Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 'Disney' family of five 'disappears.' Then cops smell stench at luxury condo

Episode Date: January 20, 2020

Connecticut physical therapist Anthony Todt is accused of killing his entire family, along with the family dog. After police find Todt in his Disney area townhome with the dead bodies of his wife, dog, and three young children, he allegedly admits to the murders.Joining Nancy Grace to discuss: Darryl Cohen: Former Assistant District Attorney, Fulton County, Georgia Steven Lampley: Former Detective, Author of “Outside Your Door” Dr Bethany Marshall: Psychoanalyst, Beverly Hills Dr. Michelle Dupre: South Carolina Medical Examiner & Author of “Homicide Investigation Field Guide” Leigh Egan: Investigative Reporter , CrimeOnline.com  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. What happens to an entire family seemingly going missing in or about their Disney condo? I'm taking a look at their photo right now, the mom and three beautiful children what so many people would not give to have a gorgeous family like this two boys i mean they all have on matching it looks like pjs all of them the dad the mom two boys a girl and the dog poking up at the bottom of the photo it's an all-american dream what goes wrong when the whole family goes missing? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The owner of Family Physical Therapy, Tony Tott, his wife and their three young children and dog have not been seen or heard from in weeks.

My staff realized that something's amiss and they followed him, followed the online stuff and said he's really missing. A Facebook page created over a week ago by family and friends of the family of five looking for answers in their disappearance. They say the Todd family had recently moved to Celebration, Florida from Colchester, but say that Tony had traveled back and forth to continue to run his Colchester business. The community still waiting for many answers to the questions about a family that was loved by so many in this community over the years in town. He always seemed very generous, helpful. They were always doing things for the community. I the years in town, he always seemed very generous,

helpful. They were always doing things for the community. I know around Christmas, they were taking a collection for a family in need. Really nice guy. You're hearing our friends at Fox 61. That's Ashley Afonso speaking. What happens to an entire family? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. It is extremely rare for an entire family to just drop off the map. I've covered several cases like that, investigated several cases like that, and they are extremely rare. Just a handful of cases with me. To break it down and put it back together again,

renowned defense attorney, former prosecutor out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, Daryl Cohen. Detective, author of Outside Your Door. You can find him at StephenLampley.com. Stephen Lampley, psychoanalyst to celebs. Dr. Bethany Marshall joining me out of Beverly Hills at DrBethanyMarshall.com. Renowned South Carolina medical examiner, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide, Dr. Michelle Dupree. But right now to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Lee Egan. Let's start at the beginning. When did the, now I'm understanding it's pronounced

Tote family, go missing? Well Nancy, the Tote family has not been seen since mid-December by some neighbors, November by other neighbors. Wow. But their family says that they spoke to them or texted them on January 6th, speaking only to the father, none of the other family. So if those accounts are to be believed, we know that the entire family was seen in mid-December, just before Christmas. The dad was texting normally at the beginning of January. The whole family goes missing, though, out of sight. And it all seems to be swirling around the Disney complex in Celebration, Florida. Now, let's talk about that for one moment.

Daryl Cohen, defense attorney talk about that for one moment. Daryl Cohen, defense attorney, joining us out of Atlanta. Daryl, I know with all your children, you must have gone to Disney. I actually got to live down there for, I guess, six months when I was covering the Top Mom Casey Anthony case. We went to Disney all the time. All the time, because we went to disney all the time all the time because i would be in court all day and my husband and two babysitters would take the children to disney and i would pass celebration en route to the entrance to disney i didn't know what it was i said david what is that it's this beautiful kind of a resort community built for Disney lovers. That's what it is, Daryl. Yeah, Nancy, I've been to Disney so many times,

