CANADA Canada- Amanda Antoni, 31, found dead in her basement, considered suspicious but ruled an accidental fall down stairs, Calgary, 26/10/15, *Netflix*

[Melquiades]

I believe if was a freak accident with emphasis on freak.
The way I see it, she trips over her dog who yelps and runs away, hitting the chair in panic. Her phone falls and slides away.
She falls into the nook from the unrailed edge, falling face first into the piggy bank at an upward angle. The piggy bank hits the wall with force leaving a dent and gets lodged into her face. While lodged into her face, it turns toward the basement in the direction Amanda is falling, but dislodges before in can fall off the ledge. Amanda is now in the basement with a bleeding head wound, while also under the influence of canabis and migraines. She is bleeding and probably very disoriented. Maybe she thinks she could wait out the pain before going upsatairs, because she doesn't want to risk another fall. Unfortunately, she ends up bleeding out in the 44 hours until she is discovered.
As for her pets not going down, I'm not sure if they ever mentioned if they were afraid of the basement (some pets are). But her dog got hurt and now can probably smell blood and blood can't mean anything good. Not all pets are superheroes who come to aid.

Yeah, I’m in much the same mindset.

Weird accident is by far the most likely explanation. She unquestionably went face-first into the piggy bank, suffered a severe cut, and then despite being able to get to her feet eventually died from blood loss. Concussion and cannabis use are probably the reason she didn’t make it back up the stairs. Perfect storm of unlucky fall, bad/illegal house design, and unlucky injury.

This wasn’t a premeditated murder. You don’t go to kill someone and then do it by giving them a survivable fall down the stairs and then don’t even check if they’re actually dead. It makes no sense.

The only opening I’d see away from the accident is if she startled an intruder, he threw her out of the way and down the stairs, and then bolted out of the house not knowing the result of the fall. But based on the phone conversation she was having an accident seems much more likely.

The dogs not going downstairs is a total red herring. It might seem weird or counterintuitive relative to what people expect from their own pets, but we know from the husband’s testimony that the dogs were in the house when he got home and they obviously just didn’t go down there. It’s what happened, likely because they were spooked.

 

[thebedbug]

Things the police will know but that weren't mentioned in the Netflix show:
When the husband returned home, had the dog urinated on the floor inside? If not, is it likely that their dog could hold its bladder for 36 hours? Mine definitely couldn't. (However, my dog definitely could knock over a heavy dining chair!)
Was the phone found to have turned off at the time that the call disconnected, or did the call disconnect first and then the phone turned off later? Was the phone broken or just out of battery? Seems unlikely it would have run out of battery at that exact moment so IMO it must have been smashed, either accidentally or deliberately.

I would also take the description of exactly what her husband heard and the subsequent disconnection with a grain of salt. Not because I have reason to believe he's lying, but people sometimes hang up thinking they are disconnected.

In general, I'd say that 'yes' there are details the police must know that weren't included in the show.

I'd also suggest that a phone would show evidence of being intentionally smashed to stop working vs. damage from a fall/throw. And, like you said, was the phone broken or out of battery?

 

[Lalalacasbah]

I would also take the description of exactly what her husband heard and the subsequent disconnection with a grain of salt. Not because I have reason to believe he's lying, but people sometimes hang up thinking they are disconnected.

In general, I'd say that 'yes' there are details the police must know that weren't included in the show.

I'd also suggest that a phone would show evidence of being intentionally smashed to stop working vs. damage from a fall/throw. And, like you said, was the phone broken or out of battery?

The cell phone was described as broken/damaged on the floor. It went dead either by damage, out of battery or manually turned off.

Could maybe be hard to determine breakage cause if just the screen cracked? I've seen a phone dropped and stomped on and the screen breaks/cracks into a web type pattern on both. Unless a hard boot/shoe heel was used then maybe possible a starting point of the crack on the phone?

