, Amanda filed for divorce. However, despite a court order, she denied Timothy visitation rights with their children, a fact highlighted by federal prosecutors in their statement.

But two days before the slaying, a judge ordered the victim be given two-day custody of the kids and that he be “the residential parent of custody and legal custodian of the children for the summer, beginning on May 28, 2022 until August 5, 2022.”

During Timothy Hovanec’s two days of custody, Amanda Hovanec concocted the plan to inject him with M-99, a drug that is about a thousand times more potent than morphine, which prosecutors said is “used in veterinary medicine for zoo and wildlife anesthesia.”

Federal prosecutors filed a sentencing memo stating that the victim was “unloading the children’s car seats from his car” when Amanda Hovanec sneaked up and injected him with the drug. The attack was recorded by the victim’s dashcam.

“The children entered the residence, followed by Green. Seconds later, the victim was heard saying, ‘What the heck are you doing? Did you just assault me?’ and then, ‘Get away from me . . . Get off of me,’” prosecutors wrote in a news release. “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,” the DOJ added. “Hovanec stood up, picked up her husband’s cellphone, removed his smart watch, and turned off his vehicle’s engine, at which point the dash camera stopped recording.”

The tranquilizer was shipped to Amanda Hovanec just one month earlier by Theodorou, who admittedly dug a shallow grave the day before the slaying.

From there, Amanda Hovanec “put a plastic bag over [Timothy Hovanec’s] head and body because she was concerned about fluids secreting from [Timothy Hovanec’s] body” before she dumped the victim’s remains with the help of her co-defendants.

The day after the murder, Green drove her co-defendants and the victim’s body to a pre-dug “burial site […] near farmland” that Amanda’s “grandfather used to own” and then picked them up when they were done, according to court documents.

“Prior to killing [Timothy Hovanec], Amanda told her mother, Green, that she was going to kill him,” prosecutors wrote. “After Amanda killed [Timothy Hovanec], she also informed her mother that it had been done. Amanda and Theodorou loaded [Timothy Hovanec’s] body into the back of Amanda’s Honda Pilot. Shortly thereafter, Green drove Amanda and Theodorou to where they buried the body. Amanda and Theodorou buried [Timothy Hovanec] in a wooded area located at the northwest corner of Blank Pike and Wrestle Creek Road in Auglaize County. Amanda and Theodorou used shovels from Green’s home to bury the body. Amanda said that Green dropped them off and later returned to pick her and Theodorou up at a predetermined time.”

While defendant Hovanec initially claimed that her ex simply left after dropping off the children, she confessed when confronted with the video evidence, the feds said.

“Amanda admitted she injected [Timothy Hovanec] in the shoulder while they were standing next to his vehicle after he dropped off the children,” a federal affidavit said. “Amanda was not able to name what she injected [Timothy Hovanec] with but referred to it as ‘poison’ or ‘drug.’ Amanda understood that the drug would kill him within minutes.”

A date for Amanda Hovanec’s sentencing hearing had not been set as of Monday. However, under Ohio law, she will face a mandatory sentence of life in a state correctional facility without the chance for parole.

Green and Theodorou are still facing state charges for complicity to aggravated murder. They have a pretrial hearing scheduled for March 13.