The donation, though, was often conflated with the sentence as if they were related, and none of the articles contained actual details of what happened in the courtroom beyond the disposition. Snuka alleged that s Finally, Dr. Mihalikis did not find any unusual amounts of dirt, gravel or other substances on Ms. Argentinos clothing. Because of his failing health, however, a judge ruled him mentally unfit to stand trial. Look, Im in the garbage business, McMahon purportedly said. Foreman Grill: A $200m Mistake for Hulk Hogan! Hello! 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.. In another version, Snuka claims he called the authorities as soon as they got to the hotel room. , 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. The Onondaga County Sheriffs Office file doesnt contain any trace of an explanation as to why Argentino changed her mind. (Use code PWS for a nice surprise). There is no question in my mind that the missing narrative piece coming out of the indictment is the role that officers of the court in Pennsylvania themselves played, Muchnick told The Daily Beast. This is the disturbing story of Nancy Argentino, who was once the lover of professional wrestler Superfly Jimmy Snuka. He later told police he was misunderstood, and Argentino slipped and hit her head when they stopped along the highway to go to the bathroom. He was charged with second and third-degree assault, resisting arrest, and obstruction of governmental administration. 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., It stated that the furlough of some employees is expected to be temporary in nature.. By. George The Animal Steele His Double Life and Turnbuckle Fetish. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka (third from left) arrives with his wife Carole (right) for day four of his competency hearing at the Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown on June 1, 2016. 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. Jimmy Snuka and Nancy Argentino returned to the George Washington Motor Lodge hotel after a WWF taping at the Allentown, PA fairgrounds. In fact, Snuka made appearances (though he barely spoke to anybody) at the Thanksgiving dinner hosted at Nancys mothers house in Brooklyn. 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. That night I felt very strange. In the commotion Argentino managed to call her sister Salome. WWE ECW Relaunch | Where Did It All Go Wrong? Vice's Dark Side of the Ring took on the death of Nancy Argentino in anewepisode, which aired April 12. That was a blatant lie, said Muchnick. The Death of Nancy Argentino (Podcast Episode 2019) photos, including production stills, premiere photos and other event photos, publicity photos, behind-the-scenes, and more. This was to prove that he was lucid. Current contact information for Platt couldnt be located, while the Lehigh County District Attorneys Office didnt respond to an email about the discovery, beyond saying that they were forwarding it to current DA Jim Martin. In. More. His assaultive acts and his failure to act to obtain medical attention resulted in her death, the grand jury wrote in a presentment on July 17, 2015, recommending he be charged with homicide. At this point, [Snuka] attempted to close the door[,] but I started to talk to him about letting us in or her out. Look, Im in the garbage business, McMahon purportedly said. In 2017, Jon Chattman, author of Superfly: The Jimmy Snuka Story, was interviewed by Pro Wrestling Illustrated Senior Writer Al Castle for the PWI Podcast. I would never hurt any of them.. At one point, I went with Vince McMahon Jr. to either a court or law office, I dont remember which because I was still in shock. Friday, May 10, is the 30th anniversary of the controversial but little-discussed death of Nancy Argentino, Jimmy Snuka's girlfriend at the time. (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.). This was a week after District Attorney Jim Martin announced he was re-opening the case. WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon speaks at a news conference announcing the WWE Network on January 8, 2014. Media Manager Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system . He writes in his book, Sharon and I fought all the time. I dont like confrontation.. In addition, Mihalikis absolutely, 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., But the revelation that if we take Procanyns contemporaneous interview with Bronstad and Romanenko at face value Vince McMahon may have been one of these failures is something that, in 2020, casts her death in a different light. However, it is known that Argentino died . 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. PWSTees.com Your favorite Pro Wrestling Stories, on a tee! Also, to reinforce the aforementioned, Dr. Manish Fozdar, a Raleigh, North Carolina expert in Neuropsychiatry and forensic psychiatry, said, "There are no cause-effect relationships as Snukas defense attorney argued. Charges were not immediately pressed at the time against Jimmy Snuka though the case was left officially open. Chattman said that while the criminal charges left a blemish on Snukas legacy, he does not think they should define it. December 2nd, 2016: Snukas defense attorney says hes in a Florida hospice, and doctors have determined that he only has six months to live. It was attended by WWE CEO Vince McMahon, the Allentown Morning Call reported in 2013. Even though their decision-making is impaired, there isnt a loss as far as I can tell of the sense of right and wrong., I loved Jimmy Snuka as a fan. Jimmy Snuka and the Death of Nancy Argentino. If that was The Superfly Splash, it was the geriatric version, Kirwan said. She added that, in spite of Snuka being charged with a misdemeanor assault in the third degree for his attack on her, he never struck me or intentionally harmed me in any way on January 18, 1983 nor at any other time in the past. (The other charges leveled at Snuka were a felony assault count in the second degree and two more misdemeanors counts of resisting arrest and obstructing government administration.). , 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. 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. 