I think I grew my own mouse ears. But yeah, I love it. And it's very, very close. And it's supposed to be the epitome of good and family fun and wholesomeness. And this well, I don't like what you just said, Daryl Cohen. It's supposed to be because in my mind it is. I mean, you don't even step on a piece of gum at Disney. That's just not going to happen. Okay. And you can, not that I would do it because I don't want them kidnapped and murdered, but at Disney,

there are so many employees both in uniform and non-uniform. A lot of parents let their children walk free because it really is the happiest place on earth we in fact i was so inspired we started going on disney cruises because we loved disney so much and the celebration is a giant community for disney lovers you know there's those people i actually worked with one of them, Dr. Bethany Marshall. You remember my friend who was my first line producer ever, Justin Freiman, he's now at Fox Business. He was with me at Court TV. Then he came with me to HLN and has been a friend and coworker for years. He worked at Disney. He told me all the ins and outs. It's almost like

a cult in a good way because once you're there, you love it, Bethany, and people actually move and rebuild their lives to be near Disney, Bethany. It is definitely a club, and not only do they move and change their whole lives, but you know, some people, I have patients when I practice like this who get yearly passes, and whenever they have a free day, they head down to Disneyland. And it's not just because they have children. These are people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, but it is a whole entire community. And it is a wholesome community. I mean, that's what you're talking about. It's built on family values, fun, and kind of a wish to return to childhood to you know the innocence and the carefree nature of

that part of life so there's nothing sinister i know this is a crime story that we're talking about but there's nothing sinister about disneyland it is the happiest place on earth okay you can all judge me if you want to but do you know how many times i've been through it's a small world at disney in orlando i don't i don't even know how many well well've been through? It's a small world at Disney in Orlando. I don't even know how many. Well, well over 25 times because we would get out and get right back in the ride and go around and around. Look, this is a fairytale Florida community, and it was built by Disney World. And people who love Disney actually go and live there. And other people who want a pretty much crime-free, sunny climate, positive attitude, at least on the outside as far as I can see, move to Celebration. That is exactly where this family went. But then suddenly something goes

very, very wrong because they go missing. Take a listen to our friends at WFSB Eyewitness News 3. This is Kevin Hogan. The family's saying they relocated from Colchester to Celebration, Florida. Tonight, we have documents showing Tony's license to practice here in Connecticut was not renewed last September. And in December, they were evicted from the house that they lived in in Celebration, Florida. And shortly after Thanksgiving, a digital marketing rep visited the Colchester office to talk to Tony

about his website and was confronted by what she thought were investigators. I didn't see any badges, but it was a big black truck and of course it looked... Business was locked? I couldn't get to the door. Okay, hold on just a moment. Did I just hear eviction? Eviction? That, oh, okay. When you get evicted, Daryl Cohen, I need a lawyer. Everybody put a break on it. When you have an actual eviction, you have gotten all sorts, months and months of notices that you're going to be thrown out on the street. They don't just show up one day and grab you by the arms, knock on the door, grab you, and throw you out on the sidewalk. It doesn't happen like that. Daryl Cohen, when somebody is finally evicted,

that's the culmination, literally, of months of legal notices, of them putting notes on your door, emails, letters, the whole shebang. Explain it to me. I've never really done landlord-tenant or homeowner law, but even though you are a defense attorney, you have to have people connected to your practice that have been evicted or are trying to avoid foreclosure. How much notice do you have before you're finally tossed out on the street? Well, evicted is really very simple, Nancy. The landlord wants his or her money, and the people that are being notified that they're

going to be evicted haven't paid. You normally get months. You're behind. Please pay me. You're behind. Please pay me. Then it goes to a certified letter. You're behind. Please pay me. Then it goes to a certified letter. If you don't pay, we're going to serve you eviction notice. Then the sheriff comes out and gives you a little bit of notice, puts a note on your door if you're not there. If not, gives it to you personally. You're going to be evicted if you don't pay. And then you have a court date. And then if you show up at the court date, you could normally get a little bit of time. If you choose to ignore it, then they will give you a week, maybe two weeks to get out so nancy you're absolutely correct

