Welcome back to Kern Affairs.

Finally, it's been a couple weeks, I think, since we were here, Andy.

Our show about the cases of love gone fatally wrong that are in the news right this very

minute.

Tonight, a story that proves sometimes the most dangerous part of a Department of State posting

isn't the diplomatic relations.

It's the ones happening behind closed doors.

In 2018, Timothy Hovenack was living what appeared to be the perfect expat life.

A position with the U.S. Department of State had taken him to South Africa,

accompanied by his wife Amanda and their three children.

But as anyone who's ever watched a true crime documentary knows,

perfection often has a way of concealing something far more sinister.

While Timothy was busy representing American interests abroad,

Amanda Hovenek was cultivating some unauthorized international relations of her own.

Enter Anthony Theodoro, a South African citizen who would eventually play a starring role in this transcontinental tragedy.

And by starring role, we mean a man who would later source enough animal tranquilizer to sedate a small safari.

By 2020, the Hovinex head returned stateside where Amanda promptly filed for divorce.

But apparently, Sandra divorce proceedings weren't quite dramatic enough. She began

systematically denying Timothy access to their children, flagrantly violating court orders.

The judicial system, however, had other ideas. After Timothy filed multiple contempt motions,

a judge granted him visitation rights in April of 2022. But Amanda wasn't finished. The court then

delivered what she apparently considered an unacceptable plot twist. Timothy would become the

...