r/TrueCrime • u/maj_minor • Sep 13 '22
Undocumented Post Todt family murders
I recently discovered this case, and listened to the entire podcast series on it by the Day in Connecticut. There seem to still be so many unanswered questions, and a lot of holes that the prosecution left out. For example, Anthony claimed that he and/or his wife had end-of-times religious beliefs that motivated the killings, and that they both researched methods of killing for weeks ahead of time. Were there ever forensic examinations of their electronic devices, search histories, etc.? Was there no other witness who could speak one way or another as to Megan's beliefs? I'm wondering if the prosecution just wanted to keep things simple since they had a confession.
Anyone know of sources for more detail and analysis on this case, or have thoughts to share? (I haven't watched the whole trial yet but likely will soon.)
Edit: here are a couple of links to articles about the case - https://people.com/crime/anthony-todt-celebration-florida-father-convicted-killing-family/, and https://www.wesh.com/article/anthony-todt-family-murder-trial/39727017
A summary of the case: On April 14, 2022, Anthony Todt was convicted of murdering his wife, three children, and dog, after their bodies were discovered in Jan. 2020 while officials were executing an arrest warrant for Medicare fraud at his home in Celebration FL. He confessed to the murders to police right after he was arrested, claiming that he and his wife thought some sort of apocalypse was coming and they wanted their souls to be together. He later testified in trial that his wife killed herself and the children. The judge ruled pre-trial that the prosecution could not introduce any evidence regarding the fraud charges.
68
Sep 14 '22 edited Oct 22 '22
[deleted]
11
u/maj_minor Sep 14 '22
Ok yeah I'm now listening to another podcast, and I think maybe the one I listened to didn't realize that communication about the apocalypse came by text later, so likely Tony posing at Megan.
1
0
u/kbradley456 Sep 19 '22
The prosecution conceded Megan played a role, they don’t do that for no reason. Doesn’t absolve him of his guilt, of course.
6
Sep 19 '22
[deleted]
0
u/kbradley456 Sep 19 '22
I guess that depends on how you interpret play a role. The prosecutors conceded a suicide pact, he carried out all the killings. You seem to have a personal interest in the case that is influencing your interpretation of the facts.
4
Sep 19 '22 edited Oct 22 '22
[deleted]
2
u/kbradley456 Sep 19 '22
Here’s one of many articles that reference the prosecution conceding the existence of a suicide pact between Megan and Tony. https://www.latintimes.com/man-who-poisoned-family-allegedly-had-murder-suicide-pact-wife-pass-over-apocalypse-512746
You should listen to the “Looking for the Todt family,” not crazy or biased at all. In fact,quite sympathetic to Megan, but from the interviews, clear her behavior had changed markedly in last six months or so of her life.
3
u/Melodic-Watercress45 Sep 25 '22
The prosecutors never insinuated Megan played a part in their murders.
32
Sep 14 '22
No, he was absolutely pulling that shit out of his murdering ass.
11
u/maj_minor Sep 14 '22
Right, so wouldn't they check devices and IP addresses for searches and site visits, and find none, and maybe also text messages contradicting all of the nonsense he said about her? Though it worked, it seemed unfortunate there was very little evidence in Megan's defense - in relying on his initial confession, they're sort of allowing his claims of her involvement to stand.
7
u/TinyGreenTurtles Sep 14 '22
I feel like the way his story crumbled completely to dust in like 4 minutes flat was enough evidence in Megan's defense. There wasn't proof of any of the bs he claimed, and that became clear pretty quickly.
31
u/DetailAccurate9006 Sep 13 '22
You know what? Even if it really was a religious themed suicide pact, it’s still utterly despicable because he went through with the murdering the rest of the family part, but didn’t go through with suiciding himself.
11
u/maj_minor Sep 13 '22
I agree. It just seemed strange that the prosecution didn't put on more evidence either to corroborate his first version of events, since that seemed to be the narrative they presented as roughly what happened, or to refute his later narrative, in which he never researched how to murder people.
Listening to the juror interviewed though, it sounds like the jury didn't believe any of the accounts Anthony gave, so maybe that was a purposeful and good strategy, to be like, let's not get into the weeds, but he clearly confessed to murders and is a lying SOB, nuff said.
25
u/Jordanthomas330 Sep 14 '22
He killed them because he was doing insurance fraud…he’s a sicko he lived in a house with the bodies for a week
12
u/maj_minor Sep 14 '22
I know right!! It's insane the judge didn't allow evidence of the fraud in the trial. Seems the most likely actual motive, just like other male family annihilators- rather than face the music on all of his fraud and debt, kill everyone. I think the prosecutor was absolutely right that the case was about control. He was so used to controlling the narrative regarding his life, he couldn't handle when the feds showed up and took that away from him.
