From Monday: Todt trial begins; prosecutor: "You're going to return a return a verdict of guilty"
From Tuesday: Jury views Anthony Todt's interview with detectives, detailing killings
From Wednesday: Anthony Todt takes witness stand: "My wife killed her kids"
From Thursday morning: Todt jury begins murder trial deliberations
After over six hours of deliberation, a jury found Anthony Todt guilty on four counts of murder and one count of animal cruelty in the 2019 death of his wife Megan, children Tyler, Aleksander and Zoe and family dog Breezy.
At one point, the jury returned to the courtroom deadlocked on at least one of the five counts.
But shortly after 6:30 p.m., the jury returned the unanimous verdicts. Todt subtly shook his head, clasped his hands together to his mouth, then shook his head more pronounced as the jury left the courtroom.
Sentencing occurred shortly after the jury rendered its verdict; a handful of jurors returned to the courtroom gallery to hear the sentencing, with life in prison with no possibility of parole. This was not a death penalty case, as former State Attorney Aramis Ayala took that off the table days before leaving office in January 2021.
Before Judge Keith Carsten read the sentence, he heard a statement from Megan's aunt and godmother, who said she was godmother to the three children.
"Megan lived her life with lots of empathy for everyone," she said. "The kids were very talented. All the kids in the neighborhood are going to make a little monument. They asked their dads, 'You aren't going to kill me are you?
"He crushed my parents. Megan was the gentlest person. I used to warn her many times about him."
Todt then addressed Carsten with a desperate tone, stating adamantly, "I did not do this."
"This was a personal catastrophe. I maintain my innocence," he said. "I did everything I could for my wife as her health got progressively worse. She was kept on a pedestal for me and my kids. I negated myself to do for my wife. It wasn't a control factor. I loved my wife. I loved my children. I was not there the night my children died. I asked (Megan) to get help."
At one point, Public Defender Robert Wesley tried to stop Todt during his presentation that "Judge Carsten doesn't have the authority to overthrow the verdict ... you are not helping yourself."
But as Carsten rendered the verdict, he told Todt that he "destroyed the world" of his now deceased family members.
