The Latest On Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka Being Charged With Third-Degree Murder

Original: The District Attorney of Pennsylvania’s Lehigh County has charged WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter today for the death of his girlfriend (Nancy Argentino) back in the 1983.

Snuka was arrested this morning at his home and sent to the Lehigh County Central Booking Center. His was bail set at $100K.

According to the police report (provided by MCall.com), Snuka had been at a WWF taping at the Allentown Fairgrounds on May 10, 1983 and returned to his Whitehall Township motel room to find Argentino, 23, of Brooklyn, gasping for air and oozing yellow fluid from her mouth and nose, records show. Argentino was pronounced dead at Lehigh Valley Hospital the next day due to brain trauma. She also suffered more than two dozen cuts and bruises, a possible sign of “mate abuse.”

There were always questions surrounding the case after Snuka gave conflicting accounts of what happened with Argentino. The case went cold on June 1, 1983 after a follow-up interview with Vince McMahon. The Argentino family won a $500,000 wrongful death case against SNuka in 1985 but never received the money because Snuka claimed that he was broke and could not afford money for attorneys.

Snuka was charged with assautling Argentino in a motel room in a separate incident just four months before her death but Snuka has always maintained his innocence in regards to how she died several months later. “Many terrible things have been written about me hurting Nancy and being responsible for her death, but they are not true,” he wrote in his autobiography. “This has been very hard on me and very hard on my family. To this day, I get nasty notes and threats. It hurts. I never hit Nancy or threatened her.”

Snuka has been dealing with health issues and recently got out of surgery to treat his stomach cancer.

Update: WWE has removed Snuka from the Hall of Fame section of WWE.com. Also, Snuka’s profile has also been removed from the website.

The reason that the investigation was opened was because of the Allentown Morning Call published a story on the alleged murder that included the autopsy in 2014. The cuts and bruises on Argentino were labeled as a possible sign of domestic abuse. The autopsy also determined that the fatal injury was consistent with being hit with a stationary object between twelve to twenty-four hours before she died. Keep in mind that her autopsy was not released by the DA’s office until 2013.

The Argentino family won a default judgment of $500,000 judgment in a wrongful death suit against Snuka but get this, he never paid the family, alleging that he was too poor to afford a legal defense.

At the time of the incident, Snuka told police that Nancy Argentino hit her head on the ground after he pushed her while they were horsing around outside of their motel room. Years later he wrote a different story in his autobiography. Snuka said Argentino slipped and fell on her own while she was using the restroom at a rest stop.

The original grand jury report in 1983 noted:

“We believe it is important to note that James Snuka changed the location of the injuries in his discussion with the chaplain to happening on the highway traveling to [the George Washington Motor Lodge], but still admitted that she sustained her injury after he shoved her and she fell backward, hitting her head on the concrete.”

Snuka has been accused of domestic abuse in the past, which includes an incident with Argentino. He was arrested in January of 1983 for allegedly assaulting her in Salina, New York and pled guilty to harassment. Also, Buddy Rogers and his wife Debbie alleged that Snuka beat his wife Sharon Georgia in October of 1983.

Snuka’s attorney (William E. Moore) mentioned that Snuka is not only battling stomach cancer but also suffers from partial dementia. Moore said, “Ask him a question, he smiles and nods. Ask him enough questions, and he’ll admit to the Kennedy assassination — ‘Yeah, I was there on the grassy knoll.’”

Snuka is currently wheelchair bound and using a feeding tube when he surrendered to authorities on Tuesday. He is scheduled to have a hearing on September 21st.

Update 2x: WWE issued the following statement about them suspending his legends contract:

Jimmy Snuka’s non-wrestling ‘legends’ contract has been suspended and we are currently removing his images from our media platforms pending the outcome of this case.

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