Trial for alleged Celebration killer Anthony Todt scheduled for Sept. 27

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  • Community members placed stuffed animals and other memorial items in front of the Celebration home where Anthony Todt is accused of killing his family. PHOTO/FACEBOOK
    Community members placed stuffed animals and other memorial items in front of the Celebration home where Anthony Todt is accused of killing his family. PHOTO/FACEBOOK
  • Anthony Todt
    Anthony Todt
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The jury trial for Anthony Todt, the Celebration man accused of killing his family in 2020, has been scheduled for Sept. 27.

Anthony Todt was accused in January of 2020 of killing his wife Megan Todt, 42, two sons, Aleksander Todt, 13, Tyler Todt, 11 and 4-year-old daughter Zoe Todt.

He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and animal cruelty after he allegedly killed the family dog as well.

The pretrial has been set for Sept. 15, with the jury trial set for Sept. 27, according to the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court. The case will be heard by Judge Keith Carsten.

Once facing the death penalty, former Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala removed capital punishment from the Todt case before she left office in January. In a court notice, Ayala stated that because there were “serious concerns regarding the mental health of the defendant, it is not in the best interest of the people of the state of Florida to pursue the death penalty as a potential sentence.”

The Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy reports on the Todt family victims in Celebration, stated all died by “homicidal violence of unspecified means in association with diphenhydramine toxicity.”

Benadryl is a brand name for diphenhydramine, an antihistamine.

On Jan. 13, the bodies of the woman and the couple’s three children were discovered decomposing inside the Reserve Place home in the Celebration’s North Village when Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office deputies were conducting a wellbeing check.

According to the Office of the Medical Office District Nine autopsy report, all four victims died by “homicidal violence of unspecified means in association with diphenhydramine toxicity.”

Megan had two stab wounds to the abdomen, each at least 8 inches deep.

Aleksander had a stab wound to the left abdomen that was 4.5 inches deep, which injured one of his ribs.

Tyler had a stab wound to his upper abdomen that was 3.5 inches deep that injured his large intestine, according to the report.

Zoe had no trauma on her body.

Megan and her children also had an overdosing amount of Benadryl in their system, according to the report.

“Diphenhydramine has a sedating effect on the body, especially on a young child,” wrote Jennifer Nara, associate medical examiner.

An overdose of Benadryl may cause loss of consciousness, according to www.everydayhealth.com

Anthony Todt confessed to killing his family near the end of December of 2019, according to the Sheriff ’s Office. He also killed the family dog, Breezy. However, Todt later said it was his wife who murdered the children before committing suicide, according to a letter he wrote.

The letter dated June 19, 2020, was sent to Anthony’s father, Robert. In the letter acquired from the Orange-Osceola County State Attorney’s Office, Anthony wrote that his wife, Megan, poisoned their three children with Benadryl inside a pie, stabbed them and suffocated them.

“It will be the hardest thing to sit there and tell everyone that it was her that did this when I was not home and then she committed suicide in front of me,” he wrote in the letter.

He also wrote, “Long story short, she gave them the Benadryl/Tylenol PM pie, woke up at 11:30, stabbed them and then suffocated each one.”

Anthony explained in the letter that his wife then committed suicide by stabbing herself.

On Dec. 29, the Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office received a request to check on the family’s well being from an out-of-state relative of Anthony Todt.

He said deputies did not get a response after knocking on the door, but that they checked out the outside of the home and did not see anything suspicious.

On Jan. 9, the Sheriff ’s Office officials were contacted by federal agents regarding an investigation into Anthony Todt, and deputies made several more unsuccessful attempts to contact someone in the home.

Anthony Todt was taken into custody as a suspect the same day.

Deputies were helping federal agents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has been investigating Todt for alleged health-care fraud at his physical therapy business in Connecticut, the Hartford Courant reported.

Todt was accused of fraudulently billing tens of thousands of dollars worth of bogus therapy appointments, the Connecticut newspaper reported.

Anthony Todt is currently in the Osceola County Jail on no bond.