OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Anthony Todt, the man accused of killing his wife and three children, took to the stand on Wednesday during his ongoing murder trial at the Osceola County Courthouse and testified that it was his wife who killed the couple's kids.
What You Need To Know
- Anthony Todt became emotional and was crying at times as he blamed the killings on his wife
- He testified he told his wife he would take the blame for the killings
- RELATED:
- Crime scene supervisor: Autopsy revealed toxic levels of Benadryl in the bodies of Todt's wife and kids
- Judge Denies Bond for Man Accused in Slaying of Wife, Kids in Celebration
- Jury selection begins in trial of Celebration father charged with killing family
- Deputies Conducting Death Investigation in Celebration
- Newly-Released 911 Calls Offer New Details in Todt Family Slaying
- Crime scene supervisor: Autopsy revealed toxic levels of Benadryl in the bodies of Todt's wife and kids
- Judge Denies Bond for Man Accused in Slaying of Wife, Kids in Celebration
- Jury selection begins in trial of Celebration father charged with killing family
- Deputies Conducting Death Investigation in Celebration
- Newly-Released 911 Calls Offer New Details in Todt Family Slaying
He testified after some brief opening statements from his defense team. The 46-year-old Todt became emotional and was crying at times as he blamed the killings on his wife.
Todt testified his wife, 42-year-old Megan Todt, had been struggling with depression from medical ailments after losing a baby and had started looking more into the afterlife.
He told jurors he arrived in the family’s Celebration home in January 2020 to find his wife had killed their children. He claimed that his wife was still alive at the time, but she stabbed herself.
“I came home and my kids were dead, it was the most horrible day of my life. What made it even worse is my wife died in front of me also,” Todt testified.
Todt testified he told his wife he would take the blame for the killings, adding he does not remember his confession to investigators.
On Monday, Assistant State Attorney Danielle Pinnell said Todt told a detective he suffocated and stabbed his children Alek, 13; Tyler, 11; Zoe, 4; and suffocated his wife and the family’s dog, Breezy.
Court records show Todt confessed three different times to killing his family, but Judge Keith Carsten has excluded the initial confession from evidence because he said Todt was not read his Miranda rights.
Todt’s defense tried to get all of those confessions excluded because they said Todt was suicidal and under the influence of an overdose of Benadryl.
On Wednesday, Todt also confessed that he allegedly tried to take his own life multiple times over the three weeks he was living in the home after his family’s deaths.
During cross examination, Todt became defensive at times, saying his wife told him to see the light that day, as he checked on the children.
The attorney pressed him for specifics on how he found each of the children and where Megan Todt was at the whole time.
Check back for continuing coverage of this trial.