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Thread: Anthony John Todt Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 FL Quadruple Murder

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    Anthony John Todt Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 FL Quadruple Murder





    4 bodies found in Celebration home; suspect in custody

    Detectives on scene in North Village area

    By Gabriella Nuñez
    ClickOrlando

    CELEBRATION, Fla. – Four bodies were found Monday in a Celebration home, Osceola County sheriff’s deputies said.

    Deputies responded to a home on Reserve Place in the North Village neighborhood just off Celebration Avenue around 9 a.m.

    Investigators said a suspect is in custody, but very few details, including the names and ages of the victims, have been released.

    Deputies said they are not searching for anyone.

    “Detectives and crime scene investigators are on scene and are at the very beginning stages of this investigation. This is an isolated incident and all parties involved with this death investigation are accounted for,” investigators said earlier in the day.

    Neighbors said they’re concerned.

    “I saw one guy arrested, for sure,” a neighbor said. “I know that something tragic had to spark this or trigger it. I can’t imagine what, but that’s the feeling I get. And yes, I want answers.”

    Celebration is an experiment in community planning called “New Urbanism.” It was often called “Disney’s Town of Celebration” in its early days but it’s not actually a town and it’s no longer owned by the Walt Disney Company.

    The census-designated place of Celebration in Osceola County backs up to the Walt Disney World Resort situated to the north of the community.

    https://www.clickorlando.com/news/lo...ebration-home/
    Last edited by Steven; 05-08-2022 at 10:19 AM.

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    Father of missing family confesses to killing wife, 3 kids and dog inside Florida home, sheriff says

    By Stephen Sorace
    Fox News

    The father of a missing Connecticut family has confessed to murdering his wife, three young children and dog after four bodies were discovered Monday inside a Florida home in a storybook community built on the outskirts of Disney World, authorities said Wednesday.

    Anthony Todt, 45, was charged with four counts of homicide in the deaths of his 42-year-old wife Megan and their three children: Alek, 13; Tyler, 11; and Zoe, 4, Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson told reporters at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. He also faces one count of animal cruelty for killing the family dog, Breezy.

    The victims died “sometime toward the end of December,” according to evidence and Todt’s statements, the sheriff said. He would not give their causes of death until the investigation is completed.

    "We grieve along with the victims' family and friends," Gibson said. "I cannot understand what would cause a person to commit such evil and horrendous acts."

    Federal agents were trying to serve Todt with a federal warrant for his arrest on Monday in connection to the Connecticut case when they found him, and the bodies, inside the Celebration, Fla. home, Gibson said.

    As he was detained, Todt was rushed to a hospital after telling deputies he had ingested pills and talked about hurting himself, the sheriff said. He was released Wednesday morning and arrested.

    Todt is expected to be transferred to Osceola County jail later Wednesday. His motive remains unclear.

    Gibson said the department conducted a welfare check on the home Dec. 29 but received no answer at the door and found nothing suspicious. A concerned family member had contacted the department because she was told the family had the flu and she had not heard from them in two days.

    He said deputies could do nothing more at the time because there was nothing suspicious that warranted deputies to enter the home.

    Authorities had remained tight-lipped about the investigation since the tragic discovery Monday, withholding the identities of the suspect and the victims. However, the family earlier had been linked to the home.

    The family had lived in Colchester, Conn., before moving to Florida, where they rented the Celebration home on May 1, 2019, for one year.

    Court records show the couple was in the process of being evicted from the home after they allegedly failed to pay their monthly rent of $4,921 in December, the Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant reported.

    The family appeared to be facing mounting money troubles.

    Todt, a physical therapist, had his license to practice in Connecticut expire due to non-renewal in September, the papers reported. Todt commuted from Florida to his office in Westchester, Conn., where he also was facing eviction.

    Reporters said a notice to quit possession posted on the office door claimed the physical therapy group had not paid rent for December or January, and owed nearly $6,300.

    The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office further confirmed to local media on Tuesday that Todt and his business were currently being investigated under the False Claims Act, which probes fraudulent claims submitted to the government.

    Days before the bodies were found, the Todt family was the subject of an online search apparently launched by relatives who said they had not heard from them.

