, obtained from U.S. Oh, and hed donate $1,500 his alleged purse for his return to Syracuse that same day to Sheriff John Dillons favorite charity, the, Reality is seemingly more complicated: Sparkes, Snukas lawyer, had suggested not just a deal based on the donation and a public apology, but a public apology, , at the Onondaga County War Memorial on April 7th, where he would leave tickets for the officers involved. It was a. They definitely do not want any tickets reserved for them for the April 7th wrestling match and would not attend. referring to a $500,000 wrongful death suit nancy's family won in 1985. A follow-up interview with Snuka was conducted by investigatorson June 1. That was until yesterday when Pennsylvania prosecutors publicly dropped a motherload of hard evidence citing inconsistent Snuka stories, conclusive forensic and revelatory autopsy reportsall pointing to classifying Argentinos death as a homicide, and suggesting that the killer was Superfly himself. David Bixenspan is a freelance reporter who lives in Brooklyn. If you think Im going to be hurt by the revelation that one of my wrestlers is really a violent individual, youre mistaken., Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, The Unexpectedly Sweet Story Behind Those Viral Semi-Truck Pregnancy Photos, I Wore Magnetic Underwear for a Week to See If It Would Give Me a Boner of Steel, A Highly Questionable Cultural History of Richard Geres Ass Gerbil. There was enough to take it before a grand jury in 1983. According to police interviews obtained by The Morning Call, Snuka originally told at least five people, including the responding police officer, he shoved Argentino, causing her to fall and hit her head. Specifically, those other incidents of domestic abuse were that of Snuka hospitalizing his then-wife Sharon in September 1983 (no charges filed, but testified to by both Sharon and then-neighbor Debbie Rogers); and Snukas January 18, 1983 arrest for beating Argentino. , an ebook that Argentinos sisters collaborated on with, , who had been doing the seminal reporting on the case. WWE has not responded to Oxygen.coms request for comment. By. Picture made on Wednesday, October 7, 2015. From the autobiography Superfly: The Jimmy Snuka Story by Jon Chattman: "At the funeral, I told her mother and father how sorry I was about her death. Specifically, those other incidents of domestic abuse were that of Snuka hospitalizing his then-wife Sharon in September 1983 (no charges filed, but testified to by both Sharon and then-neighbor Debbie Rogers); and Snukas January 18, 1983 arrest for beating Argentino. Oh, and hed donate $1,500 his alleged purse for his return to Syracuse that same day to Sheriff John Dillons favorite charity, the Ronald McDonald House. And in the ring Snuka remained true to his native island roots by swearing off wrestlings regalia of boots, opting to go barefoot instead; as well as donning a distinct headband and leopard-printed garb as odes to his on-screen idol Tarzan. Me, personallyif you ask me, Do you think Jimmy did it? No. In May of 1983, Nancy died as the result of serious head trauma. All day Snuka claims that he returned to the hotel between TV shoots to check on Argentino. , which aired April 12. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. It also chillingly recontextualizes something that, according to Muchnicks reporting, McMahon told the Argentino familys initial attorney, Richard Cushing, in 1983. Four months before Nancy Argentino died, Snuka was charged with assaulting her in a New York Howard Johnson motel. Senior Deputy District Attorney Craig Sheetz pointed to medical records showing that Snuka had an appointment with a concussion specialist on January 29, 2014. Snuka, having lost his physical green card in 2007, began the process to get a new one, which included a new criminal background check. The cops just didnt give me the chance to explain. The trouble is the brawler allegedly inflicted multiple beatdowns on his wife. The episode shineda renewed light about the mysterious death. However, their dream relationship quickly turned to horror. He believed that there was enough to take it to a grand jury as a murder case, but William Platt thought otherwise. Bronstad, describing a shorter, older man wearing a hat, remembers being pissed off and quoting the manager a figure of $25,000 for Snukas bail, which would actually turn out to be just $5,000. He instead told him that Snuka told one story, and it was perfectly consistent every time. [Photo Courtesy of The Daily Beast] Nancy Argentino was just 23 when she died in 1983 after being rushed to a hospital with a serious head injury. And he was an innovator, and he inspired so many people. We are hopeful that justice will prevail.. Its impossible to discern causality, too whether the explanation is simply innocent, lazy reporting, or something more sinister. This is the disturbing story of Nancy Argentino, who was once the lover of professional wrestler Superfly Jimmy Snuka. A Lehigh County judge has dropped homicide charges against Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka after viewing the former WWE wrestler's medical records. Photo credits to The Morning Call. Can we still appreciate the mans huge contributions to wrestling, knowing that it is possible that he had a hand in Nancy Argentinos death? His wife maintains that her husbanddid not kill Argentino. The Onondaga County Sheriffs Office file doesnt contain any trace of an explanation as to why Argentino changed her mind. She was staying in a motel room with Jimmy Snuka in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. Most documented cases have occurred in athletes of contact sports such as American football, ice hockey, rugby, boxing, and professional wrestling. How did she die? her distraught mom said. However, by the next day, he apparently changed his story and claimed that Argentino fell down on her own when they made a bathroom roadside pitstop on their way into