Searching for clues in Todt slaying

Man who confessed to killing wife, 3 children was 4 when his dad was charged in shooting

HARTFORD, CONN. — Tony Todt, who authorities say confessed last month to killing his wife and three children in Florida, was 4 years old when he witnessed an attempt to murder his mother — a crime for which his father was later convicted.

As friends and loved ones from the family’s home state of Connecticut struggle to understand what could have driven a man to the horrific act of killing his entire family, Tony’s sister and father are looking to that long-ago trauma — if not for an explanation, then perhaps for the shadow of an answer.

In an interview with The Hartford Courant, Tony’s sister, Chrissy Caplet, said she’ll never know what motivated Tony to kill his family.

But she pointed to a federal investigation that had targeted Tony for an alleged Medicaid fraud scheme, which had the potential to land him in prison for a year or two. She drew links between Tony’s childhood trauma and the looming specter of his own imprisonment, wondering if they may be pieces of the puzzle.

Tony “being a 4-year-old and seeing his dad being taken away, I don’t think he wanted the same childhood for his kids,” Caplet said. “It doesn’t excuse it. It certainly doesn’t excuse it.”

Tony’s father, who spoke to The Courant separately, also pondered the lingering effects of the violence that surrounded 4-year-old Tony. Even though Robert “Bob” Todt still maintains his own innocence in the 1980 crime and had little involvement in his children’s upbringing, he acknowledges that Tony witnessed someone attempt to kill his mother and said it must have affected Tony deeply.

“There’s only so much trauma a young kid can take at that point,” Bob Todt said.

The Todt family is now once again part of an unthinkably gruesome chapter. In mid-December, Tony’s wife and children, living in Florida, went silent. Their loved ones up north didn’t hear from them for nearly a month, until police in Florida made a grisly discovery.

They found the family — Tony’s wife, Megan; the couple’s three children, 13-year-old Alek, 11-year-old Tyler and 4-year-old Zoe; and their dog, Breezy — dead in their Celebration home. The

family had moved to Florida from Colchester, where Tony still operated a physical therapy business.

Authorities said Tony, now 44, confessed to killing his wife and three children in their home, which sits on the outskirts of Walt Disney World. The brutal killings have been a “living nightmare” for the many who knew and loved the family.

“I never thought my brother could do this,” Caplet said. “Not in a million years.”

Caplet, who lives in Connecticut, and Bob Todt both spoke to The Courant in the weeks following Tony’s confession. Neither could fully answer the question of what could have motivated Tony to kill his family. Caplet said there is no possible answer that would make sense.

It’s “rational minds trying to understand something irrational,” she said.

But Caplet said she thinks that Tony carried the trauma of their mother’s attack with him into adulthood.

“I absolutely think that this impacted him more than he knew,” Caplet said.

A murder attempt

In March 1980, when Tony was 4 and his family still lived in Pennsylvania, someone came into the Todt family’s Bensalem home and shot Tony’s mother. According to 1981 Philadelphia Inquirer article, Tony heard his mother screaming before she was shot.

Bob Todt was later charged with attempted murder, and at trial the prosecution laid out a shocking narrative: Bob Todt, at the time a teacher, had hired a student to murder his wife, Loretta, as the pressure of his extramarital affairs grew overwhelming.

To this day, Bob Todt is adamant he had nothing to do with the attempted murder of his then-wife. His stance has remained unchanged since his arrest, and at trial he testified in his own defense.

Bob Todt was convicted in December 1980 and initially sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer article. In 1984, according to a Philadelphia Daily News article, Bob Todt went before a judge again and, although his conviction stood, his sentence was reduced to five to 10 years.

In the months following the shooting, Tony and his family were hit with the fallout: Loretta’s recovery from a gruesome injury, Bob Todt’s arrest and conviction, an ardent fight against the conviction and, eventually, a move from Pennsylvania to Connecticut.

Caplet said her mother’s decision to move and remarry was, for her and Tony, “the best chance we had of having somewhat of a normal childhood.”

But Tony nonetheless struggled. According to a 1981 Philadelphia Inquirer article, Tony was plagued by nightmares about what he’d seen.

Loretta and her husband “gave as much support and whatever Tony needed,” Caplet said. “He went to therapy for years.”

As Loretta built a new life in Connecticut, she also shielded her children from their biological father. And while Loretta worked to move her children forward, Bob Todt found ways to keep them symbolically close.

In early January, Caplet reached out to her father with a text. Bob Todt was living in Massachusetts, and she wanted to know if he’d heard from Tony. At that point, Tony’s young family had not been seen for weeks.

Caplet and her family knew about the federal investigation into Tony’s alleged Medicaid fraud scheme. They knew he was facing the possibility of jail time. So when they didn’t hear from Tony’s wife or kids for several weeks — although there was intermittent communication with Tony — Caplet said she thought they might have been making a run for it.

And if they were making a run for it, Caplet thought, maybe they had reached out to Bob Todt for help.

Caplet said it wasn’t that the family actually thought Tony would flee. But the alternative — the reality — was unthinkable. Several days after Caplet texted Bob Todt, the grim news broke.

‘I wish we would’ve known’

Tony is now facing four charges of second-degree murder, with each charge carrying the possibility of life in prison. If his charges are upgraded to first-degree murder, a conviction by a Florida jury could leave him facing the death penalty. Tony is in Osceola County jail, without the option of bail, records show.

Looking back, Caplet said she wishes her family had known more about what was going on with Tony. .

“I wish we would’ve known so we would’ve been able to help,” Caplet said.

But now, “we’ll never have the answers.”