    A Facebook page titled “Looking for the Todt’s” was created Saturday, but taken down shortly after the discovery.

    A day after the bodies were discovered in the home just four miles from Walt Disney World and originally developed by Disney, neighbors told WESH-TV that they “haven’t seen the family in weeks."

    “They used to park right in front of us so we'd see them every day coming and going, and were with the kids,” neighbor Michelle Augustin said. “The last time I saw them was around Thanksgiving time."

    However, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office in Florida along with the Connecticut State Police told local media that neither agency had received missing persons reports regarding the Todt family.

    The Connecticut State Police called the deaths “heartbreaking” in a written statement obtained by FOX61, asking the public to “exercise patience” while the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office carries out the “complex” investigation.

    “We live in Celebration,” neighbor Marcelo Rodriguez told WFTV. “It’s where dreams come true basically, right? And this has happened. So it’s really sad.”

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/connectic...picious-deaths

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    Family of Florida dad Anthony Todt found decomposed with stab wounds in home as new details emerge

    By Stephen Sorace
    Fox News

    The wife and three kids of Anthony Todt were all wrapped in blankets and decomposing, with three stabbed in the abdomen, when deputies discovered the bodies inside their Florida home earlier this month, according to documents unsealed Friday.

    Deputies with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office noticed a “strong foul odor” when they entered the home in Celebration, located near Orlando on the outskirts of Disney World, to execute a federal warrant for Todt’s arrest, an arrest affidavit said.

    The 44-year-old Todt could “barely stand and appeared to be shaking” as he tried to walk down the stairs from the second floor, a deputy said in a written report.

    When asked if anyone else was in the house, Todt said his wife, Meghan, was sleeping upstairs and his kids might be at a sleepover.

    Deputies called out Meghan’s name, but no one responded, the report said, adding that the odor grew stronger as they reached the second floor, where they found the four bodies and the body of a dog with “very visible decomposition" in a bedroom.

    “While standing outside of the master bedroom, I could see a person laying on the floor who was wrapped in blankets,” one deputy reported. “Sticking out of the blankets was a foot that was black and blue in color.”

    Meghan Todt, 42, was found lying on a bed with two stab wounds to her abdomen, according to the arrest affidavit. Their two sons, 13-year-old Alek and 11-year-old Tyler, were on the floor beside the bed. Each had one stab wound to the abdomen.

    Their 4-year-old daughter, Zoe, was found wrapped in a blanket at the foot of the bed under her mother’s feet. She did not appear to have suffered any stab wounds.

    The cause of death was still pending for each family member.

    Call records released by the sheriff’s office showed that worried relatives made several calls to after it appeared the Todts had been missing for days around Christmastime.

    “They’ve been really sick, I guess they’ve had the flu,” Todt’s sister told law enforcement during one call on Dec. 29. “They’ve had the flu for probably a couple weeks. They were really down and out during Christmas. The only person we’ve been able to talk to is my brother, and now... we can’t get a hold of any of them.”

    Deputies checked on the home several times but were unable to make contact with the family. They said they found nothing suspicious and were unable to enter the home on their own until they ultimately served Todt with the federal arrest warrant on Jan. 13 for directing an alleged Medicaid fraud scheme at his physical-therapy practice in Connecticut.

    Todt had confessed to murdering his family and their dog, Breezy, shortly after deputies took him into custody. He faced four counts of homicide and one count of animal cruelty.

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-a...d-stab-details

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    Man formally charged with killing wife, 3 children

    AP

    KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors have formally charged a man with killing his wife and three children at their Florida home near Walt Disney World.

    Four charges of second-degree murder were filed Wednesday against Anthony Todt, 44, in Osceola County court. A conviction could mean life in prison. Todt might still face the death penalty if the charges are increased to first-degree murder. Florida law requires a grand jury indictment for capital crimes. State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s office said in a statement Thursday that the second-degree murder charges were filed to keep Todt in custody until a grand jury can be convened.

    Todt was arrested earlier this month after his wife, Megan, and their children, Alek, Tyler and Zoe, were found dead at the Celebration home. An autopsy found that the wife and sons had been stabbed. The family’s dog was also killed. Officials believe they had been dead since late December.

