In a televised speech, he firmly denied it was alcohol-fueled. She was staying in a motel room with Jimmy Snuka in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. Its been known within the business if not exactly a topic of conversation every f*****g day that something f*****g happened.". Dattilio testified Snuka was unable to recall many of the debilitating injuries that led to his head trauma but did recount the shocking incident mentioned above, which he says left him dizzy and disoriented. Only after Nancy was killed did we learn that he was married and it was a total shock that he was living this double life, Argentinos sister Lorraine Salome added. Muchnick is the author of Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandaland the 1992 book JUSTICE DENIED: The Untold Story of Nancy Argentinos Death in Jimmy Superfly Snukas Motel Room. On top of being, according to his then on-screen manager/real-life babysitter Buddy Rogers, Snuka was big money, and with McMahon in the process of plotting a national expansion for his regional promotion their initial trip to California was several weeks away McMahon. If you bring up pro wrestling to someone from the Northeast whose fandom peaked around this time, theyll inevitably: 1) gush about Superfly being their favorite; and 2) reminisce about imitating him by jumping off their bed or dresser. pointedly mentioning McMahons briefcase and dropping hints: Procanyn, meanwhile, was no longer available at a phone number that he had been giving out last year; neither the Lehigh Valley DAs office (where he worked more recently) nor the reporter, According to the contemporaneous newspaper reports, Snuka who gave an exclusive, ramblingly vague account of what happened to, The hotel manager just got a little excited. If Snuka wanted to donate some money to a local charity they would not be a part of it. As the docuseries points out, there was another passenger in the car with them who doesnt recall any fall. It adds, Given the uncertainty of the situation, the Company also identified headcount reductions and made the decision to furlough a portion of its workforce effective immediately.. Something went on, and something got covered up. The cops just didnt give me the chance to explain. They are not against the donation, only that it shouldnt be tied in with the case or the Department.. She moved away as he strode toward her. Three months before Argentino was pronounced dead she was screaming bloody murder while Snuka was pulling her hair and dragging her naked body through the corridors of a Howard Johnson hotel in Salina, New York. 11:02, 2 Sep 2015; The episode shineda renewed light about the mysterious death. big money for everything he had planned. Snuka died 10days after the ruling. This episode looks at the mysterious death of Nancy Argentino, a young woman who Jimmy Snuka dated in the early 80's at the height of his wrestling popularity. Kyle Dunning. Hours later, paramedics responded to their motel room where Argentino was found unresponsive. An illustration of a heart shape Donate. I dont like confrontation.. 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. 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. ", After Snuka was charged with third-degree murder, Jim Cornette questioned, "Why doesnt someone really start investigating more about why nothing got done for 30 years when there was all of this evidence and conflicting stories? Adding to the controversy was that Snuka was married to another woman whom he had children with at the time of his relationship with Argentino. The Lehigh County jury will . As for the presence of dirt and gravel that could have indicated Argentino had indeed fallen at the side of the road, to say that Mihalikis did not find any unusual amounts is being generous no such particles were found in Argentinos clothing, hair or scalp at all. I could not understand why the district attorney could not see it., 30 years later, the case was still unsolved, but an opportunity for the case to be re-opened presented itself. My mother thought she was on the way.. "He came there in shorts and didnt say anything to my mother. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! What else could I possibly say? Buddy Rogers left him there and vowed to attend the church service later, but he didnt. In another version, Snuka claims he called the authorities as soon as they got to the hotel room. Indeed, contemporaneous newspaper accounts all reported Snuka as pleading down to harassment, with some mentioning his one-year conditional discharge. December 2nd, 2016: Snukas defense attorney says hes in a Florida hospice, and doctors have determined that he only has six months to live. Hamilton mentioned the case of Chris Benoit in 2007 who reportedly killed his wife and son. What? ). 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. ), That was when several deputies arrived and unsuccessfully tried to handcuff Snuka. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka enters Lehigh County Court to argue he has the right to have a preliminary hearing in the 1983 murder of his girlfriend in a Whitehall Township motel. He abandoned the 28-year-old woman who had crash trauma and drowned. 