Body in the Basement

Curious if Body in the Basement Case Were Solved? Find Out Answer on Unsolved Mysteries Broadcast Website. Unsolved Mysteries Also Includes Cases Related to Murder, Missing Persons, Wanted Fugitives, UFOs, Ghosts, Paranormal, Missing Heirs, Amnesia, Fraud.

unsolved.com

 

[Vail]

My theory, she’s sitting at the kitchen table looking at her phone. She hears an intruder and leaps up, knocking over the chair and dropping her phone, which skitters away.

She runs to the steps to hide in the basement and falls down the stairs, hitting her head at the bottom. In the process she snags her pants on something (maybe the banister) and they get pulled down. She isn’t too badly injured but is bleeding heavily and stands up after a while. She’s confused and the pulled down pants are preventing her from running.

The intruder looks down the stairs and sees her. Either scared or angry, the intruder picks up the piggy bank and throws it at her. It hits her in the head and this time she is knocked out. The bank’s face is broken and the pieces shoot up the stairs upon impact.

Out of panic or in some lame attempt to cover his/her tracks, the intruder sees she is out cold and retrieves the piggy bank, putting it in its normal spot.

The intruder leaves immediately. She slips in and out of consciousness for a while, crawling around aimlessly but mostly out of it, until she dies. Bleeding out doesn’t take too long but maybe for her the bleeding is slow.

Does that cover all the known facts? I think it was a surprised burglar combined with an accident. Edited to add: and the dog was outside the whole time! I used to sit near the doors knowing the dog was going to want to come in soon.

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/unsolved-mysteries-volume-4-episode-2-body-in-the-basement

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Husband shouldn't be ruled out unless they have irrefutable evidence she was still alive on Saturday and he didn't drive to and from twice.

Accident *sounds* plausible but none of the evidence supports it under scrutiny and too much of the narrative is controlled by Lee.

I have some concerns and interests that I welcome help with:
1) Does anybody know the address of the house she died in, or can you please mark it's location on a map and post an image of that? I have some suspicions about the history of the house that I'd like to try and research through government records, based on the following...

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[DarkSkink]

The cell phone was described as broken/damaged on the floor. It went dead either by damage, out of battery or manually turned off.

Could maybe be hard to determine breakage cause if just the screen cracked? I've seen a phone dropped and stomped on and the screen breaks/cracks into a web type pattern on both. Unless a hard boot/shoe heel was used then maybe possible a starting point of the crack on the phone?

Body in the Basement

Curious if Body in the Basement Case Were Solved? Find Out Answer on Unsolved Mysteries Broadcast Website. Unsolved Mysteries Also Includes Cases Related to Murder, Missing Persons, Wanted Fugitives, UFOs, Ghosts, Paranormal, Missing Heirs, Amnesia, Fraud.

unsolved.com

It didn't sound like they were rich, so who knows how old or what condition the phone was in. Some phones of that era still had removable batteries, so a jarring drop could have disconnected the battery.

I only watched the Unsolved Mysteries episode once. I can't recall if they showed a picture of rhe actual phone.

 

[DarkSkink]

My theory, she’s sitting at the kitchen table looking at her phone. She hears an intruder and leaps up, knocking over the chair and dropping her phone, which skitters away.

She runs to the steps to hide in the basement and falls down the stairs, hitting her head at the bottom. In the process she snags her pants on something (maybe the banister) and they get pulled down. She isn’t too badly injured but is bleeding heavily and stands up after a while. She’s confused and the pulled down pants are preventing her from running.

The intruder looks down the stairs and sees her. Either scared or angry, the intruder picks up the piggy bank and throws it at her. It hits her in the head and this time she is knocked out. The bank’s face is broken and the pieces shoot up the stairs upon impact.

Out of panic or in some lame attempt to cover his/her tracks, the intruder sees she is out cold and retrieves the piggy bank, putting it in its normal spot.

The intruder leaves immediately. She slips in and out of consciousness for a while, crawling around aimlessly but mostly out of it, until she dies. Bleeding out doesn’t take too long but maybe for her the bleeding is slow.

Does that cover all the known facts? I think it was a surprised burglar combined with an accident. Edited to add: and the dog was outside the whole time! I used to sit near the doors knowing the dog was going to want to come in soon.

