Florida man admits killing family, pet dog in Disney-built community

A Florida resident confessed to killing his wife, three children and pet dog in their two-storey house in Disney-built community of Celebration, said police on January 16. Anthony Todt, 44, reportedly killed his wife Megan, 42, and children Alex, Tyler and Zoe, and their pet dog, Breezy.

Friends and relatives started looking for the family after they suddenly disappeared and were unreachable. One of the relatives approached Osceola County to report it two days after being told that they all had flu. At a press briefing, County Sheriff Russ Gibson reportedly said that the bodies were possibly inside the home the entire time until they were discovered on January 13.

Facing financial difficulties

According to media reports, the family was facing financial and legal issues both at home and Anthony’s physiotherapy practice. When the sheriff returned to serve a warrant in the federal case, Anthony finally opened the door and the authorities made the grim discovery. Even after finding the bodies, the police were unable to definitively identify the bodies until January 15. 

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The physiotherapist was handcuffed and escorted to a bus and taken to the Osceola county jail. But they made a detour to a hospital for a brief period after Anthony said that he had possibly taken an unknown amount of Benadryl to harm himself. Gibson said that he was unable to understand what would cause a person to commit such ‘evil and horrendous acts’. 

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The Inspector General’s office in the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was probing Anthony’s business practices since 2019.

According to an affidavit made public on January 15, HHS Special Agent Jeffrey W Anderson said that they were investigating the allegations of a health-care fraud scheme by Todt and Family Physical Therapy. Todt admitted the fraudulent activity stating that he kept billing for services that were not rendered.

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(With inputs from agencies)