you get so much notice they want their money they don't care they just don't care well here's the deal if someone is being evicted that means that this family this mom and dad or at least the dad had because he was the one uh that it was all to. He was getting legal notices the other day. The twins were at some school trip and I had gone along and while they were in their quote nature class I went for a jog. I jogged by Daryl Cohen this gorgeous home out in the middle kind of in this nature preserve area in a little slice where you could build homes and I went wow they sure haven't kept up their yard compared to all these other people these big beautiful houses here I am tromped through my beat up clothes and tennis shoes

and then as I got closer I saw a note a bunch of notes letters on the door the garage door was up it looked vacant one of the windows is broken on top like a third story window and I could look at a distance and see the notes were like pale pink you know the pink slip it was an eviction in that beautiful home and there were there had to be four letters on the door where they come to warn the people. My point is there were problems looming for this family just before they go missing. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. People living nearby say the couple had three young children and they fear the worst has happened despite no confirmation from the sheriff's deputies. Lane Schlatter says he played basketball with the Todd children. They were very nice and it's our dealers have run.

A next door neighbor took a picture of a man being put in handcuffs at the home Monday morning. The neighbor says that man in the photo appears to be Tony Todd. I haven't seen the family in weeks. They used to always park right in front of us so we'd see them every day come in and out with the kids and the last time I saw them was around Thanksgiving time. This is seemingly the all-American family. People back home where they originally came from at Colchester recounted as the search was on for the family, one guy talked about coaching soccer with the dad, Anthony Tote, and for years they had coached soccer together. Their children had played together. And then suddenly, out of the blue, bam, they go missing. Now, we know the Totes were in the process of being sued for failure to pay rent at a separate residence. They owed well over four

grand. That Celebration Florida condominium, their reserve place, is what we're talking about. A tenant eviction notice was filed on December 22. We also know that notes had been left on the home. There was a one-year lease on that home where they had relocated. They owed about five grand in December rent, and then they owed money elsewhere. They had sold their home back home in Colchester in 2017 for about $350,000. What happened to that money? Now, we know Celebration is about an 11-square-mile, quote, master plan, a PUD, a plan unit development community right beside Walt Disney Resort.

There are about 7,000 or so people that live there, and it's divided into very distinct villages of sorts, but very high scale gated community, a great place to raise your children. Lee Egan, question to you. Lee Egan joining me, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Why wasn't it reported the children were not in school? They were being homeschooled by the mother. So the mom was homeschooling them, plus it was Thanksgiving and Christmas vacation. So a lot of children, including my own, were out during that time. So their little playmates probably did not even notice something was wrong. Stephen Lampley, detective, author of Outside Your Door.

You can find him at StephenLampley.com. Steve, how often have you ever seen an entire family just go missing? You hear of a mom or a dad or a child going missing, but the whole family? It very rarely happens. And in the incidents where it does happen, usually, not all the time, but usually you're centered around a domestic situation, and the family knows, so it's not alarming. But whenever you have, in my experience,

whenever you have a whole family that disappears and nobody knows anything it doesn't look good back to lee egan the tote family owns a business in colchester connecticut and have been commuting back and forth to celebration florida for how long and what kind of business was it the dad owned lee he owned a physical therapy business he was a physical therapist and he himself is the one that traveled back and forth from Florida to Connecticut. I believe he was working during the week at the physical therapy business and on the weekends and holidays he would spend in Florida with his family. Take a listen our friends at WFSB Eyewitness News this is Carlina Cruz. Tony Todd he ran this business here in town so he's well known in

