True Crime Tuesday: The Todt Family Murders

 

Walt Disney World in Florida is known for creating immersive experiences for everyone and that includes building idyllic communities for area residents. Unfortunately, one such community, Celebration, was the site of a gruesome family murder. This was where Anthony Todt (44) murdered his entire family and later confessed to the crime.

Murder Runs in the Todt Family

When Anthony Todt was just four years old, he became familiar with murder through his father’s actions. In 1980, the senior Todt, Robert, had been having an affair and had plans to marry his mistress. To avoid a divorce that would prolong his engagement to his new bride, Robert, a college professor, hired one of his students to murder his wife, Loretta Todt.

The murder-for-hire scheme didn’t go exactly as planned. The one thing the killer did get right was that he’d been ordered by Robert to leave his son, Anthony, unharmed. While the killer did shoot Loretta for the $800 sum, the shot was fortunately not fatal. Loretta lived, recovered, and eventually got remarried.

As for Robert Todt, he spent five years in prison. He’d been convicted of attempted homicide, criminal conspiracy, and criminal solicitation.

Anthony, who witnessed the attempted murder of his mother, distanced himself from his father in the aftermath.

Robert admits that he let Loretta’s new husband take up the role of father to Anthony.

“I kind of gave up on the position as dad,” the elder Todt said. “I had no part in raising him, let’s face it.”

Debt and Fraud Paved the Way to Murder

While Anthony Dodt was pursuing his physical therapy certification, he met his future wife, Megan. She was also interested in physical therapy and had already started working as a yoga instructor to help pay her way through college. After a two-year courtship, Anthony and Megan were married.

Together, Anthony and Megan started Family Physical Therapy, a clinic in Colchester, Connecticut. When Megan became pregnant with their first child (Aleksander "Alek" Todt), it was decided that Anthony would take over the practice and Megan would stay at home to raise their children. In addition to Alek, they would have Tyler Todt and Zoe Todt.

Things seemed to be going great and the Todt family was very active in their community. The Todt children were encouraged to participate in sports, music, and art. Anthony worked as a volunteer, helping disabled children, and spent some of his free time coaching soccer at his children’s school.

This active social life came to a steady halt when Megan was bitten by a tick during a trip to Walt Disney World. The bite led her to contract Lyme disease, which, in turn, led to severe depressive episodes.

It was around this time that the Todt family relocated to Celebration, Florida. Megan and the kids moved to Florida while Anthony stayed in Connecticut to operate the physical therapy business. It soon became apparent that the family’s resources were stretched too thin. An eviction on their Celebration condo forced the family to move into a nearby rental.

Meanwhile, Anthony did what he could to help earn enough money to support his family. This included charging his clients for services they had not received and billing more for the services he did provide. In total, it has been estimated that Anthony defrauded his clients by more than $130,000.

Even with the money he stole from his clients, Todt was still more than $100,000 in debt. This was largely due to the money he borrowed from New York banks throughout the years of maintaining two residences. Additionally, frequent trips to Disney World with his family raised his debts further.

A Welfare Check Uncovers More Than Fraud

Most years, the entire Todt family remained in Connecticut through the winter months since the children liked the snow and winter sports. This wasn’t true for 2019. The Todts remained in Celebration that year. Even though the family had become more reclusive by this time, there were neighbors and family members who had become concerned. Raising this concern further was a series of disturbing text messages that suggested something was amiss in the Todt household.

Police made an initial welfare check on December 29, 2019, but left when their knocks on the door went unanswered. Upon requests from loved ones, a second welfare check was made on January 13, 2020. It was then that the police sought out the property owner and gained entry to the home.

Upon entering Todt’s home, the police noticed a foul odor coming from the bedrooms. They investigated further, finding Megan, Alek, Tyler, and Zoe Todt deceased. They had each been stabbed and every family member gripped a crucifix in their hands. The family dog, Breezy, had also been stabbed to death.

The bodies of the Todt family had been decomposing for some time, suggesting that Anthony had been living among his victims for several weeks. The body of Zoe Todt, the youngest child, was decomposed to an extent that the police couldn’t find her. Eventually, they located her remains underneath Megan Todt’s feet.

What Really Happened to the Todts?

Initially, Anthony Todt told police that he came home to find his children murdered. He said that his wife had also been stabbed, but added that she’d still been alive when he’d returned home. He claimed she’d died in his arms.

On a separate occasion, Anthony confessed to killing his family with the intention of also killing himself. He told police that the family had decided to die together in a desire to avoid an impending apocalypse. Todt said that he and his family hoped to reunite in the afterlife.

Anthony described having a conversation with Megan and later with his kids about dying together. Megan had agreed that they should die together to be reunited after their deaths. Upon talking to their kids, the children all agreed.

Anthony said that the kids stated “We want to die with you” during that conversation.

Zoe was the first to be murdered, confirming police suspicions upon finding the girl’s body. She had been suffocated with a pillow.

"I needed to save her soul," Anthony Todt stated in an interview. "I wanted her to be with us."

Anthony Todt Faces His Punishment

The trial concluded with four guilty verdicts for each count of first-degree homicide. Todt was given life in prison without the possibility of parole for his crimes.

Upon outlining Anthony Todt’s punishment, Circuit Judge Keith A. Carsten called Todt a "destroyer of worlds" and added that "not one of those lives [taken] was less valuable than the other".

Anthony was given an additional year of imprisonment for one count of animal cruelty. This charge was given in relation to the killing of Breezy, the family’s dog.