An Ohio woman told her husband she had "a surprise" for him moments before injected him with a lethal poison during a child custody exchange.
Amanda Hovanec, 37, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to several charges, including distributing a controlled substance that resulted in the death of her husband, Timothy.
A dash camera recorded as the April 2022 attack unfolded, after Hovanec's husband dropped off their three daughters at her home in Wapakoneta, Ohio.
Authorities would later recover the footage from Timothy's abandoned car in Dayton, Ohio, after he was reported missing when he failed to check out of his hotel.
Hovanec and her mother, Anita Green, can be seen waiting outside near the garage as she walks towards Timothy's car and tells the couple's daughters, "I have a surprise for you inside."
Moments later, he can be heard saying, "What the heck are you doing? Did you just assault me?" and then, "Get away from me... Get off of me," according to the US Attorney's Office.
"She 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 statement reads.
"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."
She then disposed of his car and buried his body in nearby woods.
Authorities believe the murder stemmed from a custody dispute over their children from years prior.
Hovanec filed for divorce from her husband in 2020, following her return to the US after living in South Africa for two years for her husband's job.
Hovanec reportedly began an extramarital affair with South African citizen Anthony Theodorou.
"In December 2021, she began to deny her husband visitation with their children despite a court order to permit it," authorities revealed.
"After her husband filed several contempt motions against Hovanec for denying visitation, a judge ordered that the children be given visitation with their father in April 2022."
Furthermore, the judge ordered Timothy to be the children's residential parent for two months beginning in May; however, the arrangement had not yet started at the time he was killed.
Hovanec admitted to law enforcement that she injected her husband—a US Department of State employee—with a lethal substance.
She obtained the poison through Theodorou, who was in Ohio at the time of the murder and helped her bury Timothy's body.
Green knew of the murder scheme and was subsequently charged as an accessory to the killing, earning her 10 years in prison.
"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.
On top of her 40-year sentence, Hovanec was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release and pay more than $2 million in restitution.