this community because he operated the family physical therapy but we spoke with the manager HERE IN TOWN. SO HE'S WELL KNOWN IN THIS COMMUNITY BECAUSE HE OPERATED THE FAMILY PHYSICAL THERAPY. BUT WE SPOKE WITH THE MANAGER YESTERDAY AND SHE SAYS SHE HASN'T SEEN HIM IN WEEKS. NO ONE HAS HEARD FROM THE TAUT FAMILY SINCE LAST MONDAY. RELATIVES CREATED A FACEBOOK GROUP DEDICATED TO FINDING TONY TAUT. WE'VE BLURRED OUT HIS WIFE AND THREE CHILDREN. IN A POST, HIS SISTER PLEADED, TONY, IF YOU HAPPEN TO COME ACROSS THIS, PLEASE LET US KNOW THAT YOU GUYS his sister pleaded, Tony, if you happen to come across this, please let us know that you guys are okay. Yesterday, police in Celebration, Florida investigated a death at a home the family owned since 2005. It's terrible. Definitely terrible. You can't imagine that this could be happening on the corner, you know, beside you. You can't imagine that. And thus begins the saga of what has happened to the Tote family. We first learned there is one body in the area of their celebration home.

To Lee Egan, investigative reporter, CrimeOnline.com, how did police initially find the body? Well, the first time they went out there was for a welfare check. They returned on January 9th to serve a warrant. And at that time, they noticed something. I believe it was like a smell or something unusual. Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, joining us out of Beverly Hills at drbethanymarshall.com. Dr. Bethany, why is it people would rather die than go through life without their money? You know, Nancy, that is such a good question. Do you know that 44% of all crimes are related to property or money in some way, either fear of losing it, not having enough, taking it from other people, envying it, coveting it,

stealing it. Money is really at the root of so many bad happenings in our society. Obviously, not that money is bad, but all the meanings attached to it. And when I hear that, you know, there was these eviction notices on the door, the license wasn't renewed. I began to think, you know, was there some foul play that befell this family because they didn't have money? Or in some way, were they preparing to die? And were they stopping paying the rent? Were they not renewing their license? Was there some kind of a lead-up phase to this demise that befell them? In other words, they were preparing to not be on this earth any longer. And I'm not sure, you know, which way it is with this family.

Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. You stated that the sheriffs had gone by for a welfare check when family back home in Connecticut could not find the Tote family. Nothing. They couldn't find anything. All right. So they go back, you said, as I recall, Lee, to effect a warrant. What was the warrant they went back? That's when they smell the decomp through the front door. The warrant was for an investigation going on. Federal investigators were investigating the father for Medicare and other private insurance fraud. He was allegedly billing these insurance companies for visits that never happened, like some families would come maybe once or twice a week to his practice, but he would say they were there five times a week. He was doing this with many, many, many patients,

and the money had racked up to the point where they were serving a warrant for his arrest for that. You know, Daryl Cohen, as I always say, when you look out your kitchen window and you see the feds picking through your trash, you've got a problem. rest for that. You know, Daryl Cohen, as I always say, when you look out your kitchen window and you see the feds picking through your trash, you got a problem. Crime Alert. I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. A Florida daycare worker calls a parent to say her three-year-old has a bump on his leg from kicking a chair. That's not what happened. Surveillance video shows the 24-year-old pinning the leg to the floor, breaking it.

Stephanie Acosta now facing aggravated child abuse charges. Two men argue while riding a Staten Island bus. And Mika Arruda gets mad enough, breaking the windshield. Cops charge a 25-year-old with criminal mischief, menacing, reckless endangerment, and harassment. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Guys, the secret is out. If you want healthy intimacy, your body needs nitric oxide. And now you can boost your nitric oxide production faster than you thought possible with Ageless Mail Tonight.

The absurdly fast formula from the number one brand in mail enhancement. Just take one capsule an hour before romantic activity. You'll get clinically tested ingredients that rapidly boost nitric oxide production. And it won't go unnoticed. Rush to Walmart and get Ageless Mail Tonight. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. On January 13, 2020, Osceola County Sheriff's deputies responded to 2002 reserve plates in celebration

to assist federal agents from the Department of Health and Human Services in serving a federal arrest warrant for Anthony Tote. Anthony Tote's date of birth is September 29, 1975. Deputies made contact with Anthony in the home along with federal agents and he was immediately detained. A safety check of the home was conducted where deputies discovered four deceased individuals inside.

