Summary

• “Unsolved Mysteries” covers a mix of high-profile and lesser-known cases, including the tragic death of Amanda Antoni.
• New evidence introduced in Amanda Antoni’s case led investigators to consider the possibility of her death being accidental.
• Despite ruling Amanda Antoni’s death as an accident, her family continues to believe she was murdered.

This article discusses graphic depictions of potential murder and acts of violence.

Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries is back with brand-new cases to examine, including the tragic death of Calgary woman Amanda Antoni. Unsolved Mysteries has covered various high-profile cases, including the 1994 Lake Michigan UFO sightings. Unsolved Mysteries has also proven effective with cold cases, with some big updates for a few cases after the Unsolved Mysteries episodes aired. However, Unsolved Mysteries covers lesser-known cases, including Amanda Antoni’s death. On October 26, 2015, Calgary police received a hysterical phone call from Lee Antoni, crying about finding his wife motionless in their basement covered in blood.

Upon the initial gruesome scene, detectives became convinced that Amanda’s death was suspicious. However, new evidence came to light, including the results of the autopsy, which led to investigators introducing the possibility of Amanda’s death being a tragic accident rather than a murder. Her family remains convinced that someone killed Amanda, but there are no leads other than the strange circumstances of the crime scene. It has been almost nine years since Amanda Antoni died, and the case remains unsolved for several reasons.

Amanda Antoni Was Found Dead In Her Home In 2015

Amanda Was Discovered In The Basement By Her Husband, Lee Antoni

Lee Antoni returned from Saskatchewan on October 26, 2015, to discover his wife, Amanda, lying in their basement covered in blood. Lee had been away all weekend, and despite not having heard from Amanda since Saturday night, he did not think anything was wrong. Amanda Antoni’s death was horrifying—many of the detectives working the case had never seen a scene as gruesome as the Antoni basement. Given the amount of blood and Amanda’s bashed-in head, detectives concluded that her death was suspicious. The case was assigned to the homicide department despite there being no cause of death attributed to murder.

Why Lee Antoni Was A Suspect In Amanda’s Death

The Spouse Is Always Looked At First

When a death is considered suspicious, detectives always look at the deceased’s partner first. Sometimes, it is blatantly obvious that the partner had nothing to do with the death, but other times, such as in Amanda Antoni’s case, it was not immediately clear. Although the Unsolved Mysteries episode begins with Lee Antoni’s hysterical 911 phone call, investigators had to rule him out as a suspect. Lee knew that detectives had to do that to move forward with the investigation, so he did not mind—he just wanted to know what happened to his wife.

Calgary police traced Lee Antoni’s movements from the weekend and determined that he could not have been present at Amanda’s time of death based on his consistent appearances at gas stations from Calgary to Saskatchewan. He was telling the truth when he told the police that he had to go home to Saskatchewan to help his mother put his father’s affairs in order. Investigators believed that Amanda died around 7:00 p.m. on Saturday because it was the last sign of life from her.

Was Amanda Antoni’s Death A Murder Or An Accident?

Evidence Suggests Amanda Antoni’s Death Could Have Been Either

Amanda Antoni’s mysterious death was so puzzling that investigators could not determine whether it was an accident or a murder. In fact, an expert team of behavioral scientists believed that her death was an accident despite the very rare likelihood. There was no sign of anyone or anything in the basement other than Amanda herself—all the DNA, footprints, hair, and fingerprints belonged to her. Furthermore, based on the placement of the murder weapon—a ceramic piggy bank—Amanda Antoni could have fallen accidentally, hitting her head on the object, which would have caused her to stumble down the stairs to her death.

Calgary police also received no tips from the public regarding the case, which is highly unusual.

Other than a broken right orbital bone and significant bruising, there were no other serious internal injuries. Despite Amanda Antoni’s death being attributed to blunt force trauma, she had no brain trauma or a cracked skull, which is unusual for a murder. Calgary police also received no tips from the public regarding the case, which is highly unusual. Amanda Antoni could have stumbled into the piggy and fallen to her death in a tragic accident. These circumstances suggest that despite the horrifying scene, Amanda Antoni really did accidentally die.

On the other hand, there is a lot of other significant evidence that suggests Amanda Antoni was murdered—evidence that cannot be ignored. The last sign of life from Amanda was on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., almost two days before Lee returned home and found his wife. Amanda Antoni’s last activity was talking to Lee on the phone. During this conversation, Lee heard their dog, Ruby, bark and yelp at the other end, which does not normally occur. Then, the phone suddenly disconnects from Amanda Antoni’s end.

Since the abrupt end to the phone call, Amanda Antoni had shown no activity whatsoever—her phone was idle, she did not leave the house, and nothing suggested she was still alive. Furthermore, one set of Amanda Antoni’s neighbors heard a commotion in the house when Amanda and Lee were on the phone together. Another neighbor even witnessed a figure running across their lawns. Although detectives ruled out every possible suspect in Amanda’s life, these mysterious circumstances indicate that her death might not have been accidental.

Submit tips for Amanda Antoni’s death at calgarycrimestoppers.org or at unsolved.com.

When Calgary police arrived at the Antoni home after Lee had called them on Monday, October 26, they noticed a chair was flipped over. Amanda’s phone lay on the floor in the middle of the hallway, several feet from the basement entrance. These two key pieces of evidence suggest that Amanda had been involved in some sort of struggle. It is highly unlikely that Amanda would have accidentally fallen to her death, given the disrupted furniture and misplaced phone. However, the evidence was not enough to definitively rule Amanda Antoni’s death as a murder.

Has There Been Any Updates On Amanda Antoni’s Death?

Everything That Has Happened Since Amanda Antoni Died

The most significant update on Amanda Antoni’s death occurred over a year later, on December 13, 2016. Calgary police concluded that Amanda Antoni’s death was an accident, much to the family’s dismay. However, despite this surprising ruling, Amanda Antoni’s family does not believe her death was accidental. The lead investigator from the case even continued to work for the Antoni family, given how many unanswered questions remain. Hopefully, Unsolved Mysteries volume 4, episode 2, “Body In The Basement,” will garner further attention to Amanda Antoni, and someone with useful information will come forward to help solve this case.

Source: CTV News Calgary