his 2012 autobiography, WWE legend Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka described himself as a free spirit who jumped off island cliffs in Fiji and Hawaii, and later off turnbuckles as one of pro wrestling's biggest names in the 1980s.
"Superfly: The Jimmy Snuka Story" was meant to highlight his Hall of Fame career, but Lehigh County authorities say it also helped crack a 32-year-old mystery — the death of Snuka's 23-year-old girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, after she was found unconscious in a Whitehall Township motel.
On Tuesday, Snuka, 72, was charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter after a Lehigh County grand jury determined he repeatedly assaulted Argentino in May 1983 in the motel and then left her in bed to die.
"His assaultive acts and his failure to act to obtain medical attention resulted in her death," the grand jury wrote in a presentment July 17, recommending he be charged with homicide.
Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced the charges at a news conference two years after the case was reopened. The grand jury probe was prompted by a 2013
Morning Call investigation that raised questions about the Argentino case 30 years after her death.
The Morning Call story revealed a never-before-seen autopsy report that labeled the case a homicide.
It is the coldest case Martin has ever taken before a grand jury, and also the oldest one to result in charges in Lehigh County.
Martin and Judge Maria L. Dantos, who supervised the grand jury, approved the charges. Third-degree murder means a killing with malice. It carries a maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison. Martin said the case didn't warrant a first-degree murder charge, which applies to a killing that is both willful and premeditated.
In most homicide cases, defendants are not allowed bail. Martin said he and Dantos made an exception in Snuka's case because he is not facing a life sentence, he is not considered a flight risk because he surrendered his passport, and because of his life-threatening illness.
"I do not want to burden the taxpayers of Lehigh County with medical expenses, which would be extremely high and would have to be borne by them if he remained in Lehigh County Jail," Martin said.
The decision to charge Snuka came after the grand jury listened to testimony and statements from 20 witnesses and Lehigh County Detective Gerald Procanyn, who investigated the case in 1983 as a Whitehall police detective and was there when Argentino was hurried to the hospital.
Snuka was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, Martin said. He appeared with his lawyer, but didn't testify.
The grand jury reviewed police reports, medical and autopsy evidence and the statements Snuka made in media interviews and in his 2012 autobiography about what happened to Argentino. In the book, Snuka wrote how his personal life began "getting a little crazy" in 1983 because of his frequent use of alcohol, steroids and cocaine.
The review also looked into Snuka's history of domestic violence against Argentino and a former wife.
Reached Tuesday by phone, Argentino's sister, Louise Argentino-Upham, said it's a relief that Snuka has been charged, especially since her mother turns 90 this year and may be able to see justice served.
"I think that it's been a long road," Argentino-Upham said. "They did the right thing in the face of all the evidence."
WWE issued a statement to PWInsider.com, saying the entertainment company "expresses its continued sympathy to the Argentino family for their loss. Ultimately this legal matter will be decided by our judicial system."
Martin insisted that Snuka's star status in 1983 didn't protect him.
"The grand jury and the evidence we were able to produce before the grand jury made the difference in what has happened today compared to what happened 32 years ago."
Martin, who was an assistant prosecutor at the time of the initial investigation but not involved in the case, defended William H. Platt, then the Lehigh County district attorney and now a senior judge with the state Superior Court.
"Knowing him as well as I should, it wouldn't matter what Jimmy Snuka's profession or employment was or anybody else for that matter," Martin said.
Argentino had regularly traveled with Snuka on the burgeoning pro wrestling circuit, while he had a wife and four children in North Carolina.
On May 10, 1983, Snuka was at a taping of a then-World Wrestling Federation event at the Allentown Fairgrounds. He returned to the George Washington Motor Lodge motel room to find Argentino, gasping for air and oozing yellow fluid from her mouth and nose, court records say.
Paramedics arrived at the motel — now the site of Home Depot along MacArthur Road and Route 22 — and found Snuka, a police officer and two wrestlers there, according to court records. Argentino was unconscious, barely breathing and her dilated pupils and rapid heart rate indicated she had a head injury and was likely in shock, court records say.
Argentino was pronounced dead at a Lehigh Valley Hospital emergency room the next day.
An autopsy determined she died of traumatic brain injuries and had suffered 39 cuts and bruises — a possible sign of "mate abuse" — on her head, ear, chin, arms, hands, back, buttocks, legs and feet.
The autopsy also determined her injuries were consistent with being hit with a stationary object about 12 to 24 hours before she died. The forensic pathologist at the time, Isidore Mihalakis, said a delay in getting her medical help affected the ability of the emergency room staff to save her life.
In the autopsy report, Mihalakis wrote the case should be investigated as a homicide until proved otherwise. Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim reviewed the autopsy findings for the grand jury and agreed the case should be ruled a homicide.