The home was immediately secured and a search warrant was obtained by our detectives. Detectives and forensic investigators began their investigation and crime scene processing. The medical examiner's office also responded to the scene and an autopsy was done the following day. The reports of the autopsy determined that the cause of death of the four decedents inside the home to be homicide. So this is not some suicide pact. There were four dead bodies in that home. Lee Egan, investigative reporter, CrimeOnline.com.

Who were the bodies? Whose bodies were found inside the Disney condo home? Well, Nancy, what we're learning is a suspect was living in the rented Celebration Florida home with his deceased family, Megan Tote, the mother, their three children, Alec, 13, Tyler, 11, and little Zoe was four, and the family dog, Breezy, for at least a week. Could be longer, family dog breezy for at least a week could be longer but we know for sure at least a week during that time his electricity was shut off no hot water and when he was walking out of the home in handcuffs when police arrested him a local reporter with spectrum news said that they could smell a strong odor coming from him. Whoa. Okay, so he killed the dog too?

Yes. Okay, Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst. We know this guy's $100,000 in debt, minimum, minimum. Plus, the feds are about three inches up his rear end for false claims. Hold on, Bethany. Daryl, explain how that works. I recall somebody rear- was I had somebody ran rear-ended me on my way to the courthouse I might add Daryl for a court for a court calendar

and you know I just got their name in Van Moose because I didn't want to be late to court do you know and when I called the police after that do you know the moment I got home that night my phone was ringing picked it up it was It was a runner, Daryl. The guy wouldn't identify himself, and he wanted to send me to a doctor. Okay, how did that happen, Daryl Cohen? Now explain to me how doctors and rehabs sometimes pad their expenses. Explain how it works in a nutshell, Daryl. In a nutshell, they put down that they have

given you this type of therapy and that type of therapy this type of therapy when in fact you have just been there and had one thing done to you you may have had a heat pack you may have had some sort of stretching exercise but they put down that they've done all of this stuff because the more they've done the more money they're going to make. And when you have your settlement, or if you have to file a lawsuit, there's more money for you there because of all the money you've expended. So that's how it works. Back to Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, joining us out of Beverly Hills. Dr. Bethany, I want to focus on just for a moment, shooting your dog. Do you remember in ancient Egypt when the pharaohs would be buried and their wives would

find all their pets entombed? Well, what is that about? Nancy, that's a really good question. I mean, in terms of ancient Egypt, they wanted their pets to go with them into the afterlife. But this is a very different situation. Obviously, the feds were closing in on the father in this family. Nancy, you do not want to mess with Medicare. You go to jail for a long, long time when you defraud the government. I had this huge chiropractic practice next to my office in Beverly Hills, patients coming in and out all the time, lining down the halls. I kept wondering why they had so many patients. It was like a mill. One day I came to work, the whole office was shuttered up, no patients, nothing there. I read in the paper the next day that the chiropractors had been

overbilling Medicare and they all went to jail. And the government pursues, the feds pursue these cases for months before they finally issue an arrest warrant, and they are serious. So the Tote family must have already known about this. And in terms of killing the dog, my sense is that he knew he was going to go to jail. He stopped paying for things. He stopped paying his mortgage. He didn't renew his license. He knew that it was all going downhill from there. And he simply did not want his family to be free. He didn't want to be

separated from them. He did not want them to have a free life while he was in jail. He's probably personality disorder, jealous, possessive, wanted them all to himself. And he'd rather them be dead than be parted from them. And it's sick and it's twisted, but I think that's what happened. What an act of hatred to murder your wife and your three children. I keep just looking at this photo of the whole family in matching PJs or outfits and the dog. It just looks like everybody's dream to have three beautiful children and the dog and the home. But we know Anthony Tote was under pressure from creditors, landlords, Medicaid investigators, and even federal agents. And if I've said it once, I've said it a million times, do not mess with the feds.

