You have to think about this and get out of this relationship., But it was too late. 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. I woke her up, but she could hardly breathe.. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. A year after Argentino was killed, with her family having retained lawyers from Schonwald, Schaffzin & Mullman, one of the lawyers on the case travelled to Allentown, Pennsylvania, to meet with Lehigh County District Attorney William Platt. He argued Snukas head trauma had progressed to the point where he couldnt understand what was happening in a courtroom and commented that his private doctors detected memory impairment in him as early as 2010 and that Snuka might develop CTE in the future. (Use code PWS for a nice surprise). It was none other than the then-WWE chairman and essentially the Wizard of wrestlings OzVince McMahon Jr. He was there and he knew everything about it, Snuka told a radio show host. without a live audience. In real time, though, all her sisters knew was that she went from calling late at night in a panic, saying Snuka was chasing her, to saying the next morning that nothing had happened beyond a misunderstanding. However, the, for the investigation of her murder from Pennsylvanias Whitehall Township Bureau of Police which I obtained from the same lawsuit appendix that included the New York file points to one possible reason. By using this site, you agree to the legal terms set out in ourDisclaimer, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Disclosure. ), A year after Argentino was killed, with her family having retained lawyers from Schonwald, Schaffzin & Mullman, one of the lawyers on the case travelled to Allentown, Pennsylvania, to meet with Lehigh County District Attorney William Platt. I dont know if he gave Nancys family money or anything. In the same letter, Zemenz appears to imply that Sparkes was attempting to get the charges dropped extrajudicially, as he added that the officers felt that if any plea bargain, etc., was done[,] it more properly should come from the District Attorneys Office or the Courts. More pointedly, he stipulated, It was generally felt that this is turning into a publicity gimmick to benefit only Snuka, of which they want no part, citing the media coverage. In fact, Snuka made appearances (though he barely spoke to anybody) at the Thanksgiving dinner hosted at Nancys mothers house in Brooklyn. After that meeting, investigators ruled Argentino's death an accident. 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. After being pressed about the moment of impact Snuka told the cops he asked Argentino if she was okay and she was lucid. PHOTO GALLERY: The strange story of Jimmy Superfly Snuka and Nancy Argentino. After he comforted Argentino by bringing some chow and later setting wet towel compresses on her head, her status turned critical. due to Snukas apparent mental incompetence mere days before his 2017 death from stomach cancer. Ultimately, it took eight deputy sheriffs and K-9s to bring Snuka under arrest. I think she died of a fracture to her skull. I dont know what happened. Snuka does mention in his autobiography that the details are hazy but that he went with Vince McMahon to a court or a law office, and that Vince had a suitcase. So I thought, my God, I better try to call a doctor right away I called the front desk and told my girl is having a hard time breathing, just seems like she cant breathe at all, whatever you do, please hurry up.. WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon speaks at a news conference announcing the WWE Network on January 8, 2014. While there has always been debate about what exactly happened to Nancy Argentino on May 10, 1983, some basic facts have been confirmed. With Sam Fatu, Valerie Franzen, Jim Garfield, Chris Jericho. PHOTO GALLERY: The strange story of Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka and Nancy Argentino. Foreman Grill: A $200m Mistake for Hulk Hogan! With regards to the actual events witnessed and lived by deputies at the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge, although the newspaper articles accurately describe the melee between Snuka and the Sheriffs Department, the deputies had much more to say than the papers reported. 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. [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. Snuka, having lost his physical green card in 2007, began the process to get a new one, which included a new criminal background check. All of these defenses were given in Snukas autobiography, various interviews, and other sources such as what Snuka supposedly told the nurses in the ER and what they reportedly overheard him say. In another version, Snuka claims he called the authorities as soon as they got to the hotel room. On that night Snuka claims he was just drinking a lot of booze. He later noted he had been smoking some pot too. It was six men in blue with police dogs and everything, he writes, while he was dressed only in his skivvies. Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka wrestles on September 4, 1995 in New Hampshire. Died? Then they get to the motel and napped. If you missed it, the immediate things you need to know are that Argentino died of, ; that Snuka initially told a variety of stories that involved pushing her, only to change his tune claiming she slipped and fell at the side of the road . There was enough to take it before a grand jury in 1983. The Events of Nancy Argentino's Death. She would sadly die at the young age of 23 in a Pennsylvania motel room. I dont know what happened. The WWE has also furloughed manyworkers amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Right from the get-go, the one constant with him was he kept saying, I want the truth. In 1983, Nancy Argentinos family hired Richard Cushing, a New York attorney who had spent most of his career defending criminals, to take a second look. His widow, Carol, claims that he died of CTE, not cancer. Ill be right back as soon as I get done, as he kissed her, according to the 30-page criminal complaint. 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.". The Lehigh County district attorney's office has refused to allow the coroner to release her autopsy report over the past three. Nancy Argentino's surviving sisters had lobbied authorities to reopen the case into her 1983 death in Lehigh County. Oh my, she looks terrible, Jimmy Superfly Snuka was heard crowing as he wept and strung his hand through Nancy Argentinos dark and dead locks. Charges were not immediately pressed at the time against Jimmy Snuka though the case was left officially open. But Tarzan never faced a murder rap. 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. 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. Snuka recalled the coke-induced bender at the hotel where he and his boys would party and crash. And despite the caked on foundation applied by the ambitious mortician on this day the grim sight haunted her pro wrestling beau to the core. Kennedy only got a two-month suspended sentence for leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury, but caused irreperable damage to any presidential ambitions that he may have had. The original investigation went cold on June 1, 1983, after prosecutors met with Jimmy Snuka and World Wrestling Federations Vince McMahon in the district attorneys office law library. I enjoy them. Its possible like Snuka concedes that Argentino was fine with the philandering. Snukas fall from grace was as low as his peaks of fame were high. Obviously, there was enough there to arouse my suspicion but not enough to take it to trial., Mihalakis would later say, Just because she was beaten doesnt mean she was beaten to death.. My mom told her, Listen, Nancy, youre too pretty and too smart to put up with this. When I woke her up, I picked her up and said, Are you okay, honey? And Argentino apparently replied, Yeah, but its just my head, my bump.. There is much that is not publicly known about this case. But its a touchy subject. In May of 1983, Nancy died as the result of serious head trauma. That was a blatant lie, said Muchnick. , We were drinking and having a good time when all of a sudden, the police burst into our room. He added, I dont know why they chose my room maybe mine was the first one they passed but they did. In point of fact, they were there because of a call from Thomas Donovan, the motels night manager. Nancy Argentino in an undated photo. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka found Nancy Argentino gasping for air inside a motel room here in May 1983. 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. 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.. Snuka died 10days after the ruling. I think Vince Jr. picked me up from the hotel and took me there. The Onondaga County Sheriffs Office file doesnt contain any trace of an explanation as to why Argentino changed her mind. Three weeks after The Morning Call published the story recalling the death of Nancy Argentino and revealing an autopsy report and police interviews never seen by the public, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin asked Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Gallagher and Detective Gerry Procanyn "if theres anything to be gained by opening a grand jury investigation." 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