Judge rules that part of man’s confession of killing family can be excluded during trial

Orlando, Florida: 45-year-old Anthony Todt first appeared on Real Dark News back in January 2020 after he was arrested, and confessed, to the murder of his wife, three children and family dog in their Celebration, Florida home in late December 2019.

He was arrested on January 15, 2020 after he was discharged from a local hospital where he had been taken as a precautionary measure after advising law enforcement that he had taken pills.

Todt's defense attorney filed a motion with Circuit Judge Keith Carsten ahead of the scheduled April 4, 2022 start of the trial in an effort to have three different conversations in which Todt confessed to his involvement in the murders of his wife, 42-year-old Megan Todt, and his children, 13-year-old Alek, 11-year-old Tyler, and 4-year-old Zoe.

Carsten ruled on the motion on Tuesday, March 15 stating that the first confession would not be usable by prosecution.

"The Miranda warnings recorded on the audio tape were inadequate and incomplete," Carsten wrote.

Despite a requirement that law enforcement inform individuals in custody of their full Miranda rights in accordance with the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, the detective reportedly neglected to mention to Todt that his testimony could be used against him in court and that he could have an attorney appointed if he could not afford one.

In the two subsequent interviews conducted by law enforcement, Todt was advised of his full Miranda rights and Carsten found no reason to exclude them from the case.

"[Todt] did not show any signs of hesitation of speaking with the Detectives in any of the three interviews. This is evidenced by [Todt's] repeated statements to the Detectives indicating he wished to talk to them, wished to take responsibility, felt comfortable with the Detectives, and was not threatened at all by their presence or questions."

Todt's attorney had sought to have the two subsequent confessions excluded on the basis that Todt was allegedly suicidal at the time and had allegedly overdosed on Benadryl resulting in a diminished capacity.

According to autopsy reports, the family was found to have stab wounds and toxic amounts of Benadryl in their bodies.