    The bodies were found when federal agents and deputies went to the house to serve an arrest warrant. Todt was already being investigated by the FBI and agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for health care fraud, according to court documents unsealed earlier this month in Connecticut federal court.

    Authorities say he needed the money to pay off personal loans. Online records in New York state court showed Todt and his Colchester, Connecticut-based clinics were facing debts to creditors.

    According to agents, Todt and the clinics submitted claims to Medicaid and private insurers for physical therapy services that weren’t given to patients.

    https://apnews.com/4aa039dbd6c42806dad99644e8d618cd

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    Prosecutors seek death for man accused of killing wife, kids

    AP

    KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a man indicted on four counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of his wife and three children at their Florida home near Walt Disney World.

    State Attorney Aramis Ayala announced during a news conference Tuesday that an Osceola County grand jury had formally charged Anthony Todt, 44, with the four murder counts, plus one count of animal cruelty. Prosecutors had previously charged Todt with second-degree murder to keep him in custody until a grand jury could be convened. Florida law requires a grand jury indictment for capital crimes.

    Todt was arrested last month after his wife Megan and their children, Alek, Tyler and Zoe, were found dead at the Celebration home. An autopsy found that the wife and sons had been stabbed. The family’s dog was also killed. Officials believe they had been dead since late December.

    The bodies were found when federal agents and deputies went to the house to serve an arrest warrant. Todt was already being investigated by the FBI and agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for health care fraud, according to court documents unsealed earlier this month in Connecticut federal court.

    Authorities say he needed the money to pay off personal loans. Online records in New York state court showed Todt and his Colchester, Connecticut-based clinics were facing debts.

    According to agents, Todt and the clinics submitted claims to Medicaid and private insurers for physical therapy services that weren’t given to patients.

    https://apnews.com/d0b7ccf4a6056c69f721d88fb2ada784
    Last edited by Steven; 02-26-2020 at 12:28 PM.

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    DISNEY DEATHS ‘Killer’ dad ‘drugged family with Benadryl then murdered them while they were conscious but unable to move’

    By Chris Spargo
    The US Sun

    KILLER dad Anthony Todt drugged his family members with debilitating but non-fatal doses of Benadryl prior to their deaths according to court documents.

    He then allegedly stabbed his wife and two sons before their bodies had processed the over-the-counter medication, meaning that all three were alive and likely alert during the brutal massacre.

    The new information comes from toxicology reports released by the Orange County Medical Examiner which were obtained by The Sun.

    Those reports show that the three oldest family members were all stabbed shortly after their body began processing the diphenhydramine, which is the antihistamine found in Benadryl.

    Police reported that Todt had himself tried to take a lethal dose of Benadryl when they entered the house during a welfare check in mid-January.

    Aleksander, who at 13 was the older of Todt's two sons, had 7.989mg of diphenhydramine in his system at the time of his death.

    There was 6.6897mg in his liver and 1.302 mg in his brain, meaning that his father would have given him a dose of approximately 320mg prior to his death.

    That is the equivalent of 13 capsules, which each contain 25mg of diphenhydramine.

    It is one of the easiest drugs to be absorbed by the body, and it peak effects are usually felt within an hour.

    Alex, like the other members of his family, was not given a fatal dose of the over-the-counter medication.

    That would have required him to consume around 500mg, which is far more than the recommended dosage for a boy his age and weight, which is just 10mg.

    The weights for the family are not precise however as they are taken from the autopsy report, which was performed weeks after they passed away.

    Matriarch Megan Todt had 5.02mg in her body, all of which was in her brain.

    Once her weight is considered, that breaks down to approximately 235 mg.

    Tyler had 10.632mg in his liver and another 1.446mg in his brain, which combine to make 12.078mg.

    That amount, when his weight is taken into account, means that he was given close to 460mg, which would be a near-fatal dose.

    It remains a mystery however as to how Zoe lost her life since she had 2.724mg which would mean her father gave her a dosage of 37 mg.

    That is far more than the suggest 5mg, but not enough to kill the young girl.

    It is still not known how he got the Benadryl into their system or the exact cause of death, with the Medical Examiner only providing part of the toxicology report.

