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

[otto]

Just because the police have said he was cleared doesn't mean that is true. They say a lot of things as a means to protect the investigation. They want the suspect to think they are in the clear so they slip up.

True. However, in Canada, evidence is not released to the public before trial.

Here, we have quite a bit of evidence released to Unsolved Mysteries, including crime scene photos. Police have ruled out every potential suspect, every criminal possibility, and they want to know whether anyone knows something, no matter how small, that could move the investigation in a different direction from 'accident'. Unsolved Mysteries has resolved murders.

Police rarely declare that someone known to the victim is ruled out. Husbands are rarely ruled out. In this case, the husband has been officially ruled out after an extensive police investigation. His sister is also officially ruled out.

Several months after Amanda's death, the husband gave his sister's information to police. He wondered whether his sister was murderously angry after Amanda reported her young child to social services. The child was put into foster care, and the husband's sister was angry.

The husband's sister was a drug addict who was unable to raise a child, and she might have verbalized her frustrations to other drug users, who may have thought they were doing a good deed by pushing Amanda down the stairs. That's possible.

 

[otto]

If the husband wants compensation for his wife's death, he should consult a lawyer rather than rely on crowd-funding.

The statute of limitations for wrongful death in Alberta is 2 years. However, my understanding is that this death remains undermined. That's to the husband's advantage regarding 2 years time limit to from date of death to filing a wrongful death lawsuit. He can't file wrongful death until it is ruled accident.

It seems to me that a good lawyer could move this to an accidental death at the coroner's office, per police conclusions. The lawyer could then launch a wrongful death suit against the builder, architect and, if there is one, landlord. The stairs do not adhere to building code and are probably illegal. The only problem would be if the husband removed the railing.

This stair detail is not to code. The missing railing could easily have contributed to Amanda's death. There's a wrongful death claim to be made, particularly since Amanda was the breadwinner in the family.

 

[otto]

To me, the scene alone says that this was some sort of weird accident and not murder.

You have a bloody mess in the basement, but no footprints from a killer, and no other trace of a third party whatsoever.

You'd expect a killer to make sure she was dead, and not give her the opportunity to apparently stand up at the bottom of the stairs.

You'd expect more severe internal injuries, and for that to be the cause of death as opposed to external blood loss.

I think she was maybe having balance issues, struck her face, tumbled to the bottom of the stairs, and as a result, wasn't thinking clearly (like climbing the stairs for help).

I remember the Peter Porco murder case, where after being attacked in bed with an axe, he woke up and went through his morning routine, making lunch, writing a check, and doing the dishes when he finally succumbed.

His injuries were much more severe, and included massive brain trauma, but it wouldn't surprise me if her blood loss caused her to act irrationally.

According to police reports, she died between 7-7:30 P.M. She was on the phone at 7:06. At the bottom of the stairs, blood was smeared around the floor and on the lower parts of walls. It looks like she moved around a lot after crashing into the wall and tumbling down the stairs.

Peter Porco, hit in the head several times with an axe, slowly bleeding out, woke up for work, got dressed, was in the bathroom with a mirror, went downstairs, picked up the morning paper, was locked out, used the key to get in, was in the kitchen, put a cheque in the dishwasher. He followed routine habits. Amanda stood, facing the stairs, at the bottom of the stairs but couldn't navigate the stairs. She bled out quickly.