Who is Anthony Todt and what was he convicted of?
ANTHONY Todt was charged with the murders of his wife, children, and dog at their Florida home in 2020.
The murders were discovered when police arrived with an arrest warrant for Todt for federal health care fraud charges.
Who is Anthony Todt?
Police arrived at Anthony Todt's home in Celebration, Florida on January 13, 2020, with an arrest warrant for federal health care fraud charges that were related to his physical therapy business in Connecticut.
What police saw upon entering the home was the devastating scene of Anthony Todt's wife, Megan Todt, 42, their three children Alek, 13, Tyler, 11, and Zoe, 4; and their dog Breezy's decomposing bodies wrapped in blankets.
Todt was arrested and charged with their murders and investigators presented a recording in which Todt confessed to murdering his wife before turning to his children.
Assistant State Attorney Danielle Pinnell said during Todt's confession he told investigators that “they bring their children into this world, they should get to decide when they leave."
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A coroner found Megan had suffered two stab wounds and the children had been strangled and prosecutors said Todt had been living with his families' bodies for more than a week before police arrived on the scene.
Todt claimed he and Megan had made a pact to kill their children before the "apocalypse" to achieve "salvation."
Pinnell said during Todt's confession, he said he and his wife believed “they bring their children into this world, they should get to decide when they leave."
“Everybody needed to die in order to pass over to the other side together because the apocalypse was coming,” Pinnell told jurors in the trial’s opening statements.
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In the recording, Todt claimed when he and Megan told their children they would be killing themselves, they said, "We don't want you to die. We want to die with you."
However, Todt changed his story in court, pleading innocence to the murders and saying his wife had killed their children and the dog before stabbing herself.
“I loved my wife. I loved my kids,” he told the judge. “They were first and foremost in my life. I did not do this. I provided for my wife. I provided for kids. I did everything I could.”
What was Anthony Todt charged with?
The prosecution charged Anthony Todt with the first-degree murder of his wife and three children and animal cruelty.
Throughout the trial, Todt continued to claim his innocence despite the recorded confession after his arrest.
While in court, Todt claimed his wife had been ill and described her as an invalid who was so ill she couldn't walk up the stairs or take care of herself.
Megan Todt's uncle Stewart Peil, testified that he hadn't noticed any indication that Megan was unwell and he had no knowledge of a suicide pact or Megan having conspiratorial beliefs in an apocalypse.
The last time Peil said he saw the family alive had been six months earlier and everything had seemed normal.
"She was fine, the kids were fine, everyone was fine,” he said during his testimony.
“She was very sick ten years ago but she was treated and she was fine and she recovered,” he said.
“... There was never any indication that she was frail or weak. This whole story that she was an invalid that he had to take care of, wasn’t true with me.”
The reported when Todt confessed he told investigators he killed his youngest daughter first and sat on her bed for a while before smothering her with a pillow.
"I needed to save her soul," the newspaper reported. "I wanted her to be with us."
Was Anthony Todt convicted?
Anthony Todt was convicted on April 14, 2022, of all charges for the first-degree murder of his wife and children and one animal cruelty charge for killing the family dog, Breezy.
Prosecutors did not seek to impose the death penalty, and after the 12-person jury found Todt guilty, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Todt took the stand one final time on April 13 and told the jury, "I was covering for my wife, obviously, unsuccessfully. I had no clue how my kids died.”
“My testimony today is the fact that Megan killed her kids and killed herself,” he said.
In the closing arguments, Pinnell told the jurors that Todt “described himself as this loyal ‘I’ll do anything, I’ll take the blame for Megan’ man.
"But something interesting that he said is, ‘Megan killed her kids.’ Not our kids. Not my kids. Her kids.”
Todt's father, Bob Todt, told the Orlando Sentinel that he believed his son's confessions should not have been allowed during the trial because of his poor mental health.
He claimed Todt had suffered from poor mental health and was admitted to the hospital under the Baker Act.
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Judge Carsten ruled Todt's mental health wouldn't be presented to the jury, and Bob Todt said he believes that decision led to his son's conviction.
“I think the blocking of his mental capacity was a killer,” he told the , adding, “I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this."
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