    A grand jury indicted Todt on four counts of first-degree murder last month, and he could be sentenced to death after the State's Attorney elected to bring back the death penalty, three years after vowing she would no longer seek that form of punishment.

    Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayayla announced her decision to reinstate the death penalty in a press conference held on the steps of the courthouse.

    "Despite my position on the death penalty, my death penalty review board, they move forward, they charge on, they have unanimously voted to seek death in this case," Ayayla told reporters.

    Todt, 45, told police that murdered his family and their dog Breezy, for which he faces an additional count of animal cruelty.

    He had entered a plea of not guilty to the previous charges of second-degree murder, which the State's Attorney charged him with to keep him behind bars while a grand jury deliberated the case.

    A number of officers report that when they entered the Disney vacation home on January 13 to arrest Todt on a separate charge, he was found just a few feet away from the marital bedroom.

    That is where he had stacked the decaying bodies of all four family members.

    Police later found Megan lying in her marital bed with her four-year-old daughter wrapped in blankets at her feet, and the two boys, 11 and 13, on a mattress on the floor.

    The boys and Megan were also covered with blankets.

    "Upon entry to the residence, a male voice could be heard from the second floor of the residence, a foul odor emitting from inside the residence ( decomposing body) and Agents continued making announcements," wrote Deputy Encarnacion of the Osceola County Sheriff's Office in his report.

    "A heavy set white male later identified as Anthony Todt was observed holding onto the railings of the second floor of the residence attempting to walk down the stairway. Anthony slowly walked down the stairway with the assistance of the Agents. Anthony was asked who else is in the residence which he stated his wife Meghan was upstairs and believes she is sleeping."

    He later noted that once in the ambulance, Todt told the EMTs "he took an unknown amount of medication (Benadryl) in an attempt to commit suicide.

    The Sun obtained records from the Office of the Medical Examiner last month that revealed Megan was stabbed twice while Aleksander and Tyler were each stabbed once, then left to rot for weeks inside the home.

    Daughter Zoe was not stabbed.

    Those reports revealed that all four victims had slippage and their skin had begun to brown, signs that the bodies had been laying dead for at least three weeks by the time they were discovered by police.

    At the same time, new court records reveal that Anthony piled the bodies of his family members and their dog into a second floor bedroom, and told his arresting officer that Megan was asleep upstairs.

    Megan, whose body was only tentatively identified, had been stabbed twice in the upper abdomen according to the report.

    One of those wounds was 3.2 x 1.1 cm wound in the area of the body that houses the liver, right kidney, gallbladder, pancreas, and large and small intestine.

    Her body was in a state of putrefactive decomposition, and she was wearing pants, a shirt and socks.

    Aleksander, 13, and Tyler, 11, were both identified by records provided by their dentist.

    The older brother was only wearing his underwear and had a single stab wound measuring 5.9 x 3 cm on his left abdomen.

    Tyler, who was wearing pants, a shirt and underwear, had a 10.7 x 2.1 cm wound on the upper abdomen.

    The youngest member of the family, 4-year-old Zoe, had no visible signs of injury and was only tentatively identified.

    It seems that the brutal massacre may have been fuelled by Anthony's own financial ruin.

    In court papers, he claims to have just $1500 in assets, coupled with debts totalling $200,000.

    Anthony Todt shared this for the first time last week in a bid to secure himself a public defender ahead of his upcoming trial.

    Todt's money troubles started to amplify one year prior when he was evicted from one of his Connecticut offices.

    He received an eviction notice for another Connecticut office on January 6 for his physical therapy practice.

    Anthony also learned in November that the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, had began investigating him since April.

    That investigation discovered he had filed multiple fraudulent claims to insurers and Medicare, which he admitted too when confronted with the findings of that probe.

    He told federal agents that his wife was unaware and promised to cooperate with the investigation, but then stopped returning their calls.

    Those agents and many of Anthony's employees said they had not seen him for over a month at the time of the murders

    Anthony had continued to work in Connecticut despite his wife Meghan and their three children relocating to their property in Florida just a few hundred feet from Disney World.

