The father who is accused of murdering his wife and three children inside their Disney town home and lived with their bodies for at least two weeks has been indicted by a grand jury and may face the death penalty for the slayings, prosecutors said.
Anthony Todt, 44, was arrested on January 13 and charged with four counts of murder for the killings at his home in Celebration, Florida, a gated community designed and developed by Disney.
Officers had entered the home and found the rotting bodies of his wife and three children wrapped up in blankets after concerned relatives told police they hadn’t heard from the family for some time.
Authorities believe they were killed shortly after New Year’s Day.
Anthony Todt, 44, was arrested on January 13 and charged with four counts of murder for the killings at his home in Celebration, Florida, a gated community designed and developed by Disney. Officers had entered the home and found the rotting bodies of his wife, three children and dog (above)
Anthony Todt murdered his wife Megan and three children Alek, Tyler, and Zoe (pictured) inside their Disney town home and lived with their bodies for at least two weeks
Todt, 44, (right with wife Megan) has been indicted by a grand jury and could face the death penalty for slaying his family, prosecutors said Tuesday
Prosecutors now plan to seek the death penalty for the murders after a grand jury indicted Todt on four counts of first-degree murder, Florida state attorney Aramis D. Ayala said in a press conference Tuesday.
Ayala said a grand jury on Tuesday had returned the indictment charging him with four counts of capital murder of his wife Megan, 42 and their children Alek, 13, Tyler, 11, and four-year-old Zoe.
An independent panel voted that prosecutors would seek the death penalty for Todt, Ayala said.
The panel was set up after the state Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty must be considered despite Ayala opposing it.
Prosecutors now plan to seek the death penalty for the murders after a grand jury indicted Todt on four counts of first-degree murder, Florida state attorney Aramis D. Ayala said in a press conference Tuesday (above)
Ayala said a grand jury on Tuesday had returned the indictment charging him with four counts of capital murder of his wife Megan, 42 and their children Alek, 13, Tyler, 11, and four-year-old Zoe. An independent panel voted that prosecutors would seek the death penalty for Todt, Ayala said
Attorneys said they will seek justice for the family of the victims.
‘I can’t imagine the pain and agony they are going through, but we’re going to absolutely do all that we can to ensure justice is served,’ Ayala said at the news conference.
Todt previously confessed to sheriffs to the killing of his wife, three children and their dog inside their home, as it emerged he had been grappling with spiraling debts.
According to medical examiner records, Megan, Alek and Tyler had all been drugged and stabbed.
His youngest child, four-year-old Zoe, had been drugged.
Authorities had been called to the property numerous times in the two weeks leading up to the discovery of their bodies but failed to enter the property where the bodies lay.
DailyMail.com revealed in January that the local sheriff’s department were called to the Orlando-area home at least five times after family members grew concerned when they had not heard from or seen them since before Christmas.
Todt previously confessed to sheriffs to the killing of his wife, three children and their dog inside their home (above), as it emerged he had been grappling with spiraling debts
According to medical examiner records, Megan, Alek and Tyler had all been drugged and stabbed. His youngest child, four-year-old Zoe, had been drugged
Authorities had been called to the property (above) numerous times in the two weeks leading up to the discovery of their bodies but failed to enter the property where the bodies lay
Documents show that Todt’s sisters were calling the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office from Connecticut, where the Todts lived part-time, sometimes daily to ask deputies to check on the family because they suspected something wrong.
Questions are now being asked as authorities failed to enter the home until January 13 when the victims’ bodies were found in the early stages of decomposition.
The physical therapist had first suffocated his wife and two children but stabbed his teenage son with a kitchen knife when he fought back, before then slicing his wife and other son to make sure they were dead, DailyMail.com revealed back in January.
A source close to the investigation revealed the gruesome details of Todt’s killing rampage, saying the family man had first suffocated his family members one by one.
But when Todt got to Alek last, the teenager fought back by scratching and biting him, leading Todt to stab him with a kitchen knife. Todt then went back and stabbed his wife and second son to make sure they were dead.
Deputies drove to the Celebration house at least five times between December 31 and January 13 but didn’t notice the smell of decomposition.
According to the reports, a neighbor even offered a deputy a key to the Todts’ home on January 11 but the deputy declined to use it.
Reports show a sheriff’s deputy first knocked on the door on December 31 to serve an eviction notice. He reported no answer and left his card in the door.
DailyMail.com revealed in January that the local sheriff’s department were called to the Orlando-area home at least five times after family members grew concerned when they had not heard from or seen the victims (pictured) since before Christmas
A source previously told DailyMail.com that Todt first suffocated his family members one by one. But when Todt got to Alek (right) last, the 13-year-old fought back by scratching and biting him, leading Todt to stab him with a kitchen knife. Todt then went back and stabbed his wife and second son to make sure they were dead. Zoe wasn’t stabbed
On January 9 and January 10, another deputy alerted by Tony’s sister in Connecticut knocked on the front and back doors, then headed to an apartment the couple owned less than a mile away and knocked there too.
He canvassed the neighborhood, noting the family’s only car was parked in the backyard and found the neighbor with the key.
Another deputy returned the next day, arriving at the house at 12:39pm and leaving at 12:52pm after the Todts’ landlord asked for a ‘wellness check,’ according to the reports.
And again, yet another deputy returned January 12, but he took no action.
Finally, on the morning of January 13, federal agents on surveillance spotted Todt entering the house shortly after 9am.
The agents and several deputies knocked on the door. No one inside responded.
One deputy grabbed the door handle and saw the door was not locked. Agents and deputies entered and called for Tony to come to the door.
At the time of the murders, Todt had racked up $100,000 in debt and was facing eviction from the family home. Eviction proceedings were also pending against his physical therapy office in Colchester
There was ‘a foul odor emitting from inside the residence,’ one deputy noted on his report.
Tony was first spotted walking down the staircase from the second floor with difficulties, holding on the railing. He needed to be assisted after telling authorities he tried to kill himself with a high dose of Benadryl. His body, the report notes, was shaking uncontrollably.
At first, he told deputies asking about his wife that she was asleep upstairs.
‘I went upstairs and observed a bedroom door to the right that was open,’ one deputy wrote. ‘I could see inside the bedroom that one person was laying on the bed covered with blankets. I pushed the door open further and observed two persons laying on mattresses on the floor covered up.’
On the bed, the deputy uncovered the body and found Megan, ‘deceased for a fair amount of time.’
Tyler and Alek were on the mattress on the floor.
It took a while longer for the deputy to find little Zoe but found her wrapped in a blanket at the foot of her mother’s bed.
At the time of the murders, Todt had racked up $100,000 in debt and was facing eviction from the family home.
Eviction proceedings were also pending against his physical therapy office in Colchester.