Besides the medical evidence, one of the biggest factors for the charges, Martin said, was Snuka's inconsistent statements.
Snuka originally told at least five people, including the responding police officer, he shoved Argentino earlier that day, causing her to fall and hit her head. He later told police those five people misunderstood him, and said Argentino slipped and hit her head when they stopped along the highway to urinate.
After Argentino died, though, Snuka spoke to a hospital chaplain and to Procanyn, giving both men different accounts of how she died.
"We believe it is important to note that James Snuka changed the location of the injuries in his discussion with the chaplain to happening on the highway traveling to [the George Washington Motor Lodge], but still admitted that she sustained her injury after he shoved her and she fell backward, hitting her head on the concrete," the grand jury wrote in the presentment.
He told the chaplain that Argentino told him she had a headache when they got to the motel and wanted to go to bed. He went to a diner and got them food, even though Argentino said she wasn't hungry.
"Snuka stated the victim passed out in the room and hit her head on the side of the chair or bed. He kept checking on her, and she was breathing OK," according to the presentment.
The wrestler said he left for work in the afternoon, came back, then left again to tape a television show.
"When he came back around 9 p.m., yellow stuff was coming out of her nose and mouth. He knew something was obviously wrong and called for help from [an] ambulance."
The presentment says Snuka gave seven versions of Argentino's death that night and morning, and the grand jury learned of "several additional versions and explanations" in the years since, from Snuka's autobiography and from two radio show podcasts.
"The grand jury believes it is important to note how James Snuka related in his autobiography the state of his behavior that '… in 1983, my personal life started getting a little crazy' especially in his frequent use of alcohol, steroids and cocaine."
In the book, Snuka also discussed his arrest on charges of assaulting Argentino on Jan. 18, 1983, in a hotel near Syracuse, N.Y. — four months before Argentino's death. Snuka's account differed from the official police account.
That day, two police deputies arrived and "observed the muscular James Snuka forcibly dragging the naked Ms. Argentino down the hallway by her hair as she was draped in a blanket and was shouting that she wanted to get away from Snuka."
Snuka was charged with assault, resisting arrest and obstruction, but later pleaded guilty to reduced charges and paid a fine that was donated to charity. Argentino was treated at a hospital for injuries to her head, back and scalp.
The grand jury also heard testimony from Snuka's former wife, Sharon Reiher Snuka, who is now remarried. She told the panel about "a series of beatings" she sustained during arguments with her husband in the fall of 1983 that resulted in her being hospitalized.
Snuka was the only person of interest in Argentino's death but was never charged.
The original Whitehall police investigation went cold June 1, 1983, after a follow-up interview with Snuka that was ordered by Lehigh Valley authorities and attended by WWF mogul Vince McMahon. The WWF has since been renamed WWE, or World Wrestling Entertainment.
In 1985, the Argentino family won a $500,000 wrongful death case against Snuka by default, but Snuka never paid because he claimed he was broke and couldn't afford a legal defense.
In his autobiography, Snuka maintained his innocence and said Argentino's death ruined his life.
"Many terrible things have been written about me hurting Nancy and being responsible for her death, but they are not true," he wrote. "This has been very hard on me and very hard on my family. To this day, I get nasty notes and threats. It hurts. I never hit Nancy or threatened her."
An investigative journalist and author who penned a 2007 book about Snuka and the death of Argentino said Tuesday he was gratified to hear of an arrest in the case.
Even before the Internet, the story of Argentino's death was circulated among underground wrestling newsletters, said Irvin Muchnick, who has reported on the world of professional wrestling for more than three decades.
Muchnick wrote about the discrepancies between Snuka's accounts of that night in his book, "Wrestling Babylon." On the 30th anniversary of Argentino's death, Muchnick published an eBook that donates proceeds to a charity selected by the Argentino family.
"I'm obviously very gratified to see this result in what I'm told is the longest cold case homicide in Lehigh County," Muchnick said. "I'd say this counts as a home run for the good guys today."
While Muchnick's book highlighted inconsistencies in the death investigation, he said the 30th anniversary piece published by The Morning Call "gave this thing the momentum it needed."
Lorraine Salome, Nancy's older sister, said she was surprised to learn that Snuka was being arrested after all these years.
"We thought they were giving us lip service. Even when they brought the grand jury, we didn't have much hope. We still thought they were giving us the runaround. But the grand jury really did its job and we're grateful. The doors of justice were slammed in our face 30 years ago, but better late than never, we have a chance of getting justice."
Salome, of Manhattan, said she told her mother that Snuka was being charged. The family had been shielding her from news of the investigation because of her age and poor health.
"She was very happy," Salome said. "That poor woman has been broken. She's still so sad. She has all of Nancy's pictures and things that she keeps around her."