    The couple bought a home in Celebration back in 2005, a few years before they welcomed their first child.

    Records show that they struggled at times to cover their mortgage and community fees at the gated community, located just one mile away from the Walt Disney World theme parks.

    Liens were placed on their property on three occasions but in each instance the situation seemed to remedy itself a short while later.

    Anthony began taking out loans around the same time as that first lien back in 2009, and at the time of the murders owned money to over 20 different companies and creditors.

    There were also new financial troubles for the family around the time of the murder.

    Anthony and Meghan were being evicted from a rental home in that same gated community, which they had signed a lease for one year prior.

    That home, which boasted a large pool and separate apartment over the garage, was located just 500 feet from the property the couple had owned for 15 years.

    A final eviction notice had been served on December 27 and posted at the rental property.

    Court papers obtained by The Sun show that the electricity was cut at the property on that same date.

    https://www.the-sun.com/news/519007/...yl-toxicology/

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    Celebration, Fla. Murders: Woman Whose Husband Allegedly Killed Her, Kids Had 'True Calling' as Mom

    Even as a child, Megan Todt, who grew up to be a doting, hands-on mom of three, was considered the “mother” of her group of friends in Connecticut.

    “Megan was always putting together fun activities for us, from watching the life cycle of butterflies to organizing street cleanups,” her lifelong friend, Jennifer Corbett Clerkin tells PEOPLE.

    So when Megan grew up to have three children of her own, she was a natural as a mother.

    “When we reconnected as adults on Facebook, she was more than proud to share all her stories about her children,” Clerkin says. “She was such a loving mom. Megan had a true calling.”

    Now, all Clerkin has are her memories of the childhood friend who lived a few doors down on the Montville, Connecticut, cul-de-sac where they both grew up.

    On Jan. 13, police who’d gone to Megan’s home in Celebration, Florida, found the 42-year-old’s body– as well as those of her 3 children Alek, 13, Tyler, 11 and 4-year-old Zoey and their dog, Breezy, decomposing in the upstairs master bedroom, say authorities.

    In late December, Megan’s husband, Anthony Todt, 44, allegedly killed them, living with their dead bodies for nearly two weeks, say police.

    RELATED: Man Accused of Killing Family in Celebration Home Was in Deep Debt, Accused of Defrauding $130,000

    Anthony was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of animal cruelty, court records show.

    After the family was killed, authorities said the bodies were discovered by federal and local authorities who’d gone to the house to serve Anthony with a warrant on fraud charges. According to federal records, he was heavily in debt and is facing a health care fraud charge stemming from his physical therapy business.

    During questioning, he allegedly confessed to the murders, saying that overwhelming debt and a federal investigation into fraudulent activities at his physical therapy practice led him to kill his family, court records allege.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    Held without bond in jail as he awaits trial, he faces the death penalty if he’s convicted.

    His lawyer did not respond immediately to PEOPLE's request for comment.

    In the meantime, Megan’s friends and family are left to mourn her loss.

    Recalling all the time she spent with Megan as a child, Clerkin says, “I don’t remember not knowing her. She was always just there.”

    RELATED: Dad Accused of Killing Family in Upscale Celebration Community May Have Lived with Bodies for Weeks

    With both of their mothers serving as leaders of their Girl Scout troop, the two went camping and trick or treating with their dads for Halloween.

    RELATED: Florida Dad Arrested After Wife, 3 Kids, Dog Are Found Dead in Disney-Developed Home

    Taking the best care of her children as possible was Megan’s top priority, Clerkin says.

    Megan, she says, wanted “to raise her children all-natural, from what they ate to homeschooling to cloth diapers,” she says.

    When Clerkin recently had her last child, “Megan reached out to me instantly…with all her tips and advice from breastfeeding to co-sleeping,” she says. “I remember her checking in weekly to see how I was doing.”

    Though they kept talking about plans for Clerkin to visit Megan and her family in Florida, that never happened.

    She can’t believe her friend is gone. “Her smile was like sunshine,” she says.

