OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A date has been set for the murder trial of a man accused of killing his family inside an Osceola County home.
The trial date for Anthony Todt was set during a hearing Wednesday morning where he appeared virtually. Todt is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of animal cruelty in the killings of Megan Todt, 42, and their children, Alek, 13, Tyler, 11, and Zoe, 4. The family’s dog Breezy was also killed.
The judge said he is anticipating the trial last about three weeks and set the start date as Jan. 24, 2022. Lawyers will meet with the judge again for a status hearing on Dec. 20 to make sure things are set to go to trial.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office and federal agents found Todt, a Connecticut-based physical therapist, inside the Celebration home alongside his family who were all dead. Officials at the time were attempting to arrest Todt on health care fraud.
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Todt faces several counts of capital murder and one count of cruelty to animals.
During a court proceeding in October, the defense argued there was no evidence the killings were tied to or related to the federal investigation. However, the prosecution said they only would have mentioned the federal investigation due to the federal agents being present during the time of the arrest.
The prosecution did not object to throwing the federal investigation out, so the judge ruled to dismiss it from the courts.
However, there was still a question of Todt’s mental state during the interviews. There was also the matter of what was said during the initial arrest. The arresting officer took the stand and it was learned that he did not read Todt his full Miranda rights.
Todt has since blamed his wife for the slayings in jailhouse writings.
The judge also ruled Todt can appear in court without handcuffs or chains. The judge did ban the mention of Todt’s last name as the German word for “dead” but will allow the jury to see photos of the victims’ bodies.