3 facing fed murder charges

WAPAKONETA - Three people charged locally last week with aggravated murder in the death of a 36-year-old man now have been arrested on federal charges.

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

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 Wednesday news release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Cleveland Division.

Green, Amanda Hovanec and Theodorou now face new federal charges, the FBI release states.

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.

According to the FBI release, on or about April 24, Amanda Hovanec is accused of injecting the victim identified in a criminal complaint as T.H. with M99, a name used for Etorphine HCI, a schedule II controlled substance.

Amanda Hovanec allegedly injected the victim while standing next to a 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 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 the victim's body in the garage, according to the FBI release.

Prior to the crime, Amanda Hovanec informed her mother, Green, of her intention to kill the victim, the release states. She then informed Green that 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 releases states. Theodorou reportedly followed Hovanec to Dayton and provided transportation back to the Hovanec residence.

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 laster 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.

The Wapakoneta Police Department reportedly was contacted by local hotel staff when the victim failed to check out of his hotel room and personal belongings were left untouched for two days.

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.

Each of the three have a detention hearing beginning at 9:30 a.m. Friday before Magistrate Judge Darrell A. Clay in the U.S. District Court's Northern District of Ohio in Toledo, a court spokesperson said Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the FBI Cleveland Division declined to comment on the reasons why this incident is now a federal case.

"The federal government elected to take on the case," Auglaize County Prosecutor Ed Pierce said Tuesday. "I won't speculate on why the federal government elected to take that on."

Bond hearings had been scheduled for Amanda Hovanec, Green and Theodorou Monday morning in Auglaize County Municipal Court. However, the hearings were vacated on Monday morning, court records show.

The three were transferred Tuesday morning "from the custody of the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office to federal officials for transportation to the, I believe, Lucas County Jail," Pierce said.

"No one was ever released," Pierce added. "All three have remained in custody since late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning (April 27-28)."

At this point the state aggravated murder charges in Auglaize County will be dismissed, allowing the federal charges to go forward, Pierce said.

"The status of the case in Auglaize County is that it will be dismissed pending further proceedings in the federal court," he said.