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. Cynthia Porter, an officer in training, recalled in her affidavit that she could hear Argentino repeatedly cry No, no, dont do that! from outside the room right before Sergeant Peter Bronstad showed up as backup. Look of fear in them. Indeed, at the hospital, Argentino signed a release form to share her medical records with the Sheriffs Department. 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. 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. Then they get to the motel and napped. He believed that there was enough to take it to a grand jury as a murder case, but William Platt thought otherwise. Its impossible to discern causality, too whether the explanation is simply innocent, lazy reporting, or something more sinister. What the f***?". One of the then-WWF's biggest stars, Jimmy Snuka, was present at the Allentown, Pennsylvania motel where Argentino suffered the traumatic brain injuries that ended her life after just 23 years. Hours later, paramedics responded to their motel room where Argentino was found unresponsive. The WWE has also furloughed manyworkers amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 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. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka arrives with his wife Carole (right) for day four of his competency hearing at the Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown on June 1, 2016. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka enters Lehigh County Court following his attorney Robert Kirwan, II, right, to argue he has the right to have a preliminary hearing in the 1983 murder of his girlfriend in a Whitehall Township motel. In August 2015: Carole, the third wife of Jimmy Snuka, says that he has stomach cancer. Its possible like Snuka concedes that Argentino was fine with the philandering. It is believed that Snuka delaying 12-24 hours in calling for medical help contributed greatly to the emergency staffers inability to resuscitate her. She had a headache but no blood. "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. When we got to the hotel right away I had to call because she wasnt feeling good, he said. In a moment that, with hindsight, should have been the crossroads where someone intervened to help Argentino, the assembled media largely failed her, refusing to take her story seriously enough to tell it properly. It was 1983 and only days after Nancy Argentino was found barely breathing, oozing yellow fluid from her mouth and nose while laying almost lifeless, while holed up in Room 427 at the George Washington Motor Lodge in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Homicide charges against Snuka in the 1983 death of his girlfriend Nancy Argentino, 23, in a Whitehall Township . Instead he said Snuka told one story and it was perfectly consistent every time. 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. "Unfortunately, the death of Nancy Argentino is inextricably entwined in the life story of Superfly Jimmy Snuka, making the celebration of his life and career so much more difficult. I felt bad about it brother. The WWE has also furloughed manyworkers amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Even a movie was made in 2018 about the Chappaquiddick scandal where many people believe the senator got away with murder. But the revelation that if we take Procanyns contemporaneous interview with Bronstad and Romanenko at face value Vince McMahon may have been one of these failures is something that, in 2020, casts her death in a different light. Take Dr. Isidore Mihalakiss autopsy report noting that the multiplicity and magnitude of Nancy Argentinos dozen or more craniocerbral blows may even be suggestive of mate abuse and that this case should be investigated as a homicide until proven otherwise.. Jimmy Snuka, Argentino's boyfriend at the time, was investigated in the death but not charged or arrested until 2015. Though the records check from the Sheriffs Office matched the four known charges, the Certificate of Conviction from the court says he pled guilty to Assault 3rd while being sentenced to his one-year 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. 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. So why did they buy his constantly evolving story? Though the records check from the Sheriffs Office matched the four known charges, the Certificate of Conviction from the court says he pled guilty to Assault 3rd while being sentenced to his one-year conditional discharge. However, one of the failings of the Lehigh County District Attorneys Office subsequent to Argentinos death reads more black and white. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. I did not have a clear-cut case. Argentino was dating World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling star James Reiher Snuka known professionally as Jimmy Superfly Snuka when she died under suspicious circumstances in 1983. In his 2012 memoir Superfly: The Jimmy Snuka Story the pro wrestler claims he showed respect to Argentinos parents. The episode shineda renewed light about the mysterious death. An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon. WWE has not responded to Oxygen.coms request for comment. 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. 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. 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. Now 72 years old and stricken with stomach cancer, the defamed brawler yesterday posted $100,000 bail after forfeiting his passport. without a live audience. They made it to the motel and after Argentino requested to lie down, Snuka left to go to the Allentown Fairgrounds to perform. June 21st, 2016: Prosecutors ask Judge Banach to force Snuka to undergo mental health treatment. At this point, he began to yell that if she wants to leave[,] go ahead. Thats to say nothing of any potential reputational harm to the organization. -. 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.. 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 was the mouthpiece, trying to direct the conversation.. The writer was onto the flimsy slip-and-fall storylines Snuka had peddled to police and prosecutors. 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