Osceola County

Todt family: Documents detail timeline leading up to discovery of bodies in Celebration home

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — The Todt family hadn’t been heard from for weeks before three bodies were found inside their Celebration home.

Newly released documents show that Osceola County deputies went to the home on Jan. 13 to serve a federal warrant for Anthony Todt for insurance fraud related to his work as a physical therapist in Connecticut.

Instead, when they entered the home deputies said they were hit with the strong smell of death. The document said Todt told them his wife was asleep upstairs and his children may have been at a sleepover.

But deputies said when they went upstairs they found his wife and three children dead in the master bedroom.

Deputies said Todt confessed to killing his wife, Megan Todt, 42, and their three children, Aleksander Todt, 13, Tyler Todt, 11, and Zoe Todt, 4 -- as well as their family dog, Breezy.

Documents show that family and friends, as well as the FBI, were concerned because they hadn’t heard from the family since before Christmas. Deputies said they made well-being checks on Jan. 10 and 11, but never went inside the home after no one answered the door.

A neighbor told investigators she had a key to the home that she could give deputies, as she’d watched the family’s dog in the past, but deputies didn’t use it.

The records show a landlord called deputies days before the bodies were found concerned that they family hadn’t been heard from.

An arrest report released Thursday shows that investigators knew Todt was in the home when they arrived Jan. 13. Investigators said they watched him walk through the door as they were conducting surveillance on the home.

The report says when no one opened the door, investigators went in on their own. They said Todt told them his wife was “upstairs and (he) believed she was sleeping.”

When investigators called for her and she didn’t answer, the report says they went upstairs and discovered the bodies of Todt’s wife and three children, as well as their dog, in one bedroom.

According to preliminary autopsy results released by the medical examiner Thursday, all four family members were found in early stages of decomposition. Investigators have said previously that they believe the victims were killed in late December and that Todt had been living in the home with their bodies for weeks.

READ: Man who confessed to killing family at Celebration home on investigators’ radar for months, records show

Channel 9 reporter Lauren Seabrook spoke Thursday with the chief medical examiner, who called the preliminary reports “rough drafts” and said anything can change with toxicology results, which are still pending.

The preliminary results show that Megan Todt was stabbed twice in the upper abdomen and Aleksander and Tyler were both stabbed once in the upper abdomen. According to the report, there was no evidence of injury to Zoe.

The report does not declare a cause of death for any of the family members. That is still listed as pending.

No information about injuries or the cause of death for the family dog has been released.

WATCH: Anthony Todt escorted to jail by Osceola County deputies

Tony Todt has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of animal cruelty. He is being held at the Osceola County Jail without bail.

Investigators said when they went downstairs after discovering the bodies, Todt “could barely stand and appeared to be shaking.” Before arresting him, they said they took him to the hospital because he made threatening comments and downed Benadryl pills in a suicide attempt.

When Todt was later questioned, after investigators read him his Miranda warning, the report says Todt agreed to speak with deputies. The portion of the report that contains what investigators said was Todt confessing to the killings is completely redacted.

Seabrook is analyzing the reports and will continue to have the latest updates on Channel 9 Eyewitness News.

Preliminary autopsy results show Megan Todt was stabbed twice in the abdomen, 13-year-old Alek Todt was stabbed once in...

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Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.