Unsolved Mysteries and Everything That Really Happened to Amanda Antoni

If Unsolved Mysteries‘ fans were less-than-pleased by episodes featuring Jack the Ripper and the Mothman during its newest season, they were equally hooked by Episode 2 of Volume 4, “Body in the Basement,” which featured the perplexing case of Amanda Antoni. There are many unanswered questions surrounding Antoni’s death, and it has sparked much debate online about what really happened. Was she murdered? Did her husband do it? Did a stranger break into her home and take her life? Was the whole thing just a tragic accident? Many of the angles offer up intriguing ideas, which is why it seems to be the most celebrated episode featured in the current season of Unsolved Mysteries.

Amanda Antoni lived in Calgary, Canada, with her husband, Lee Antoni, but the 31-year-old was left home alone after Lee took a trip to Saskatchewan to visit his mother. Amanda was expected to go on the trip but had been suffering from migraines, something that had become common. She ultimately decided to stay behind, but she was in frequent contact with people like her mother and her husband in particular, who was texting her and speaking with her on the phone throughout the Saturday of his time away until about 7:00 PM when he had his last conversation with Amanda.

In the middle of their talk, the call ended abruptly, with Lee calling and texting several times and receiving no response. Not thinking the worst, he waited until he could personally check on her, but what he found was a total nightmare. After arriving home on October 26, 2015, Lee found his wife Amanda dead in the basement. The scene was so grisly that the first officer on the scene, Sgt. Trent Petersen said, “This was the bloodiest scene I’d ever walked in on. Quite frankly, it was gruesome.”

The Husband Was Looked Into as a Suspect

Details of the case became immediately perplexing to those investigating it. As is the case when a spouse is found deceased under suspicious circumstances, all eyes quickly fell on Lee despite saying he had been away for the weekend. In fact, the idea that he was gone was one of the first details they latched onto because Lee himself admitted during his interrogation that it was not common for the couple to spend the weekend apart. The couple, like many of them, did have some problems in their marriage, with Amanda’s brothers pointing out in their interviews that there was some tension because Amanda was making most of the money while Lee had issues sustaining proper employment.

Even though suspicion fell on Lee, it was determined that his alibi was airtight. Investigators pulled footage from the various locations that Lee claimed to be, and it was verified that he was in a completely different province at the time of Amanda’s death. It was possible that Lee could’ve hired someone to murder his wife, but those theories seemed to be debunked, too. Lee is interviewed during the episode, and on many occasions, his emotions are palpable, especially after he describes how he found his wife. The 9-1-1 call featured at the top of the episode that Lee placed is also particularly gut-wrenching, further indicating that unless Lee is one hell of an actor and a liar, he had nothing to do with the death of his wife.

The intruder theory is also another compelling argument. Amanda and Lee lived in Castleridge, a neighborhood that had a very high crime rate, particularly with homeless people trespassing into the backyards of residents and stealing various items. One of the neighbors of the Antonis’ was interviewed and said during the time of the reported last phone call Amanda and Lee had together, they heard loud noises coming from the Antoni home, followed by screaming. After the commotion, another neighbor said they saw someone running away from the direction of the house and through another neighbor’s backyard.

The one issue with the intruder angle is that no forced entry was observed at the home. That means if there was an intruder, they just walked into the house, or Amanda happened to know them and let them in. One detail that Lee struggles to remember is whether the door was locked or unlocked when he arrived home on that fateful day. Due to the trauma of what he saw, it’s something that he can’t remember for sure, and it’s a crucial detail that could indicate how an intruder could’ve gotten in without forcibly entering the home.

The brutality of the scene also pokes a hole in the intruder theory. Amanda’s autopsy provided some answers when it was revealed that her cause of death was due to blunt force trauma, which resulted in Amanda bleeding to death. The scene was so bloody and Amanda’s injuries so severe that investigators thought they would identify other DNA at the scene should someone else have been in the basement with Amanda, causing her death. The investigators were then baffled that the only DNA found at the scene was that of Amanda, making the notion of a mysterious intruder less likely.

Some Believe Amanda’s Death Could’ve Been an Accident

There is also the notion that this was all a tragic accident, and some evidence supports the theory. During Lee’s conversation with Amanda, he said that he could hear the dog barking towards the end of the call, and Amanda began to try to calm the pet down before Lee heard the dog yelp and a crunching sound before the call abruptly ended. In the accident theory, some believe Amanda could’ve possibly tripped over the dog, or the dog got under her, which caused her to fall down the basement stairs, which ultimately caused her severe head injury.

While some say it’s odd the dog didn’t go downstairs to check on Amanda for 48 hours, others believe it’s possible the dog was afraid she hurt Amanda and was too scared to go into the basement. If the accident angle is true, that explains Amanda’s DNA being the only physical evidence found because no one else caused her injuries.

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There are still perplexing aspects of the case, no matter what scenario you believe. Amanda’s family discredits the accident theory because of the condition of some areas of the home. There was an overturned chair in the dining room, which could indicate that some kind of attack first occurred there, and a broken piggy bank was found on the ledge leading down to the basement. Fragments of the piggy bank were found in her hair and forehead, which led some to believe it could’ve been the murder weapon or she fell into it when pushed down the stairs. However, in the accident theory, some believe she could’ve simply struck her head against the piggy bank after she tripped and fell down the stairs herself.

In one of the more chilling aspects of the case, investigators were able to determine that Amanda got up at one point after the fall because her bloody footprints could be observed at the base of the stairs. This means that Amanda did not die quickly and had the opportunity to make her way back up. In the intruder theory, some believe that Amanda was too scared to go back up the stairs because the threat was still present, and she eventually died from her injuries. In the accident scenario, it’s theorized that despite her head injury, she was able to get up but was too disoriented to make it all the way up the stairs and later died.

Whatever the case surrounding Amanda Antoni’s death, it has intrigued viewers of Unsolved Mysteries, who are extremely perplexed by its details. Some believe murder, others believe accident, but what is most common with some of the reactions is that they all agree it’s a mystery that sticks with you.

Hopefully, with the interest from the episode on Unsolved Mysteries, the family of Amanda Antoni can get some answers about what really happened to her. Whether it was murder or an accident, some kind of closure will be beneficial for the family. Unsolved Mysteries is currently streaming on Netflix.