    “What happened doesn’t make sense to any of us and I don’t think it ever will,” said Clerkin.


    https://people.com/crime/celebration...alling-as-mom/
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    Todt in phone call to relative: ‘I don’t remember anything’

    In a phone call from jail in February, Tony Todt, the Colchester physical therapist accused of killing his family in Florida and living with their bodies for weeks, told a relative that he doesn’t remember anything between Christmas and his first week in jail, and that he was asleep “on the night that everything happened.”

    “I don’t remember anything, after the events that happened,” Todt said to the relative, who he called “Cheesepuff,” on a call from the Osceola County jail. It wasn’t clear who Todt was speaking to, but the phone number involved in the call is associated with Tony’s sister, Chrissy Caplet.

    “I have no idea where I was, where I am, and the only thing I remember is being at the hospital,” Todt said. “Other than that, I have no idea about anything.”

    Todt was taken into custody on Jan. 13 after his wife, Megan, the couple’s three kids, Alek, 13, Tyler, 11, and Zoe, 4, and the family dog, Breezy, were found dead and decomposing in a second-floor bedroom in a home the family rented in Celebration, Fla., an idyllic community near Disney World developed by the Walt Disney Corporation and built to hearken back to mid-20th-century America.

    A recording of Todt’s phone call, along with crime scene photos and interviews with federal agents who were investigating Todt in connection with insurance fraud, were released Tuesday by the Orange-Osceola County State’s Attorney’s Office.

    On the call, Todt tells the relative that “on the night that everything happened” he went to the family’s condo, a unit in a bright pink complex on Longview Avenue, a few streets down from the home they rented. Todt said he was there to look for Zoe’s Mickey Mouse necklace.

    “That was the one last thing we needed,” Todt said of the necklace. He told his relative they needed the necklace “for reasons you’ll find out later.”

    Todt said he went to the condo to find the necklace, which Megan had told him was in a jewelry box on the back of the door in the master bedroom. He said he couldn’t find the key to the condo, so he used a crowbar to get in and left the door open because he figured family members “were going to come down after and take care of it.”

    In the recording of the conversation, Todt sounds like he's crying after saying he couldn’t find the necklace.

    “I fell asleep, I was supposed to wake up at 11 or 11:30, but I didn’t wake up until the next morning,” he said.

    “I was asleep, so I didn’t wake up until the next morning, so because of that it changes everything,” he said later.

    Shortly after talking about the necklace, Todt mentions his wife. The two were high school sweethearts who were approaching their 20th wedding anniversary in January.

    “Just know that I protected Megan’s dignity until the very end,” he said. At the start of the call he told his relative, “I absolutely loved, honored and obeyed Megan through everything.”

    Megan, 42, of Montville was a stay-at-home mom who previously worked at the couple’s physical therapy practice. She was a yoga instructor and home-schooled her children.

    Her friends from childhood describe her as a “ray of sunshine” and a dedicated mother who fiercely protected and loved her children.

    In the call, Todt says he remembers that at the time of his arrest he was wearing a cross around his neck with his mother’s ring. Megan was wearing her husband’s wedding ring when she died, he said.

    Todt mentions on the call that a social worker brought in a news article to him about his father, Robert Todt. The Day reported in February that the elder Todt was convicted in the 1980s of hiring someone to shoot his wife, Tony Todt’s mother. The elder Todt to this day maintains his innocence.

    Robert Todt said in an interview with The Day that he and his children have had a strained relationship. He said he’s written his son multiple letters and has not received a response.

    Crime scene photos released

    Tony Todt had continued to work in Connecticut and flew to Florida on weekends. He allegedly flew to Florida before Thanksgiving and did not return to Connecticut. Patients at his physical therapy practice said that their appointments in December were canceled and they were left in the dark about when they would be rescheduled. Both offices have remained closed since the holidays. He told the relative on the call that he had left his car with a valet service at Bradley International Airport.

    Todt and the relative also spoke about Todt’s belongings, including a blue container full of baseball cards that were in his car.

    It is still unclear when exactly the family was killed, but Osceola County Chief Medical Examiner Joshua Stefany said the family likely had been dead for weeks when they were found on Jan. 13.

    Neighbors in Celebration said they hadn’t seen the family since early December, when they were seen walking their dog in the park across from their home, and were later seen packing a full car for what some neighbors thought was a trip to the beach. The family attended a music recital for Alek and Tyler in Kissimmee on Dec. 14.

