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Was Amanda’s death a calculated attack, or the result of a bizarre accident? CASE DETAILS  Amanda and Lee enjoyed a happy marriage and lived with their multiple pets. It was love at first sight when Amanda met Lee Antoni in 2005. They soon married and spent almost every minute together in their cozy home in a working-class neighborhood in Calgary, Canada, with several “rescued” pets. In late October 2012, Lee and Amanda are getting ready for a trip up north to help Lee’s mom on the anniversary of his dad’s death. But as the weekend of Oct. 24 arrives, Amanda experiences a painful migraine, so she decides to stay home alone. This marks the first weekend they have ever been apart. Lee leaves early Friday morning, Oct. 23, to make the eight-hour drive to his mom’s house in Saskatchewan.  The blood evidence in Amanda’s case has baffled even the most seasoned forensic investigators. Lee and Amanda text back and forth several times on Saturday. When Lee calls Amanda early Saturday night, she reports that her migraines are better and everything seems normal… until Lee hears their dog, Ruby, barking excitedly. Amanda yells, “Shut up, Ruby!” The dog yelps, and then the phone goes dead. Lee’s calls and texts to Amanda during the next 24 hours go unanswered. At first, he assumes her phone is dead or giving her trouble. But by Sunday evening, he’s worried and decides to cut his trip short, drive home, and surprise her the following day.  How was the piggy bank broken, but not knocked off the shelf? But it’s Lee who’s surprised when he arrives home and doesn’t find Amanda in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, or upstairs bedrooms, though her purse and keys are on the dining room table. Their dog, Ruby, and the two cats, Gizmo and Meatloaf, are in a frenzy — their food and water bowls are empty, and there’s dog urine on the floor. The only place he hasn’t checked is the basement. As Lee turns on the light in the basement stairway, he’s horrified. At the bottom of the stairs, blood soaks the floor and is splattered up onto the walls. Bloody drag marks lead to a small anteroom off the main basement space. It’s here where he finds Amanda dead lying on the floor in a huge, smeared pool of blood. He’s barely coherent as he runs upstairs to call 911.  Amanda’s loved ones continue to search for the truth. An autopsy places Amanda’s time of death around 7:00pm on Saturday, Oct. 24, which means her death coincides with the time of her call with Lee that ended abruptly. When detectives arrive on the scene, they see what certainly appears to be signs of a violent encounter, and a homicide investigation is opened. Amanda’s broken cell phone is found on the floor, and a dining room chair has been tipped over. There appear to be drag marks where her body was moved from one spot in the basement to another, suggesting a struggle had taken place. The basement floor is literally covered in blood, signs of a murderous encounter. Or is it? Strangely, there are no signs of robbery or forced entry. There are several inexplicable oddities at the scene, including two bloody bare footprints on the basement floor at the bottom of the stairs, facing the steps – as though Amanda had stood at the bottom of the stairs, about to go up, but never made the climb. Investigators dive into the couple’s relationship history but find no sign of distress, let alone any domestic violence or police records. They find no motive for Lee to have killed his wife or any evidence that points to him. With Lee cleared and no other suspects, the investigators must consider alternative theories. A biomechanics expert offers the possibility that Amanda’s death was simply an accidental fall. At first, this seems outrageous and hard to accept, given the bloody crime scene, but no offender’s DNA is found in the pools of blood in the basement. Amanda’s case has been presented to multiple forensics and investigative groups yet remains a puzzling mystery. Investigators eagerly wait for something or someone to come forward with a fresh lead. Anyone with information about Amanda’s death is asked to contact police by calling 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers through 1-800-222-8477, www.calgarycrimestoppers.org or via the app P3 Tips. Unlock more content at www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/unsolved-mysteries-volume-4. |
