Fla. Dad Accused of Killing Family in Celebration Home Blames Slain Wife in Letter to His Father

In a 27-page letter, accused killer Anthony Todt claims his wife killed their 3 children and then herself

Megan Todt and children.

The Florida man awaiting trial for allegedly killing his family inside their picture-perfect home in the storybook town of Celebration is now claiming his wife killed their 3 children – and then herself.

In a bombshell letter dated June 19 and first obtained by the Orlando Sentinel from the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office via a public records request, Anthony Todt, 44, allegedly wrote to his father, Robert Todt, from Osceola County Jail -- and lay the blame on his deceased wife, Megan Todt, 42, for the killings of their children Alek, 13; Tyler, 11; and Zoe, 4.

“Long story short,” he wrote in the 27-page missive, “she gave them the Benadryl/Tylenol PM pie, separated them, woke up at 11:30 (p.m), stabbed and then suffocated each one.

“At the news of this I ran to the bathroom and puked — I was weak.”

Anthony Todt. Osceola County Sheriff

Federal and local officials who’d gone to Todt's home to serve him a warrant on fraud charges discovered the bodies of his wife, children and the family dog, Breezy, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said at the time.

Their corpses had already decomposed significantly when their remains were found on Jan. 13.

Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said officials believe the killings happened “sometime toward the end of December.”

Todt allegedly confessed to the killings, according to the Sheriff's Office.

On Jan. 13, he was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree homicide and one count of animal cruelty. In February, a grand jury indicted him on those charges.

According to the Medical Examiner's reports, the official cause of death for the victims was “homicidal violence of unspecified means,” along with “diphenhydramine toxicity.”

Diphenhydramine is the drug more commonly known as Benadryl. The victims were also stabbed multiple times, according to authorities.

Todt is also facing a federal fraud charge stemming from his physical therapy business. According to federal records obtained by PEOPLE, he was heavily in debt and allegedly defrauded Medicaid and insurance companies of $130,000.

In Todt's letter, which PEOPLE obtained, he asked his father to keep it "in confidence."

Claiming he's “10000% INNOCENT of all these preposterous charges,” he wrote, “I would have called a press conference months ago, but I was told by my attorneys, who happen to be some of the best in the state, that that was not the appropriate way to handle the case.

“So I just sit in idle, making a list of lawsuits [for] when I get out.”

In the letter, he said that his wife suffered from Lyme disease and depression, which is what he claims led her to kill the children and herself.

Anthony Todt and children.

On the day of the slayings, Todt wrote that he fell asleep in his minivan in front of a nearby condo the couple owned after he’d gone there to do maintenance work.

When he returned home, he said he noticed a pie his wife had made, which “looked very good” but “smelled horrible” because, he claims, it turned out to be "a Benadryl pudding pie," which he said she fed to the kids.

When he realized the children were dead, he wrote that his wife told him she "released their souls” before stabbing herself in the abdomen and drinking a family-sized bottle of Benadryl.

After she died, he said he arranged the children’s bodies in a bedroom “in comfortable sleeping positions,” put blankets on them “for warmth and protection” and placed rosaries in their hands.

He wrote that he attempted suicide several times — “Yet another thing I sucked at.”

Todt has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond. The public defender assigned to represent him had no comment.