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. Its been an exceptionally busymonth for McMahon and his company. Snuka recalled the coke-induced bender at the hotel where he and his boys would party and crash. Snukas attorney, Robert J. Kirwan, argued that the fliers and videos did not prove anything about Snukas competency. They definitely do not want any tickets reserved for them for the April 7th wrestling match and would not attend. Snuka, a married man, had returned from a World Wrestling Federation taping at the Allentown Fairgrounds to find Argentino gasping for air and oozing yellow fluid from her mouth and nose.". Other than Snukas constantly shifting story of what happened, the autopsy report, and even his 2012 autobiography helped put pressure on authorities to delve into the case once more. At around 4 a.m. trucks were approaching Argentino, who had found a bush to squat and pee. In 1985, Nancy Argentino's family won a $500,000 judgment against the Superfly in a federal wrongful-death civil lawsuit; but after filing for bankruptcy the retired wrestler reportedly. Investigating the mysterious story of Jimmy Snuka, whose girlfriend Nancy Argentino died in their motel room in 1983, and revealing her family's 30-year stru. Snuka, a cliff diver and bodybuilder with a vertical leap as impressive as his physique, was the WWFs newly minted top good guy. Her sisters, Louise Argentino and Lorraine Salome, tell me that they believe that this was the first time Snuka had gotten violent, meaning that Argentinos resolve wouldnt necessarily be worn down yet. A follow-up interview with Snuka was conducted by investigatorson June 1. All this is recorded in the police accounts. In 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy left a party near midnight with Kopechne. Per Donovans statement in the, file, the guests in the adjacent room called the front desk because their neighbors were raising hell and a male was beating up a female in there., The Onondaga County Sheriffs Office file doesnt contain any trace of an explanation as to why Argentino changed her mind. I think Vince Jr. picked me up from the hotel and took me there. The same goes for a dismissed charge of issuing a bad check, mentioned on the same certificate. The autopsy report told cops to consider Nancy Argentinos death a homicide. , addressed from a lawyer identified as DNZ to colleague SRW (Steven R. Waxman, according to filings from the civil case), the lawyer recounts what he learned from his discussions with Platt while going over the prosecutors file, which he wasnt allowed to copy. Track back 30 years to the documented interview with Detective Gerald Procanyn of the Whitehall Police Department at the hotel. They blew it up, brother.), copped a plea for harassment and got a conditional discharge. That said, the law librarian at the Fifth Judicial District told me that a Certificate of Conviction would be the document to trust over newspaper reports. It was six men in blue with police dogs and everything, he writes, while he was dressed only in his skivvies. , which I obtained via the Argentino familys wrongful death lawsuit against Snuka, at least two officers on the scene witnessed Snuka resuming his attack on Argentino that same night. The WWE issued a statement after Snukas autobiography was published and the story about McMahon showing up with a briefcase to solve the Snuka situation when it happened in 1983, "The insinuation that a group of medical examiners, detectives, and prosecutors including two who became judges could have their integrity compromised and participate in an improper activity during the course of a meeting is absurd, categorically false and insulting to all parties. An autopsy report obtained by Morning Call journalists at that time showed that the medical examiner wrote that they believe that the case should be investigated as a homicide until proven otherwise, the Morning Call reported in 2015. Investigating the mysterious story of Jimmy Snuka, whose girlfriend Nancy Argentino died in their motel room in 1983, and revealing her family's 30-year struggle for justice. Some outlets inexplicably found humor in it: , 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, running with the headline, Police, Dogs Win Round.. It is believed that Snuka delaying 12-24 hours in calling for medical help contributed greatly to the emergency staffers inability to resuscitate her. When Argentino was killed, the WWF had been bringing its TV tapings to Allentown which borders Whitehall every three weeks for several years, making the company key to the local economy. The 1983 death of Nancy Argentino has become one the most infamous chapters in pro wrestling history. Then, he along with his (since deceased) handler Buddy Rogers, beelined it to the exit vowing Ill come back for the church [service]., He never showed, Argentinos oldest sister Lorraine Salome told The Daily Beast. I woke her up, but she could hardly breathe.. The DAs office and the media certainly failed to do their jobs following Snukas first horrific assault. What else could I possibly say.. My client would have liked to clear his name, and there was never a doubt in my mind that a jury would have acquitted him if hed been well enough to stand trial., The judge dismissed the charges by saying that she was satisfied that Jimmy Snuka would not regain competency, and "it would be unjust to resume the prosecution.". He was suffering from stomach cancer and other ailments. This speculation, though, is now overshadowed by evidence that McMahon may have helped facilitate the cycle of abuse that kept Nancy Argentino in Jimmy Snukas company, and potentially gave Superfly the opportunity to kill her. 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. I remember Vince McMahon being what Vince McMahon has always been very effusive. The date was May 11, 1983, . In fact, Snuka made appearances (though he barely spoke to anybody) at the Thanksgiving dinner hosted at Nancys mothers house in Brooklyn. It should also be noted that Snuka allegedly regularly abused his wife Sharon physically and sent her to the hospital five months after Argentinos death. They were driving to Allentown in their purple Lincoln carand Argentino needed to relieve herself. Snukas fall from grace was as low as his peaks of fame were high. 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