    Crime scene photos released Tuesday show blankets strewn across a bed. A mattress on the floor is soaked in blood. There were black zip ties, blood-smeared first aid sprays, a handgun and a red restraint, similar to a dog leash, tied to the bed frame. A teddy bear can be seen near the foot of the bed, where Zoe’s body was found.

    Additional crime scene photos show containers of Benadryl and two hunting knives, one stained in blood.

    Photos also showed some of the clothes the boys were wearing when they died, as well as rosary beads that one of the boys was allegedly holding.

    Autopsy reports released April 7 showed that Megan, Alek, Tyler and Zoe Todt had traces of diphenhydramine, likely Benadryl, in their system, and the mother and boys had been stabbed. The results show that the Todts died from "homicidal violence of unspecified means in association with diphenhydramine toxicity." Breezy had been stabbed multiple times, according to the medical examiner.

    Photos released Tuesday of Todt show cuts and a bandaid on his hands and a small wound on his chest at the time of his arrest.

    Fraud investigation

    Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Detectives Cole Miller and Ryan Quinn conducted interviews with three special agents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General the day the family’s bodies were found. The agents came to the Todts’ home on Jan. 13 with a federal arrest warrant alleging Tony Todt committed health care fraud at his physical therapy practices for years with flagrant disregard for regulations governing claims to Connecticut Medicaid and private insurance companies.

    Public records show the Todts and their businesses, Family Physical Therapy and Performance Edge Sports LLC, owed almost $100,000 in unpaid loans, and the family recently had been evicted from a condominium they were renting in Celebration.

    The agents were aware the family had not been seen for weeks. According to interviews released Tuesday, Special Agent Jim Nguyen spotted Tony Todt about 8:30 a.m. on the porch of his rental home. Nguyen thought Todt had seen him, so he went to the back of the home and Special Agent Michael Phelps replaced Nguyen. Phelps eventually saw Todt go into the home. The agents called the sheriff’s office for backup before entering to arrest Todt.

    Phelps said when they found Todt, he was standing at the top of the stairs wearing a shirt and underwear, and he was shaking, mumbling and incoherent. Todt said “someone’s upstairs” when asked where his wife and children were, according to Phelps. Todt also apparently said his daughter might be on a sleepover.

    Special Agent Melissa O'Neal's account was similar to Phelps'. She said when agents first asked Todt where Megan and the kids were, he said Megan was upstairs asleep, and he "called for her like she was alive." He also said he couldn't remember if the children went to a sleepover the previous night.

    When the agents and sheriff’s deputies initially searched the home, they couldn’t find Zoe in the same room as her mother and brothers. She was found once law enforcement went through the room again. O'Neal said she repeatedly asked Todt where Zoe was, and he was confused: "He said, 'Oh, isn't she in her bed sleeping?'" She was found at the foot of the bed, laying across it and under blankets.

    “When I went in the room really quick, I saw the two boys laying on the floor, heads away from the door, and (they) were dark black,” Phelps said.

    O'Neal agreed: "The two boys are as black as this leather," she said, referring to an item not explained in the interview.

    The autopsy reports revealed that the two knives Miller brought to the medical examiner's office were labeled "BUCK USA" and had tips with double-edged blades. One knife had a green and black handle, the other had a black and gray handle and had dried blood on it, the reports said.

    When Todt was taken into custody, he allegedly told investigators that he had taken Benadryl in a suicide attempt. He was taken to a hospital for further evaluation. While Todt was at the hospital, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office reported in January that he confessed to killing his family. The confession has remained redacted from the records.

    Todt said he doesn’t know what he told investigators but remembers bits and pieces of being in the hospital.

    Todt’s immediate family, including sisters, mother and stepfather, and Megan’s aunt and uncle live in Connecticut. His father lives in Massachusetts.

    In February, Megan’s aunt, Cindy Kopko, said that she and Caplet planned to travel to Celebration to go through the home, specifically to retrieve Megan’s father’s ashes. On the call, the relative said she was headed down to Florida that Monday.