Allentown. According to the autopsy, Argentino was declared dead hours later at Lehigh Valley Hospital and died of traumatic brain injuries consistent with a moving head striking a stationary object. "I would only say there wasn't anything significantly said or done and that's why there's no record of it,"Frederick Conjour, the former police of police with the Whitehall Township,told the docuseries. Due to COVID-19 and current government mandated impacts on WWE and the media business generally, the Company went through an extensive evaluation of its operations over the past several weeks, a statement from the company reads. ), That was when several deputies arrived and unsuccessfully tried to handcuff Snuka. Authorities even tossed the WWE Hall of Famers tell-all autobiography as the cherry on top of the mountain of facts. ", Dr. Paul Hoyer, a forensic pathologist for the Montgomery County coroners office, added, "Dementia can be a muddy diagnosis, as there is no clear-cut test to determine whether a person suffers from it." The Salina City Court and several others in the surrounding area have been merged into a single district court location for the, pandemic, making it impossible to check the original court records, if they still exist. Media Manager Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system . She had a headache but no blood. The excerpts of the interview were provided by WrestlingInc.com. If this is correct on their part, I do not know. Nancy Argentino, in happier times. Its possible like Snuka concedes that Argentino was fine with the philandering. Javier Ojst is an old-school wrestling enthusiast currently residing in El Salvador. WWE ECW Relaunch | Where Did It All Go Wrong? Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka wrestles in a match on September 4, 1995 in New Hampshire. Now 72 years old and stricken with stomach cancer, the defamed brawler yesterday posted $100,000 bail after forfeiting his passport. As a result, the case was brought before a grand jury and Snuka was charged with murder in 2015. Procanyn didnt say to me, We didnt have enough evidence to indictwhich at least would have been plausible. To Snuka, Nancy Argentino was a willing mistress and he referred to her as his East Coast girlfriend. In his book the wrestler added that they were intimate. Instead, Snuka just stared ahead. As the docuseries points out, there was another passenger in the car with them who doesnt recall any fall. And his story never wavered. . When we got to the hotel right away I had to call because she wasnt feeling good, he said. I will never forget what happened to her." . The DAs office and the media certainly failed to do their jobs following Snukas first horrific assault. The same goes for a dismissed charge of issuing a bad check, mentioned on the same certificate. Dr. Mihalikis did not find any bruises, lacerations or other indications of a beating or prior injuries. According to The Morning Call based out of Allentown, Pennsylvania, "She was rushed out of Snukas George Washington Motor Lodge motel room now the site of Home Depot along MacArthur Road and Route 22 on May 10, 1983. My mom told her, Listen, Nancy, youre too pretty and too smart to put up with this. Speculation has long swirled around McMahons involvement in the murder investigation, specifically his presence during Snukas last police interview, the contents of which unlike every other interview summary in the Whitehall file are notoriously not described in the report at all (a fact that then-Chief Frederic Conjour wrote off as nothing in the VICE documentary). I would never use full force. Ill say that much. As the episode showed, Snukas drug use had escalated so much by 1983 that his 22-year-old mistress, Argentino, also became his pseudo-manager as nobody else wanted to deal with his alleged reckless behavior. To mark the occasion, Irvin Muchnick, in association with the woman's surviving sisters, is publishing the ebook JUSTICE DENIED: The Death of Nancy Argentino in Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's Motel Room. He has also been published on Slam Wrestling and in G-FAN Magazine. Mick Foley spoke about Snuka, a man who inspired him to pursue a career in wrestling. Then there were Snukas shifting renditions of what led to Argentinos demise. Detective Procanyn at the time told Muchnick when quizzed about Snukas shaky defense that the evidence was inconclusive. But it appears Snukas big mouth or fuzzy memory caught up to him. Some outlets inexplicably found humor in it: The Associated Press wire story, for example, glosses over the underlying domestic violence, choosing to frame Snuka violently resisting arrest in joking terms like a pro wrestling match, using phrases such as the match was on and a nine-deputy tag-team. Local media wasnt much better, with a short Syracuse Post-Standard item running with the headline, Police, Dogs Win Round.. The case went cold for 30 years. But Snuka will have few chances to steal many easy winks now that he is facing 20 to 40 years in the big house if hes convicted of third-degree murder. [Argentino] was evidently beaten up and banged up and bruised upyou know, a couple of dozen bruises and cuts on her body, besides a fractured f*****g skull in a wrestlers hotel room that had just been previously arrested, in the f*****g same state I believe, about 6 months beforehand by eight cops and two police dogs for beating up the same girl!, Cornette continued, Even in Snukas book, he wrote that Vince [McMahon] came to represent him at the meeting, which everyone agrees on, but Vince was carrying a briefcase! Even on the WWF side, the reaction was incredulous: What [Snuka] wants to do in Syracuse is very unusual, said ring announcer and office staffer Howard Finkel, credited as a company spokesman by the Post-Standard. In addition, Mihalikis absolutely, find, bruises, lacerations or other indications of a beating or prior injuries. 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