I'm talking about the IRS. They will get you if it is the last thing they do. Isn't it right, Daryl Cohen, that Capone, Al Capone, I don't know how many people he murdered, and he kept getting not guilty,

not guilty, hung jury, hung jury, until finally the tax man got him and he went down. Am I rewriting history here? Isn't that what happened, Daryl? If you're rewriting history, you're rewriting it with me. Absolutely. They tried to get him on every possible, every conceivable murder, but it wasn't to be. But the United States government was able to arrest him and he was convicted and served time for income tax fraud income tax evasion you're absolutely right dang and i know it nobody wants that tax bill but pay

it tip them 50 for pete's sake do not mess with the feds when they are investigating you all right now this is what i know you can look at facebook all you want to listen to all the neighbors describing their family their children their their the beautiful wife but public records tell another story tote feeling heat from his landlords creditors medicaid investigators and even the attorney general of connecticut He was a Colchester physical therapist. And this is what we know. According to police sources, after he brutally murders his family, he takes a handful of Benadryl pills. Oh, please stop. Benadryl? Are you serious? Dr. Michelle Dupree, I mean, how much Benadryl do you have to take to die? Nancy, it would be an

awfully lot. Benadryl really is, as you know, it's not the kind of sedative or CNS depressant that is going to cause a horrible outcome. You will just most likely get sick. This is also what we have learned. Searching for a motive, which of course the state does not have to prove, public records and court affidavits show Tote's private life was a mess. Under investigation, exorbitant spending, unpaid bills, eviction notice. He operated that physical therapy practice listed as Performance Edge Sports, LLC, also known as Family Physical Therapy there in Colchester. He had another office in Westchester, another section of town. Now we know around Thanksgiving, suddenly the Park Avenue office closed quickly and patients who were in the middle of treatment

had to go to other therapists. We also know his physical therapy license expired September 30, and he did not renew it, probably because he was under investigation and he thought he wouldn't get renewed. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAYS FOUR PEOPLE WERE FOUND DEAD INSIDE THIS HOME. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I WANT ANSWERS BUT I DON'T KNOW IF WE'LL EVER GET THE ANSWERS. MICHELLE AND OTHER NEIGHBORS CONFIRMED THIS IS A PHOTO OF THE FATHER, TONY TOTT. MARCELLO RODRIGUEZ TOOK THE PHOTO WHEN DEPUTIES PUT TONY

TOTT IN HANDCUFFS YESTERDAY MORNING. THE FATHER WAS ALWAYS FRIENDLY AND WAITING. THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL NOT TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS. THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL NOT TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS.

THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL NOT TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS. THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL NOT TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS. THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL NOT TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS. THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL NOT TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS. THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL NOT TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS. the photo of the father, Tony Todd. Marcelo Rodriguez took the photo when deputies put Tony taught in handcuffs yesterday morning. The father was always friendly and waiting.

The sheriff's office will not say if he's under arrest or being questioned in the deaths of the four people inside. It was a big surprise to us right now because we can't imagine that, you know, because pretty much is a happy family.

Everybody's so happy. Court records show that Tony and Megan taught were evicted from this home for not paying rent. You are hearing our friends at WTNH News 8. That's Lauren Seabrook. What we are learning is that Tott was heavily, heavily in debt. Up to $500,000 in civil judgments already obtained. Back to you, Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. What was he spending all that money on?

That's what everyone wants to know. He borrowed a lot of money from lenders. For what, we're not sure. But a lot of that money was being paid back to them. But he didn't have that money coming in. So it just became a vicious cycle. So how does that work? You build up debt and then you take out short-term loans to pay it off

or at least pay the bare minimum. To Dr. Michelle Dupree, South Carolina medical examiner, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide, Dr. Dupree, this clearly is not a suicide pact. So how can you look at the bodies and determine they were murdered, they did not commit suicide, decide to all go to heaven together? Well, Nancy, that is exactly what we do. As we look at the body, we look at what types of injuries there are. We look to see if it's possible that that person could have done this to themselves. And if the answer is no, then it is