I was with you until the throwing the Piggy Bank part. It's entirely possible she ran like you said and fell on her own or lost her balance in a struggle.

It's almost certain she fell head first into the Piggy Bank given the dent in the wall and the location of the fragments on the stairs and in the wound.

If she was unconscious at the bottom of the stairs and began to bleed profusely, an attacker looking down on that might panic and run.

If there was an attacker, it doesn't necessarily mean she knew the person. It could have been a random crime of opportunity. They may not have been there to kill her or exact revenge.

 

[Kittypoo]

It didn't sound like they were rich, so who knows how old or what condition the phone was in. Some phones of that era still had removable batteries, so a jarring drop could have disconnected the battery.

I only watched the Unsolved Mysteries episode once. I can't recall if they showed a picture of rhe actual phone.

Are any of the other unsolved mysteries worth watching? Only seen the college theatre murder which was a bit dull other than this one

 

[DarkSkink]

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/unsolved-mysteries-volume-4-episode-2-body-in-the-basement

https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/crime-scene.jpg

Husband shouldn't be ruled out unless they have irrefutable evidence she was still alive on Saturday and he didn't drive to and from twice.

Accident *sounds* plausible but none of the evidence supports it under scrutiny and too much of the narrative is controlled by Lee.



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If I recall correctly, when this happened, there was a member here that knew them and detailed that the husband was cleared. His alibi was solid.

 

[DarkSkink]

Are any of the other unsolved mysteries worth watching? Only seen the college theatre murder which was a bit dull other than this one

Unknown.

I just recall this case when it happened, so it stirred up the curiosity.

I only watched that one. Unsolved Mysteries has been on for a very long time though. I remember it coming on in the late 80s with Robert Stack as the host being all serious and such.

I think it was NBC's attempt at competing with America's Most Wanted.

 

[annpats]

....no other DNA in basement and likely not stairs(?) unless LE is keeping some things quiet. They mentioned no other DNA in basement where they thought attack happened.

No other DNA except her husband's, because that would obviously be there, being the house where he lived and all.

Is there any chance he could've come back from his mother's, and then returned?

Also, regarding no other DNA, if there was another perp, he could've worn gloves.

 

[Melquiades]

No other DNA except her husband's, I presume. Because that would obviously be there, being his house and all.

Is there any chance he could've come back from his mother's?

Also, regarding no other DNA, if there was another perp, he could've worn gloves.

There’s no way he did a secret 14-hour round trip to murder her … only to leave her with a minor injury that should never have killed her, and on top of that not even check if she was dead. Police have cleared him and that seems entirely correct. And his interview came across as pretty genuine.

This just wasn’t a premeditated murder.

It was probably an accident, or *maybe* a case where she surprised a burglar and fell/was pushed down the stairs after a brief confrontation.

 

[Pseudonymph]

Are any of the other unsolved mysteries worth watching? Only seen the college theatre murder which was a bit dull other than this one

I grew up in that town so it was pretty cool to me! In fact my mom was a grad student at that college in 1977. She said she vaguely remembers it.

 

[annpats]

There’s no way he did a secret 14-hour round trip to murder her …

Well, it's happened on many occasions.
It would hardly be a first of its kind.

I just can't see this as being an accident. Not with the piggy bank being back on the shelf after she smashed it off after falling. And there are a few more anomalies too.

Plus, what were the chances a potential break-in/murder happened on the one weekend where her husband went away?!

 

[Melquiades]

Well, it's happened on many occasions.
It would hardly be a first of its kind.

In a vacuum, maybe the trip is possible.

But you wouldn’t see this manner of death with a minor injury. You don’t commit first degree murder with an iffy push down the stairs and leave a living victim at the bottom.

Plus I’m sure they’ve checked cell phone pings etc. to confirm this wasn’t the case. Police have publicly cleared him for a reason.

I just can't see this as being an accident. Not with the piggy bank being back on the shelf after she smashed it off after falling. And there are a few more anomalies too.

Nothing seems weird about the piggy bank at all to me. It’s the most obvious thing about the whole case - she faceplanted into it (whether by accident or not) broke part of it off, it stayed on the shelf (looks like fairly thick heavy pottery in the photos) and pushed the dent into the wall.

