Anthony Todt found guilty of murdering wife Megan and three kids in celebration, Home Florida

More than two years after authorities discovered Anthony Todt’s family murdered and wrapped in blankets inside their rental home near Disney World, the Connecticut physical therapist was found guilty.

Todt, 46, shakes his head as he is found guilty of murder for the death of his 42-year-old wife, Megan, and their 3 children in December 2019 – Alek 13, Tyler 11, and 4 – Zoey, age — inside their Celebration, Florida home. Todd was also found guilty an animal crime for killing the family dog, Breezy. The medical examiner found that all but Zoey had stab wounds.

After the verdict was read out, Todt spoke directly to Circuit Judge Keith Carsten, saying he loved his wife and children, while emphasizing that Megan had verbally abused the children. “I maintain my chastity,” he said.

“You, Anthony John Todt, are the destroyer of the world,” Carsten told him.

Thursday night’s verdict came after Todt stood up for himself, claiming that although he confessed to killing his family multiple times, it was his wife who actually killed the family. However, prosecutors allege that Todt killed his family with Benadryl before stabbing her and the children in a twisted murder-suicide deal with his wife that would have allowed them to “get over” with each other before the end of the world.

Assistant State Attorney Danielle Pinnell told jurors during arguments that ended Thursday that Todt took steps to try to mislead law enforcement after they discovered [the families] body — told a detective that “they bring their children into this world, they have to decide when they leave.”

“[Todt] Pinnell told jurors at Osceola County Courthouse.

However, Todt’s defense team insisted that prosecutors were unable to prove that it was Todt who killed his family and not his wife. They pointed out that the medical examiner concluded Todt’s family died of unspecified violence but could not conclude whether they suffocated or the Benadryl overdose played a role in the murders.

“There are holes. There are gaps. There is reasonable doubt,” Alesha Smith, Todt’s public defender, said on Thursday. “If the medical examiner cannot give you the actual cause of death, that should lead to reasonable doubt.”

While standing at Wednesday’s meeting, Todt told jurors his wife had a chronic, lifelong illness, which motivated her to believe that the family needed to die in order to be reincarnated into another life. live better. As her illness progressed, Todt said his wife began watching online videos predicting the coming apocalypse and offering perspectives on how to achieve “salvation.”

“She went from being a very strong, bubbly woman to barely holding on to 90 pounds,” Todt said. “She’s gone from being an all-inclusive mother… to someone who can barely take the stairs on certain days.”

In the end, Todt claims, her unwavering belief in starting a new life led her to kill their children with a tainted “pudding” of Benadryl then stab herself in the stomach. .

“I came home and my children died,” Todt said. “It was the most horrible day of my life. What’s more terrifying is that my wife also died right in front of me.”

But jurors heard the confession Todt is said to have made shortly after his death, in which he told detectives that he and his wife planned to kill their children and themselves to “get over it.” dry up” before the end of the world. In the tape-recorded confession, Todt said he first “rolled over on top of” Zoey “until she suffocated” then killed his two sons by suffocating and stabbing them.

He said his wife then stabbed herself twice – and when that didn’t work, he strangled her with a pillow. Todt is later said to have admitted to suffocating the dog.

“I needed to save her soul,” Todt says in the video, noting that he wants his family on “the other side.” “I want her to be with us.”

In the end, Todt said he tried to kill himself in a variety of ways, including attempting to overdose on Benadryl and hanging himself – then “discoloring” when he tried to use a knife.

But on the ground, he said he doesn’t remember confessing to any crime, and only remembers telling his wife before she died that he would admit fault.

“I am protecting my wife. Obviously unsuccessful. I don’t know how my baby died,” Todt testified.

The family’s shocking death was only discovered when relatives asked representatives of Sheriff Osceola to perform a health check over Christmas 2019 after receiving no response from them. Prosecutors say an FBI agent investigating Todt’s Connecticut business for medical fraud also asked the Florida sheriff’s office to locate Todt. Police were eventually able to enter the home after receiving an arrest warrant for Todt’s alleged financial crimes. They found the badly decomposed bodies of Megan, Alek, Tyler and Zoey in the upstairs master bedroom, all covered with blankets.