obviously not a suicide. So it's going to depend on the injuries and how they were done well what do you mean by that that i mean i know that makes sense in your mind but to all of us who don't have a medical degree how can you look at the injuries and determine this was not a suicide well for example we can if there's um if there was some type of foul play like a gunshot wound or sharp force injuries which we don't have the information on that right now so we may look at some type of poisoning well if someone took an overdose of pills accidentally then that's going to be a different amount of substance in their body um can the children actually do that themselves um

we will look at again if there are injuries, we'll look at what they are and can that person do it to themselves or does someone else have to do it to them? Take a listen to what the Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson has to say. We're still waiting on positive identification of the four deceased persons recovered in the home by the medical examiner's office. But based on our investigation and the suspect statements, we strongly believe that they are that of Megan, Alec, Tyler, and Zoe. Based on the initial investigation, to include the suspect statements, the deaths have been determined to have occurred sometime

towards the end of December. Throughout the course of this investigation, our agency has been in close communication with the family of the victims, and we've also worked very closely, as you can imagine, with the medical examiner's office as well as our state attorney's office. This investigation is ongoing, and we will continue to work to gather all evidence as it presents itself. For those of you just joining us in Kissimmee, Florida, near Disney, a physical therapist confesses to killing his wife, their

three young children, and even the family dog in an upscale Florida suburb right there in the shadows of Walt Disney World and leaving their bodies there for days and days. The sheriff, Russ Gibson, said that Anthony Tote faces homicide charges in all three human murders. I still don't understand how he blew through $350,000 from the sale of his home back in Connecticut. How people rack up those types of bills. How do they do it, Dr. Bethany Marshall? I mean, I've heard of shopaholics that watch the Home Shopping Network all day long and have huge stacks of boxes at their door every day. They hardly ever open them. What is it, an ailment?

Is it an illness like alcoholism? Well, Nancy, when I thought about all the debt that he's racked up, it made me think that this is a very impulsive man. And impulsivity might be the underlying factor in the homicide as well. You have to be really impulsive, compulsive, somebody who does not want to pay back debt. It speaks to somebody who lacks a conscience, who lives in the moment, does not have big picture or cause and effect thinking. And at the very heart of this, too, is the same psychology as domestic homicide and domestic abuse. On some level, he did not want his family on this planet. He felt that they were

negatively affecting his well-being, that they were harming him in some way. I mean, we're seeing this idyllic community. We're seeing this physical therapist, but the individual, the perpetrator himself must have been very personality disordered, jealous, impulsive, angry, resentful, not wanting his family around. I don't think he murdered because of money. I think he murdered because he's homicidal and hatred and hateful. Okay, I hope you're sitting down, Dr. Bethany. But this guy, Anthony Tote, the Colchester business owner who relocates his family to Disney, when he was just four years old, was a witness to his mother's attempted murder in Pennsylvania. His dad was convicted and served hard jail time. Now, this is what we understand happened. That March, he, as a little boy, was asleep in the family home in Pennsylvania, wakes up to his mom screaming. He runs out in the hallway and he sees a guy wrestling with mom.

And another guy picks him up and brings him back to his bed. The mother, Loretta, had been shot in the face while sleeping in the family home. She survived, but the bullet destroyed her left eye and remained lodged in her skull. She only remembered taking her children to bed. The dad, the now dad, Anthony Tote and his sister in bed. She goes to bed. And next thing you know, she's shot in the head. And you know, he, Anthony Tote, remembers this. What do you make of that, Bethany Marshall? We know some families have a suicide legacy. You can see suicide being passed down intergenerationally. Other families have a homicide legacy.

That homicide seems acceptable. It seems like a good way to solve problems. It's not just that he witnessed the attempted homicide of his mother, but somehow killing another person to resolve your interpersonal conflicts is a part of the psychology of the father who raised him, right? It's in that attachment system, violence, hatred, and snuffing out another person's rights are what you do when you have interpersonal conflict so this is this man's legacy this is what he learned this is what he knows and this is what he resorted to when his life started unraveling we wait as justice unfolds nancy

grace crime story signing off goodbye friend you're listening to an iHeart podcast.