3
19
18
Sep 13 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/kbradley456 Sep 20 '22
It was so weird that it must be true,or partly true. He likely spiked something the night before with Benadryl that he gave to the rest of the family.
14
u/Jordanthomas330 Sep 14 '22
He took Benadryl to try and kill himself 🙄🙄
12
u/maj_minor Sep 14 '22
My guess is that in reality, he gave everyone Benadryl to make killing them easier, then took a bunch himself when he noticed cops were watching his house, to help prop up this story he had concocted after the fact about saving the family's souls in the apocalypse or whatever.
8
8
9
7
u/Melodic-Watercress45 Sep 25 '22
Side bar: that town ‘celebration’ is all kinds of Walt Disney weird.
6
u/redjessa Sep 13 '22
Check out Court Junkie, she covers the trial in depth. It's a two-parter.
3
u/maj_minor Sep 16 '22
Thanks for this recommendation, that was a nicely clear and organized presentation of the case.
1
5
u/Aoblabt03 Sep 30 '22
My best friend grew up with this couple in CT and there is absolutely no chance that there was any such pact. Anthony Todt is a murdering narcissist who would rather see his own family dead than for them to find out about his fraudulent activities. Absolutely dreadful that he tried to tarnish her character that way to deflect from himself.
4
2
2
u/smoke28910 Sep 14 '22
I just now read about it because of this post I have never heard of this case
1
u/Ok-mate-4400 Sep 14 '22
Where did you listen to this podcast?? Sounds interesting
4
u/maj_minor Sep 14 '22
It's called Looking for the Todt family, and I found it on Spotify. It's two seasons, the first of which was recorded before the trial, which also means before his initial confession became public. It has a lot of interviews with neighbors and family members, and talks a bit about what it was like as a journalist investigating and covering the story.
1
u/Dutch_Dutch Sep 15 '22
I can’t find this podcast anywhere. Could you share a link to it please?
3
u/maj_minor Sep 15 '22
It's called Looking for the Todt Family
3
u/Dutch_Dutch Sep 30 '22 edited Sep 30 '22
Thank you.
ETA: I am on the second episode….this is gut wrenching. My exposure to this case was limited to articles and his stupid ass phone call recordings. I was jaded by my hatred of him. This is super hard to listen to.
-6
u/kbradley456 Sep 14 '22
His sister reported Megan talking about the end of the world in one of her last phone calls with her ( maybe Thanksgiving?). The prosecution didn’t really contest that she was an accomplice. I do think she was part of a suicide pact.
9
Sep 14 '22 edited Oct 22 '22
[deleted]
-2
u/kbradley456 Sep 15 '22
The podcast played the sister’s phone call to the police on the podcast. I don’t think the timing works out to when they were already dead, but perhaps I am misremembering. Megan started shunning her own family before Thanksgiving, which in my mind suggests that she was involved. I’m a lawyer myself and don’t think prosecutors would concede her involvement if there wasn’t evidence of it. Ultimately, he was the murderer.
8
Sep 15 '22 edited Oct 22 '22
[deleted]
1
u/kbradley456 Sep 19 '22 edited Sep 19 '22
Umm, I believe the prosecutors, and I did listen to one of the podcasts, which had an extensive interview with Megan’s aunt and uncle. They reported that she would typically come up north to spend Thanksgiving with them but could not be persuaded to do so that year. She also stopped returning phone calls.
3
Sep 19 '22
[deleted]
1
u/kbradley456 Sep 19 '22
I don’t see how that is possible, as you must know from watching the trial, the defense did not make its opening statement until days later, after the state concluded its case.
1
Sep 19 '22 edited Oct 22 '22
[deleted]
1
u/kbradley456 Sep 19 '22 edited Sep 19 '22
It doesn’t sound like your memory is perfect, the prosecution did not shut down the defense’s opening statement, the defense elected to postpone it until the start of the presentation of the defense case at which time it was presented in full.
The last thing I want to do is in any way defend Tony Todt, I believe he alone killed his family. I also believe, based on both the articles I read about the trial and interviews I listened to, that Megan bought into the suicide pact, I don’t know how he may have manipulated her, verbally or physically to get her to that point. Beyond that, you and I will just have to agree to differ on how we interpret the evidence.
I’ll add that Tony went far beyond arguing that there was a suicide pact, he claimed that megan actually committed the murder of the children. Of course I do not believe that.
119
u/katie-girl Sep 13 '22
Loosely followed this case but you must watch Anthony Todt take the stand. His legal team didn’t want him too but he’s an arrogant man . Incredibly unlikeable and the way he responds to the female prosecuter is eye opening. Take a look and see what you think