Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
On October 26, 2015, Lee Antoni discovered the body of his wife, Amanda Antoni, in their house in Calgary, Canada. Several outlets reported that Lee found his wife’s lifeless body in the basement of their home, following which her husband called 911. After first responders arrived at the scene, they initiated an investigation. Although the proof suggested Amanda’s murder, police couldn’t find strong evidence to have a suspect in the case.
The Amanda Case is one of the cases featured in the latest season of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix. The official synopsis of the episode reads, “Amanda Antoni’s husband finds her body in their basement with blood everywhere. The scene confounds police: Was it foul play – or a tragic accident.”
According to the episode as well as CBC, after Lee Antoni returned home from Saskatchewan and found his wife’s body, he told the dispatcher that blood was everywhere. Per the recording, Lee cried hysterically on the call and revealed that her wife was “cold.” Police noted there were no signs of forced entry and no signs that the incident was motivated by a robbery. However, they discovered a chair had been tipped over. Moreover, Amanda’s husband found her phone on the dining room floor.
Citing the investigators, the true crime series documented that the evidence indicated struggle or some violent altercation. One of the experts on the case stated that Amanda Antoni had bruises on different body parts. Additionally, the expert said that someone beat Amanda. The police sent the body for an autopsy and found that she died because of blunt-force trauma. As the investigation progressed, Amanda’s husband became a person of interest in the case. The police interrogated him and asked about his whereabouts on that fateful day.
What happened to Amanda Antoni & what was her cause of death?
According to the documentary series, Amanda Antoni died because of bleeding caused by blunt-force trauma. Subsequently, authorities questioned Amanda’s husband, Lee Antoni, and saw him as a person of interest. During the interrogation, Lee revealed that he didn’t know anything about the death and was at his mother’s house in Saskatchewan. Correspondingly, police searched all the surveillance cameras of the gas stations he stopped at during his journey.
Eventually, they found that Lee traveled to his mother in Saskatchewan when Amanda died. Meanwhile, they could not find any evidence of Lee hiring someone to kill his wife.
During the interrogation, police discovered that Amanda Antoni and Lee Antoni were supposed to travel together to Saskatchewan. However, Amanda canceled her program at the last moment because she felt unwell and stayed home. On the other hand, the series mentioned that Amanda had told her mother about her migraine that day. Lee remained in touch with his wife till Saturday. In the initial rounds of interrogation, Lee told the investigators that he called Amanda on Saturday evening. In the middle of the call, he heard a crunching sound before the call disconnected. His future calls went to voicemail, and Amanda didn’t reply to his texts either.
When Lee Antoni didn’t receive any reply from Amanda Antoni, he drove back home and surprised her. However, he discovered his wife lying on the floor of the basement. As police investigated the case, they took samples from the crime scene. Per the reports, all the DNA, fingerprints, footprints, and hair belonged to Amanda. The autopsy also found no trauma to the brain and no broken bones, except for a fractured right orbital bone. On the other hand, they found a broken ceramic piggy bank at the scene and alleged that it might be a murder weapon, but they couldn’t prove it.
As of now, the case remains unsolved. The episode “Body in the Basement” of Unsolved Mysteries is available to stream on Netflix.
