OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — The fate of an Osceola County man accused of killing his family was decided by a jury Thursday after closing arguments wrapped up in the murder trial of Anthony Todt.

Initially, the judge announced the jury was deadlocked, but that changed Thursday evening when it came back with the guilty verdicts.

Todt, 46, had been on trial in the deaths of his wife, Megan Todt, 42; their children Alek, 13, Tyler, 11, and Chloe, 4; and the family dog, Breezy, in January 2020. The bodies of all were discovered by law enforcement at the family’s home in Celebration.

He was ultimately found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of cruelty to animals.

Todt was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of his wife and children, which will be served consecutively. He was sentenced to a year in county jail for the death of the family dog, and received credit for time already served.

Todt appeared before jurors one last time Thursday before they decided his fate.

"The reason why we’re here today is control," Assistant State Attorney Danielle Pinnell said in the state's closing statement. "The defendant wanted control."

Pinnell reminded the jury of Todt’s taped confession, which it watched Tuesday.

"How the defendant describes going into each child’s room and killing each of his children is consistent with all of the evidence found on scene," Pinnell said.

The only inconsistency, she said, is the order of how he did it, when the stabbings happened.

The defense, honed in on that, saying the medical examiner testified the stab wounds happened after they died, when Todt had told investigators he stabbed them first.

"The state can’t pick and choose when they want you to believe a statement," defense attorney Alesha Smith said. "Believe that he did it, but don’t believe the way he said he did it because it contradicts the actual evidence."

Todt’s attorney argued the evidence didn't point to Todt committing the crime.

On Wednesday, Todt had testified in his defense, telling jurors he did not kill his family, but rather, his wife Megan poisoned and stabbed the children.

Todt said she had been struggling with depression from medical ailments and miscarriages and had started looking more into the afterlife.

The medical examiner found the family members had toxic levels of Benadryl in their bodies but couldn’t determine an exact cause of death.

The prosecution rebutted later, saying the determination couldn't be made because the bodies were decomposed after Todt left them at the home in Celebration for more than three weeks. Attorney's for the state said Todt told detectives he and his wife had a plan to all die together because they believed the apocalypse was coming.

Todt’s defense team argued that Todt was suicidal and suffering from a Benadryl overdose when he confessed.

"Evidence and testimony that has been presented through the several days of testimony has not proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt," Smith said.