Man Who Poisoned Family Allegedly Had Murder-Suicide Pact With Wife To 'Pass Over' Before 'Apocalypse'

The trial of Connecticut resident and physical therapist Anthony Todt began on Monday, April 11, after he has been accused of killing his wife, his three children, and his family’s dog through Benadryl poisoning and stabbing them to death.

Todt’s family was found dead and rotting in their Celebration, Florida home during a welfare check by police officers, with the suspect confessing to their murders in three interviews before alleging that his wife Megan had killed the kids for him during the incident, according to the Daily Beast.

“I love my wife, still, very deeply, and 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 [died by] suicide in front of me,” he said.

The prosecution argued that Todt and his wife Megan had a murder-suicide pact together because of their belief that the world would end soon. It is unclear how the prosecution was able to come to this conclusion during their opening statements.

“Everybody needed to die in order to pass over to the other side together because the apocalypse was coming,” Assistant State Attorney Danielle Pinnell said during her opening statements.

Todt was reportedly in another friend’s condo unit when the children were killed, and he claims to have come into the house just to watch his wife kill herself with a knife, stabbing her children before stabbing herself, according to the Hartford Courant.

“He proclaims his innocence and makes a lot of compelling arguments for his innocence,” Robert Todt, Anthony Todt’s father, said in a statement. “The defense he’s going to have is, ‘How did he do this when he wasn’t there?’”

Todt’s three children as well as his wife Megan were found with a toxic amount of Benadryl in their bodies, and bottles of the product were found inside the family’s home. He had reportedly overdosed on Benadryl during the time he confessed to the murder, Spectrum News 13 reported.

Todt’s defense attorney has not given an opening statement yet as they wait for the prosecution to wrap up their case and presentation of witnesses. Judge Keith Carsten, the presiding judge of the case, reminded jurors to be open-minded to the arguments given during the case.

“Please remember whose burden it is to prove the allegations against Mr. Todt, and please understand that Mr. Todt has absolutely no obligation to prove anything whatsoever,” Carsten said.