https://www.thedailybeast.com/anthony-todt-confesses-to-killing-wife-three-kids-in-celebration-florida-home-sheriff-saysA father has confessed to murdering his wife, their three children, and the family dog inside their rented home near Walt Disney World, authorities announced Wednesday.
Anthony Todt, 44, has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of homicide in connection with the murder of his 42-year-old wife, Megan, and their three children in Celebration, Florida, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said. Todt was also charged with one count of animal cruelty after confessing to killing the family’s dog, Breezy, authorities said.
“He is cooperating with the investigation, I can tell you that much,” Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said, calling the quadruple murder “despicable.”
Authorities took Todt into custody around 9 a.m. Monday, while aiding federal agents in serving the father of three with an unrelated arrest warrant. Inside the home, deputies found the bodies of Megan and the three children—13-year-old Alek, 11-year-old Tyler, and 4-year-old Zoey.
The four family members are believed to have been killed “sometime toward the end of December,” Gibson said. Authorities said that one out-of-state family member asked for a wellness check on the family on Dec. 29 after not hearing from them for two days.
Deputies said that they checked the home at that time, but left after being unable to communicate with anyone inside. They didn’t believe the situation rose “to a level of suspicion” that would justify entering or searching the home.
“There’s an element of privacy,” the sheriff said. “Your home is your castle.”
Authorities now believe there is a “possibility” that Todt killed his family before deputies performed the December wellness check, Gibson said. The sheriff said he would not go into detail about how the four individuals died until after the medical examiner’s report has been released.
Last Wednesday, relatives took to the internet to report the Todt family missing, creating a Facebook group that quickly swelled to nearly 2,500 members. According to authorities, no missing person reports were ever filed for the family.
The family had recently moved from Colchester, Connecticut, to Celebration, Florida—a community on the outskirts of Disney World, designed and built by the Walt Disney Company.
“It’s a tragedy and we are mourning the losses in our close-knit community,” one of their neighbors, Lori Leighton, told The Daily Beast.
Authorities said that while Megan and the three kids lived in Florida full-time, Todt would work at his Connecticut physical therapy practice during the week and fly to meet his family on the weekends.
