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. WWE has not responded to Oxygen.coms request for comment. 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. 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. However, by the next day, he apparently changed his story and claimed that. Ill say that much. The cops just didnt give me the chance to explain. They blew it up, brother.) copped a plea for harassment and got a conditional discharge. Yes, that Vince McMahon, then Snukas promoter as the owner of Titan Sports d/b/a the World Wrestling Federation, and now the chairman, CEO and owner of the WWFs successor, World Wrestling Entertainment. I would never use full force. These changing stories and the official manner of death werent known publicly until 2013, when the, discovered the autopsy report and a Snuka police interview transcript both previously unavailable due to the case still being open in court records from the Argentino familys later wrongful death lawsuit against Superfly. That, and other provable incidents of domestic abuse. Snuka, a native of Fiji who lives in Waterford Township, New Jersey, was charged last year in the death of 23-year-old Nancy Argentino, whose body was found in their Whitehall Township hotel. Detective Procanyn at the time told Muchnick when quizzed about Snukas shaky defense that the evidence was inconclusive. It is considered one of the most authoritative accounts of what happened to Nancy Argentino. After being informed of her ex-husbands murder charges, she told The Daily Beast, I have nothing further to offer.. The coconut was supposed to be shaved thin on one end, to crack like an egg, the psychologist explained, but Piper hit Snuka with the wrong end. He was to re-examine the evidence after Argentinos death and try to persuade then-District Attorney William Platt that this was not an accident. He was 73. I love the smell of the ladies. . I got one handcuff on the hand he had the female by the hair with[,] which was his right hand[,] and after several seconds of struggling with him[,] he released his grasp on the female, explained Bronstad in his affidavit. Track back 30 years to the documented interview with Detective Gerald Procanyn of the Whitehall Police Department at the hotel. Other sources have been linked where applicable. They made it to the motel and after Argentino requested to lie down, Snuka left to go to the Allentown Fairgrounds to perform. Four months before Nancy Argentino died, Snuka was charged with assaulting her in a New York Howard Johnson motel. We slept together each time, but we also hung out., But while he admits his marriage to his wife, Sharon, was terrible and that he was unfaithful, he seems to misremember how he put a brutal beating on her months after Argentino died. -. Dementia is defined legally as being unable to understand whats going on. Accident is accident brudda., To the responding police officer, according to the complaint, Snuka said they were fooling around outside [sic] room door when he pushed her and she fell striking her head. That same night Snuka told a paramedic that the couple got carried away in horseplay. Conjour insistedthe case was investigated the best it could have been investigated. The Lehigh County jury will . She ended up driving him to wrestling matches and planning his schedule, which, in turn, may have put Argentino in harm's way. 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. She was going to come home for that weekend, Salome said. 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. Documentary. At around 4 a.m. trucks were approaching Argentino, who had found a bush to squat and pee. Reporters from The Morning Call revealed the unreported autopsy findings and put heat under the case again in 2013 to ring in the 30th anniversary of the unsolved mystery. Nancy called me at 2 in the morning saying, I have to get out of here, her sister recalled. Photo credits to The Morning Call. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! They beat me with their batons I never laid my hands on anyone, and I didnt see any naked women, aside from the one in my room., Snuka copped a guilty plea just to get it over with and adds, I did not assault Nancyshe was fine. All was swept under the wrestling mat in fact. Ive never heard of anything like it before., To the credit of the Sheriffs Office, it looks like they did everything they should have both in terms of doing right by Nancy Argentino, and trying to avoid a public spectacle. He doesnt remember if money was given to the family of Nancy Argentino, but he knows for sure that he did not hurt her. I enjoy them. I met him, and he was the kindest man possible. ", 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? Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. 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. [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. In addition, Mihalikis absolutely did find, bruises, lacerations or other indications of a beating or prior injuries. Over two dozen, to be more specific, to the point that the report states that they could suggest mate abuse.. 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. 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.. Snuka, having lost his physical green card in 2007, began the process to get a new one, which included a new criminal background check. Recovering from that[,] I observed that the male had grabbed the female by her hair and was dragging her face along the wall (north) of the building. (When I reached Bronstad recently, he basically told the same story, including volunteering the detail about Snuka resuming his attack on Argentino in front of him. Buddy Rogers left him there and vowed to attend the church service later, but he didnt. . Even though he suffered from serious head trauma from his wrestling career and was perhaps suffering from dementia, he was still competent enough to hang himself after the murders. Yeah, there was some excitement. 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.. Even a movie was made in 2018 about the Chappaquiddick scandal where many people believe the senator got away with murder. Dark Side Of The Ring S02E05 Jimmy Snuka and the Death of Nancy Argentino. 