What happened to Amanda Antoni? All the theories in the Unsolved Mysteries case

One of the most talked about cases in the new season of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix is that of Amanda Antoni – mainly because everyone seems to have differing theories about what could have happened to her.

The episode about her unsolved death is episode two of volume four, titled Body in the Basement. Amanda was found dead by her husband Lee in 2015, when he returned from a weekend with his mother. The last contact Lee had with Amanda was when he called her on the Saturday night – where he recalled hearing the dog bark, and then their call getting cut off. A day later, Lee returned to find his wife’s body.

“Amanda Antoni’s husband finds her body in their basement with blood everywhere,” the Netflix synopsis reads. “The scene confounds police: Was it foul play – or a tragic accident?” The Netflix documentary presents lots of theories for what may have happened to Amanda Antoni – here’s a full rundown of them all.

One of the first theories centred around Lee Antoni – the husband of Amanda Antoni

via Netflix

When a woman dies in suspicious circumstances, the first place police look is her partner – because so tragically often, that is where the fault lies. So, straight away when Amanda was found, attention was on her husband, Lee Antoni. Lee found Amanda’s body, and at first it was looked at with some suspicion that she died the first time he had stayed away from home.

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Amanda’s brothers initially expressed some concern with how angry Lee can sometimes get, but did say they are sure the relationship was nothing but loving. Lee said he had been out of town with his mother, and CCTV and text message history with Amanda checked out this story.

It was also looked into that Lee may have hired someone to kill Amanda, but absolutely no evidence was found of this.

Did Amanda have a stalker?

During Unsolved Mysteries, Lee presented the idea that Amanda may have had a stalker. It was noted that the area they live in had a high crime rate, and the couple often saw people gain access to their garden through the back gate. If a stalker was watching over Amanda and her movements, they would have seen that Lee was gone and she was alone.

As well as this, neighbours reported hearing a “scary dog bark” followed by “a yell” and then reported seeing someone running through the yard. This would support the idea that someone was in the house and responsible for Amanda’s death.

via Netflix

Police looked into the idea that Amanda Antoni was having an affair

Because there was no sign of forced entry to the home, the police had to look into the idea that Amanda may have let someone in, who was then responsible for her death. Lee noted that when he found his wife, she had been wearing “fancier underwear” than she usually did, which may have been a clue that she was expecting someone to come to the house.

So, it was considered that she may have been having an affair and something went wrong, but there was no evidence of Amanda communicating with anyone else.

It was also considered that Lee’s sister may have wanted to harm Amanda

One of the theories that was raised by Lee Antoni himself was that his sister may have been responsible for the death of Amanda. “My sister hated my wife,” he said whilst being interviewed for Unsolved Mysteries, before explaining she was “into drugs” and Lee, Amanda and Amanda’s brothers had called child services to protect her children.

“My sister was mad at me and she was mad at Amanda,” Lee explained. “She had threatened Amanda.” Lee’s sister was brought in for questioning, but there was no evidence that she was responsible, or had hired someone else to kill Amanda.

Another of the theories is that what happened to Amanda Antoni was a terrible accident

via Netflix

Some of the investigators in Unsolved Mysteries clearly don’t think the theories Amanda Antoni died by accident add up, but it’s still as likely a reason as any other.

There were no fingerprints found in the blood in the basement – and the only footprints down there belonged to Amanda. There was no sign of forced entry to the home, either. The main accident theory is that Amanda may have fallen down the stairs, hit her head and bled to death.

The piggy bank on the stairs, which was originally considered as a murder weapon, may have been caught on her way down, and added to her injuries, or she may have tripped on it.

But, if Amanda did fall, why hadn’t the laundry basket on the stairs fallen too? Why were her footprints found at the bottom of the stairs but she didn’t try and come back up? Why were there no paw prints in the blood from the family dog coming down to check on her?

Was Amanda pushed down the stairs by an intruder?

The final theory is that Amanda may have been pushed down the stairs by an intruder. This was raised because investigators had no explanation for why the scene in the basement was untouched – with no fingerprints or footprints from anyone else. But, if it was an accident, there was no reason for the chair in the dining room to be overturned, and Amanda’s phone to have been found smashed on the floor so far away.

So, maybe it was an intruder who caused her death, but the murder didn’t actually take place in the basement. This still doesn’t explain why things on the stairs hadn’t fallen over too, or why the dog didn’t go down into the basement.

There are questions surrounding every theory, and none seem to hold complete answers for what happened to Amanda. The case remains unsolved.

Volume four of Unsolved Mysteries is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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