This has been a hard summer for fans of 1980s wrestling and just when you thought it couldn’t get worse it did. Today one of wrestling’s most beloved stars Jimmy “SuperFly” Snuka was charged with 3rd degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 1983 death of his former girlfriend Nancy Argentino. This was believed to be a cold case for over 30 years and has been whispered about when talking about Snuka but never something that was known to the broad public.
At the time of Nancy’s death Snuka was the only person of interest but he was never charged in her death. There were rumors of a WWF cover up but those tales were never proven to be true. The Lehigh County DA reopened the case last year after the Morning Call’s investigation 2 years ago revealed an autopsy that had not been seen before and called Argentino’s death a homicide.
District Attorney Jim Martin decided to reopen the cold case from the 1980s. Snuka was sued by Argentino’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit in which the family was awarded $500,000 but never paid out by “SuperFly” who said he was not financially able to do so and could not afford an attorney to fight the 1985 case.
As of press time Snuka’s Hall of Fame profile is still up on the WWE site and he is still listed as an alumni of the company. The WWE released an official statement today regarding the matter stating that…
“WWE expresses its continued sympathy to the Argentino family for their loss. Ultimately this legal matter will be decided by our judicial system.”
The WWE is in an interesting spot because if digging through this case any wrong doing by their part can be uncovered it would be an incredible black eye for the company. Most people doubt that the organization was involved in covering up the murder but there have always been whispers. After seeing so many our heroes fall I am not putting anything past anyone at this point.
Snuka has always maintained his innocence and in his 2012 book he states that he never hurt Nancy and speculation surrounding her death has ruined his life. Jimmy’s former wife Sharon Reiher Snuka whom he was married to at the time of Argentino’s death told a panel about beatings she received from wrestler during 1983 that sent her to the hospital. So his past on domestic violence is definitely in question.
After reading reports myself today getting brushed up on the case in question I can say it doesn’t look good for Snuka. How he found his girlfriend’s body and the injuries that she sustained at time of death definitely speak to foul play and his responses to different people at the time of the incident were inconsistent at best. This probably couldn’t come at worse time for a man who is 72 years old and was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer. The best we can hope for is that the legal system does it due diligence and that all parties can get some closure on this matter.
Written By
Keith B. Holt
Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr
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