OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida judge granted a motion earlier this month to partially exclude the confession from a man accused of killing his wife and their three children in January 2020 at their home in Celebration ahead of his trial.
Defense attorneys for Anthony Todt filed a motion on Aug. 31, 2021, that said when he was arrested at the hospital following the killings, detectives did not inform him of his Miranda rights before the interview. Following the first confession, the detectives interrogated Todt two more times and read him the full Miranda warning before Todt repeated his involvement in their deaths, the motion said.
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He 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 victims were wrapped in blankets and had stab wounds and toxic amounts of Benadryl in their bodies, according to autopsy reports.
Assistant Public Defender Peter Schmer said in the motion Todt had “diminished capacity” due to an “overdose” of Benadryl. During the initial interview, Todt told detectives that his “head’s spinning a little.” He also said “... I’m foggy. I’m in a fog right now,” the motion said.
Federal authorities and Osceola County Sheriff’s deputies found the victims on Jan. 13, 2020, when they went to the home in Celebration, near Walt Disney World, to arrest Todt on insurance fraud charges related to his physical therapy business.
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.
Todt has since blamed his wife for the slayings in jailhouse writings.
Jury selection for Todt’s trial is set to begin Monday, April 4.