The dust on the bank was not disturbed and there were no fingerprints on it. It wasn’t moved. Again, police don’t seem to have any doubts about this.

Plus, what were the chances a potential break-in/murder happened on the one weekend where her husband went away?!

Personally, again, I think it was a weird accident.

But it could have been a burglar, especially given that the car which was normally on the driveway was missing. I could see a scenario where someone in their rough neighborhood broke in thinking that there was nobody home, was surprised to find the victim, and she went down the stairs after a brief altercation as the burglar ran away.

The problem with that is that she probably fell during the Saturday phone call and there was no evidence of a confrontation before the call abruptly ended. And also no evidence that anyone else was in the house.

 

[Kittypoo]

I grew up in that town so it was pretty cool to me! In fact my mom was a grad student at that college in 1977. She said she vaguely remembers it.

Yes I get that it would be cool seeing your own town and the family connection. Do you or Mum know any of the people featured retired campus police etc

 

[Cedars]

Nothing seems weird about the piggy bank at all to me. It’s the most obvious thing about the whole case - she faceplanted into it (whether by accident or not) broke part of it off, it stayed on the shelf (looks like fairly thick heavy pottery in the photos) and pushed the dent into the wall.

RSBM

I didn't watch the show, so is it known whether the piggy bank was empty or full of coins?

 

[Lalalacasbah]

It didn't sound like they were rich, so who knows how old or what condition the phone was in. Some phones of that era still had removable batteries, so a jarring drop could have disconnected the battery.

I only watched the Unsolved Mysteries episode once. I can't recall if they showed a picture of rhe actual phone.

I think they did show a re-enactment of the phone on the floor in the show (looked like bare phone no case IIRC), I want to say it was an iPhone 4 but I'm guessing!

I think I had the same phone/model (no case) and dropped it in Disneyland back in 2014/2015 on the concrete and the screen cracked/webbed and couldn't see anything but the power still worked.

I have also seen an iPhone 7 (I think that was the model) stomped on with a foot where the screen cracked/webbed in a smilar way and the phone would not work at all, it was dead. So that stomp killed the power, the drop did not. Bear in mind - 2 different models/years and I can't recall if the latter had a case or not.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

I was with you until the throwing the Piggy Bank part. It's entirely possible she ran like you said and fell on her own or lost her balance in a struggle.

It's almost certain she fell head first into the Piggy Bank given the dent in the wall and the location of the fragments on the stairs and in the wound.

If she was unconscious at the bottom of the stairs and began to bleed profusely, an attacker looking down on that might panic and run.

If there was an attacker, it doesn't necessarily mean she knew the person. It could have been a random crime of opportunity. They may not have been there to kill her or exact revenge.

I agree, a crime of opportunity (knowing or unknowingly knowing hubby was out of town) and I actually think it may have been an accidental murder, perhaps an escalation or things got out of hand physically.

She didn't take long to bleed to death So it's not far fetched to think someone waited upstairs for her stop making noises/moaning and be quiet... sorry harsh to say. Police revealed Antoni’s time of death to be Saturday evening, between 7 and 7:30 pm.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

RSBM

I didn't watch the show, so is it known whether the piggy bank was empty or full of coins?

Good question - this would weigh it down a lot more and make sense to it not moving.

 

[Charlot123]

I would also take the description of exactly what her husband heard and the subsequent disconnection with a grain of salt. Not because I have reason to believe he's lying, but people sometimes hang up thinking they are disconnected.

In general, I'd say that 'yes' there are details the police must know that weren't included in the show.

I'd also suggest that a phone would show evidence of being intentionally smashed to stop working vs. damage from a fall/throw. And, like you said, was the phone broken or out of battery?

There is one strangeness here. If someone invades and interrupts the phone call, the instinct would be to scream. Even if someone grabs your phone, you scream. She was not hit on the head upstairs, and I doubt she was speaking in the basement as the signal would be poorer there, or so I think. Strange that it got disconnected quietly.