Crime Junkie
Crime Junkie
"The one day she wasn't watching her daughter's body is discovered." — Britt
"And in interviews with police, here's the other weird thing, Adam never even brings up anything about someone calling him from Amanda's phone. He just says that Amanda called him and texted him until she didn't." — Britt
"So unless he gets charged with something else, he is going to be walking the streets again very soon. Antoine Garner is a proven violent offender." — Britt
This episode chronicles the tragic case of Amanda Winkowski, who was found deceased in January 2009. Her mother, Leslie Bromessor, became suspicious when Amanda disappeared and subsequently staked out the house of Adam Patterson, where Amanda had been staying. Patterson's story about dropping Amanda off at another house was inconsistent with evidence found at his residence. While Buffalo PD investigated, Amanda's body was discovered in a neighbor's garbage bin across the street from Antoine Gardner's house. Initially, her death was ruled accidental due to acute opiate intoxication. However, Leslie Bromessor contested this finding, citing trace amounts of opiates and the suspicious timing of the discovery.
A crucial turning point occurred when an independent autopsy, commissioned by Leslie, reclassified Amanda's death as homicide, citing manual strangulation and blunt force trauma. This second autopsy also revealed DNA evidence, including Adam Patterson's semen and Antoine Gardner's hair, on Amanda's body. Despite this new evidence, the initial ruling remained unchanged, and no charges were filed. The episode highlights the legal and procedural hurdles faced by Leslie in her quest for justice, including strict statutes of limitations for changing death certificate rulings.
The narrative also explores the complex relationships and conflicting testimonies of Adam Patterson and Antoine Gardner, both of whom had prior interactions with Amanda. Antoine Gardner has a documented history of sexual offenses. The episode details Leslie's ongoing advocacy, including her efforts to pass "Amanda Lynn's Law" to address the unlawful disposal of a body and her current campaign to extend the statute of limitations for amending medical examiner rulings, aiming to bring her daughter's case to a homicide classification. The episode concludes by emphasizing the potential release of Antoine Gardner and the continued fight for justice by Amanda's mother.