More details in Auglaize murder case

TOLEDO - Three people facing federal charges in the murder of Timothy Hovanec, 36, remain incarcerated following a detention hearing Friday morning in the U.S. District Court's Northern District of Ohio in Toledo.

Anita Green, 61, executive director of the Auglaize County Farm Service Agency, Wapakoneta; Green's daughter Amanda Hovanec, 35, Wapakoneta; and Anthony Theodorou, 34, South Africa, all were charged with aggravated murder in the death of Timothy Hovanec, who last resided in Herndon, Virginia, according to an Auglaize County Sheriff's Office news release last week.

Green, Amanda Hovanec and Theodorou now face new federal charges.

The three and their respective attorneys made their first appearance in federal court Friday morning before Magistrate Judge Darrell A. Clay, court documents show. All three waived preliminary hearings and the matter is now bound over to the grand jury.

Hovanec is charged with distribution of a controlled substance that resulted in death, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance that resulted in death and importation of a controlled substance that resulted in death.

Theodorou is charged with distribution of a controlled substance that resulted in death, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance that resulted in death, importation of a controlled substance that resulted in death and accessory after the fact.

Green is charged with accessory after the fact.

Timothy and Amanda Hovanec were involved in a divorce case with children in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court, court records show. Green is Amanda Hovanec's mother, according to a federal affidavit.

Timothy Hovanec was a security engineering officer with the U.S. Department of State, according to the federal affidavit. He and Amanda Hovanec reportedly moved to Germany for his job and were there for roughly two years. Timothy Hovanec was then transferred to South Africa. In 2020, Amanda Hovanec reportedly initiated divorce proceedings against her husband. During their time in South Africa, Amanda Hovanec developed a relationship with Theodorou, the affidavit states.

Timothy Hovanec returned to Wapakoneta to attend a child custody hearing with Amanda Hovanec scheduled for April 22, per the affidavit. Prior to the hearing the judge ruled there was not enough time to review all the evidence before the hearing. He ordered that Timothy Hovanec be given visitation with their three children from 7 p.m. April 22 until 7 p.m. April 24. He further ordered Timothy Hovanec was to be the residential parent of custody and legal custodian for the children from May 28 through Aug. 5, the affidavit states.

When reportedly dropping his children off at Amanda Hovanec's residence on Middle Pike Road, Wapakoneta, on April 24, Amanda Hovanec is accused of injecting her estranged husband with M99, a name used for Etorphine HCI, a schedule II controlled substance, per an FBI release. The affadavit indicates Theodoru obtained the drug, an animal tranquilizer, from an acquaintence who received it from a veterinarian in South Africa.

A dash camera of Timothy Hovanec's vehicle captured the events, the affidavit states.

Amanda Hovanec allegedly injected him while standing next to the vehicle. She then reportedly pulled on her estranged husband's hand and shirt as he tried to use a cellphone.

"She then aggressively wrestled for the victim's phone, eventually knocking it out of his hand. Hovanec proceeds to pull on the victim's back and neck, pulling the victim to the ground," the FBI release alleges. "She continues to hold the victim around the neck (not choking) until his body goes limp, removes what appeared to be an Apple watch and turns off the vehicle. The victim laid unconscious and unresponsive in the driveway."

Hovanec allegedly placed her husband's body in the garage, according to an FBI release.

Prior to the crime, Amanda Hovanec informed Green, of her intention to kill the victim, the release states. She then informed Green it had been done.

Amanda Hovanec allegedly drove the victim's vehicle to a location in Dayton, removing the license plate and discarding the vehicle, the release states. Theodorou reportedly followed Hovanec to Dayton and provided transportation back to the Hovanec residence on Middle Pike Road in Wapakoneta.

Furthermore, Amanda Hovanec and Theodorou, after returning from Dayton, allegedly placed the victim's body in the back of her Honda Pilot. The two agreed Green would transport them to a pre-determined location and Green would return two hours later after they buried the body in a wooded area at the northwest corner of Blank Pike and Wrestle Creek Road in Auglaize County, the FBI release indicates.

When interviewed at the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office on April 27, Amanda Hovanec allegedly confessed to the killing, admitting to injecting her estranged husband in the shoulder with a poison or drug that she understood would kill him within minutes.

She allegedly said she received the drug in the mail roughly a month before killing Timothy Hovanec, the affidavit states. She also indicated Theodorou shipped the drug from South Africa.

Theodorou, when speaking with investigators, allegedly said Amanda Hovanec had been talking about killing Timothy Hovanec for about a year. Due to the custody issue, she felt this was the only way to prevent the children from spending the summer with their father, the affidavit states.

According to the affidavit, Theodorou said he obtained the substance used to kill Timothy Hovanec.

Green while speaking with investigators allegedly acknowledged that she was aware her daughter was planning to do something to Timothy Hovanec but did not believe that anything would actually occur.

According to the affidavit, Green said her role was to get the children into the house away from the driveway. Prior to Timothy Hovanec arriving to return the children Green said she noticed a towel lying on a table in the room near the door leading to the driveway, per the affidavit. As Green approached the item, her daughter told her to not touch it as it was poison, the affidavit states.

Green initially claimed she had no knowledge Timothy Hovanec was dead, according to the affidavit.

"When asked why she didn't contact law enforcement at any point she said that she was concerned Amanda would be taken from her," the affidavit reads. "Later in the interview, Green added during the drive to take Amanda and Theodorou to bury (Timothy Hovanec's) body she realized that she was now involved."

An FBI agent was contacted by a Wapakoneta police officer on April 27 about belongings left unattended in a room at Best Western Hotel, Wapakoneta, the affidavit states.

A joint investigation culminating in the three arrests was conducted by the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office, FBI agents and task force officers of the Northwest Ohio Safe Streets Task Force, Ohio BCI, Wapakoneta Police Department, St. Marys Police Department, Grand Lake Task Force, Lucas County coroner and the Auglaize County coroner.