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. As the docuseries points out, there was another passenger in the car with them who doesnt recall any fall. However, the file 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. June 1st, 2016: Almost six months after being tried for third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, Judge Kelly L. Banach determined that Jimmy Snuka was not mentally fit to assist his defense. Bronstad would add that Argentino complained of neck, head, back and hand injuries. Per a separate statement from Deputy Lawrence Witter, those were diagnosed as a bruised right thumb, contusion to the neck, possible fractured ribs and injury to the lower back., Snuka, in his ghostwritten memoir, brazenly claimed, 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. Ive never heard of anything like it before.. They definitely do not want any tickets reserved for them for the April 7th wrestling match and would not attend. They do not want a public apology and would not be a part of it, replied Lieutenant Paul Zemenz, the officers supervisor, in a letter sent back to Sparkes. There is much that is not publicly known about this case. But according to newly uncovered police records, Vince McMahon himself may have played a larger role in the events that led to Argentinos later death. On top of being the top WWF star, Snuka, according to his then on-screen manager/real-life babysitter Buddy Rogers, also had a massive cocaine problem. Snukas attorney, Robert J. Kirwan, argued that the fliers and videos did not prove anything about Snukas competency. When speaking to the Whitehall Police hours after Argentino died as the result of a skull fracture (four months after the New York motel room attack), McMahon backed up the claims around Snukas needing Argentino to be able to travel between live shows and taping venues. This time he saw Argentino, naked, soon followed by Snuka, also naked. At that point, he opened the door further and walked towards the rear of the room, and the female got up wrapped in a bed sheet. The senator waited 10 hours until he reported the incident and claimed that his behavior had been "indefensible." On January 28th, 2014: Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announces that the Nancy Argentino case will go to a grand jury. Charges were not immediately pressed at the time against Jimmy Snuka though the case was left officially open. WWE ECW Relaunch | Where Did It All Go Wrong? The WWE has also furloughed manyworkers amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 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. 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. 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.. Nancy Argentino in an undated photo. The docuseries noted that police documents prove that the meeting took place and lastedan hour but there are no notes to indicate what was discussed duringthat meeting. Nobody Ive spoken to from Argentinos sisters, to law enforcement officers, to Snukas lawyer has any recollection of this or anything related, such as the judge rejecting the proposed plea deal. , 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. I dont think its Chris Benoit. In August 2015: Carole, the third wife of Jimmy Snuka, says that he has stomach cancer. All this is recorded in the police accounts. Its been known within the business if not exactly a topic of conversation every f*****g day that something f*****g happened.". On top of that, according to her sisters, Nancy also had her own specific value to McMahon: With Snuka being illiterate and without a drivers license, McMahon needed a driver to get him to and from shows, but with his increasingly problematic drug use and erratic behavior, other wrestlers now refused to chauffeur him around. Finally, I just kept looking at her and trying to talk to her and she didnt even respond like when I left. It also chillingly recontextualizes something that, , McMahon told the Argentino familys initial attorney, Richard Cushing, in 1983. "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. (In his notes from a phone interview conducted with Bronstad and Deputy Alex Romanenko four days after Argentino was killed, Detective Gerald Procanyn describes the initial call from the motel in Salina as an attempted rape, but based on Bronstads interview with me, that appears to reflect the managers mistaken assumpion more than anything else.). Feel free to discuss this on the Pro Wrestling Stories Facebook and Twitter pages. 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. Per Donovans statement in the Onondaga County 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., He called the room to no answer, walked over and heard the man inside say, Im sorry I hit you. Being a 61-year-old man in 1983, he then left and thought the problem was over. But after he heard some yelling, he looked outside to see Argentino wrapped in a bed sheet, saw her return to the room, heard more screaming and then looked outside his office again. For 30 years, Snuka continued with his life as if nothing had happened. Yeah, there was some excitement. As those in the center of the true crime/wrestling fan Venn diagram will likely be aware, VICE TV's pro wrestling documentary series, Dark Side of the Ring, recently explored the May 11, 1983, death of Nancy Argentino, the then-girlfriend of then-top WWF (now WWE) star "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. That day, with Snukas lawyer, James Sparkes, acting as notary, she swore out an affidavit stating that she was in no way seeking prosecution against Snuka. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka (center) arrives with his wife Carole (right) for day four of his competency hearing at the Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown on June 1, 2016. He came there in shorts and didnt say anything to my mother. The medical evidence showed that he was not getting better, and in fact, hes getting worse.". What else could I possibly say? A recent episode of an ongoing docuseries dedicated to the dark underbellyof professional wrestling tackles a mysterious death and asks,was a young woman's death anaccident or was she killed by a professional wrestling superstar? she died; that the coroner ruled it a homicide in a report that wasnt made public; and that the case mysteriously stalled out after just three weeks. 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