    Megan and her children were cremated and their remains were returned to Connecticut. The family held a funeral in Montville in January.

    On the phone call, the family member tells Todt that she loves him and is worried about him. Todt asks about his mother, Loretta Schmidt, and says that he’s received a letter from her and from an uncle named Martin.

    Todt said he is being held in isolation and that this was the first phone call he was allowed to make. A guard at the jail said he has had no visitors.

    Todt is facing four counts of first-degree murder and one count of animal cruelty. His trial is set to begin this summer. If he is convicted, the state of Florida will seek the death penalty against him.

    https://www.theday.com/policefirecou...ember-anything
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  9. #9
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    Anthony Todt, Florida man charged with murdering family, says wife killed kids, self

    AP

    KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — A man charged with killing his family at their Florida home has claimed that his wife is the one who killed their three children and then herself.

    Anthony Todt, 44, made the claim in a 27-page letter written from the Osceola County Jail and dated June 19 to his father in Massachusetts, the Orlando Sentinel reported Monday. Todt has been in jail since his January arrest. Prosecutors had copied the letter as evidence and released it to the newspaper in response to a public records request.

    Todt claimed in the letter that his wife, Megan, put 13-year-old Alek, 11-year-old Tyler and 4-year-old Zoe to sleep with a dessert tainted with Benadryl and then stabbed and suffocated the children. He said he learned of the deaths after returning home from doing maintenance at a nearby condo they owned.

    “At the news of this I ran to the bathroom and puked — I was weak,” Todt wrote.

    Todt said his wife was still alive when he got home and confessed to killing the children before drinking a bottle of Benadryl and stabbing herself in the stomach. The bodies were found Jan. 13, when federal agents and deputies went to the house to serve an arrest warrant for health care fraud charges in Connecticut. Todt had a physical therapy practice in Connecticut to which he would travel during the work week, returning to Florida to be with his family on weekends at their home in Celebration near Walt Disney World.

    Todt said he barely remembers the weeks between the slayings and his arrest.

    Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty for Todt, who has been indicted on four counts of first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty. Defense attorneys have not spoken publicly about the claim that Todt’s wife was the real killer.

    https://apnews.com/3f3276dfcbe99a65dc54e26a4ef5b0c4

  10. #10
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    Outgoing state attorney files to not seek death penalty for some high-profile murder cases in Osceola County

    By Alexa Lorenzo and Adam Poulisse
    WFTV News

    OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — In a final act, outgoing state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties Aramis Ayala issued waivers for death penalty cases in Osceola County on Monday.

    The waivers she filed mean some high-profile cases in Osceola County cannot be tried as death penalty cases.

    Early on in her term, Ayala sparked a nationwide debate after she announced she would not seek the death penalty in any case.

    She eventually reversed her policy on capital punishment, and appointed a panel of assistant state attorney to decide which cases warranted the death penalty.

    Now, she has filed notices of intent to not seek the death penalty in at least two Osceola County murder cases.

    “There’s been litigation going on, and then at the ninth hour for whatever reason, hopefully it was a good reason, the death penalty is not being sought,” said former Chief Judge Belvin Perry, who presided over the ninth circuit for years.

    He explained that, when arrests were made in these cases, prosecutors filed noties to seek the death penalty. Now that’s been reversed.

    Two of the notices not to seek the death penalty were filed in a twisted love triangle. It involves a murder-for-hire plot case from back in 2018.

    According to investigators, Ishnar Lopez-Ramos hired Glorianmarie Quinones-Montes and Alexis Ramos-Rivera to kill a woman in a relationship with a man Lopez-Ramos loved.

    Documents showed the duo kidnapped the wrong person and, even after realizing that, they bound her and suffocated her. Ayala’s office will no longer be seeking the death penalty for Lopez-Ramos or Ramos Rivera.

    The third notice was filed in the case against Anthony Todt, who is accused of murdering his wife, three children and family dog in their Celebration home back in January 2020.

    Channel 9 reached out to Ayala’s office as well as incoming state attorney Monique Worrell and has not heard back. Worrell is set to be sworn in next week.

    https://www.wftv.com/news/local/osce...JRNBS4PGFSBRI/
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