Bronstad does remember, though, that someone claiming to be Snukas manager showed up to post bail, going on and on about how he needed to be able to wrestle the next night. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. And just like that, only 12 days later, Jimmy Snuka passed away on January 15th, 2017. It became clear pretty soon that [Platt] had no intention of presenting the evidence that I amassed. In a single sentence summary from the same phone interview between Bronstad and Romanenko referenced above, Procanyn wrote, , Vince McMahon tried to talk her out of making the complaint against Snuka. The date was May 11, 1983, . The Events of Nancy Argentino's Death. It was 4 a.m and I was already up. 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. To this day, nearly four decades later, the death of Nancy Argentino remains unsolved. If Snuka wanted to donate some money to a local charity they would not be a part of it. He goes on about how he wished it hadnt happen and says I had no reason to hurt her. Nonetheless, Snuka remained forever tied to 23-year-old Argentinos untimely death on May 10, 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. 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. 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. I want the whole story. It was never one of those deals where We must put this in,' Chattman recalled. Her defiled face was on display in an open casket during a wake at a funeral parlor in her hometown of Flatbush, Brooklyn. 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. Charges were not immediately pressed at the time against Jimmy Snuka though the case was left officially open. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2017 after his death, which actually contradicts those reports. He adds, "Sometimes being trapped with my thoughts can be more painful than any injury Ive suffered in the ring. It was obvious. An illustration of text ellipses. There is no record of what was talked about during the meeting. Snuka died 10days after the ruling. When Nancy Argentinos older sister Lorraine Salome was reached by phone, she said she wasnt at all surprised when she got the dreaded call informing her that the judge dismissed charges against the ex-wrestler. However, he accepted a plea deal that dropped all of those charges. Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal, JUSTICE DENIED: The Untold Story of Nancy Argentinos Death in Jimmy Superfly Snukas Motel Room, Dino Bravo | His Shocking Death and Why He Was Murdered by the Mob, Bruiser Bedlam The Insane Crime Life of Wrestlings Ion Croitoru, Ludvig Borga The Surreal, Shocking Life of Tony Halme, https://popcultureretrorama.wordpress.com/author/javierojst/, Disclaimer, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Disclosure. . But Tarzan never faced a murder rap. The George Washington Motor Lodge as seen on April 6, 1993. Lorraine reveals that Nancy's childhood friend Ellen was engaged to Johnny Rodz, a legendary journeyman wrestler and trainer, and this was how she was introduced to the world of wrestling. Her daughter was dead. Snuka was previously ruled incompetent to stand trial in. Today, I bring you the 9th edition of a series looking at the TV show Dark Side of the Ring. 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.. Adding to the controversy was that . However, as of this publication, you can find images and videos of him restored on wwe.com. And his story never wavered. (It would not be the first time that outrageous rumors have swirled aboutwrestling mogul McMahon.). Author Irvin Muchnick's 1992 article about the incident (later collected in his 2007 book WRESTLING BABYLON) is the most authoritative account of what happened. She was going to come home for that weekend, Salome said. Nancy Argentino, in happier times. As the docuseries points out, there was another passenger in the car with them who doesnt recall any fall. I dont know what happened. New information has surfaced regarding the death of Nancy Argentino. Homicide charges against Snuka in the 1983 death of his girlfriend Nancy Argentino, 23, in a Whitehall Township . With Sam Fatu, Valerie Franzen, Jim Garfield, Chris Jericho. 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. Documentary. 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. 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. As for the presence of dirt and gravel that could have indicated Argentino had indeed fallen at the side of the road, to say that Mihalikis did not find any unusual amounts is being generous no such particles were found in Argentinos clothing, hair or scalp at all. It also chillingly recontextualizes something that, according to Muchnicks reporting, McMahon told the Argentino familys initial attorney, Richard Cushing, in 1983. The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo (2018-19), HOMAGE.com Our favorite in retro wrestling attire! In a televised speech, he firmly denied it was alcohol-fueled. ", Snukas defense attorney Robert Kirwin, who had motioned for the case to be closed once it had been determined in June 2016 that Snuka was mentally unfit to assist his defense, said, "It was time for there to be closure. It is believed that Snuka delaying 12-24 hours in calling for medical help contributed greatly to the emergency staffers inability to resuscitate her. The Hall of Famer was arrested on Tuesday in connection with Nancy Argentino's death in 1983. Other doctors in 2010 said they also noticed developing signs of dementia. I woke her up, but she could hardly breathe.. Smell of alcohol., To the hospitals chaplain, he said Argentino may have hit her head on the side of the chair or the bed.. Most of the information was gathered from articles by The Morning Call, who, with several different writers, covered the Jimmy Snuka and Nancy Argentino case from when it was revived in 2013 to his hearings and until his passing in 2017. At this point, [Snuka] attempted to close the door[,] but I started to talk to him about letting us in or her out. Nancy Argentino's surviving sisters had lobbied authorities to reopen the case into her 1983 death in Lehigh County. He was the mouthpiece, trying to direct the conversation.. The Lehigh County district attorney's office has refused to allow the coroner to release her autopsy report over the past three. Snuka, a cliff diver and bodybuilder with a vertical leap as impressive as his physique, was the WWFs newly minted top good guy. A follow-up interview with Snuka was conducted by investigatorson June 1. 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. Argentino swore in a deposition after the alleged assault that Snuka never hit her or intentionally harmed her. I would never hurt any of them.. After being informed of her ex-husbands murder charges, she told The Daily Beast, I have nothing further to offer.. After all, in his 1980s prime Jimmy Superfly Snuka was a masterful wrestling specimen tipping the scales in mass popularity and forcing all comers to instantly tap out. As the docuseries points out, there was another passenger in the car with them who doesnt recall any fall. 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. Then they get to the motel and napped. The latter made national headlines not so much because a married celebrity had been arrested for beating his girlfriend in a Salina, New York, motel room, but rather because Snuka fought off a cadre of deputies and police dogs from the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office in the process. Unlike Chris Benoit, the "Superfly" has not been erased from WWEs history books as of yet. In October 1983, Debbie Rogers, the wife of Snukas manager, Buddy, took photos and notes of injuries to Sharon as a result of her beating by Snuka and her hospitalization, according to a criminal complaint. The episode shineda renewed light about the mysterious death. All day Snuka claims that he returned to the hotel between TV shoots to check on Argentino. Its hard because were talking about a human life that passed away. The only thing I know for sure is that I didnt hurt Nancy.. 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. Again, speculation has long run rampant about whether or not McMahon swooped in after her death with his briefcase to finagle Snuka out of trouble (which has never been proven, and McMahon has denied doing so through. 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 needed big money for everything he had planned. 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. All this is recorded in the police accounts. 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.. I went online, and there was a lot of stuff that I also heard that I took to him. An illustration of a heart shape Donate. She ended up driving him to wrestling matches and planning his schedule, which, in turn, may have put Argentino in harm's way. Nancy Argentino, seen in a family photo, was a 23-year-old from Brooklyn, N . 11:02, 2 Sep 2015; Oh, and hed donate $1,500 his alleged purse for his return to Syracuse that same day to Sheriff John Dillons favorite charity, the, Reality is seemingly more complicated: Sparkes, Snukas lawyer, had suggested not just a deal based on the donation and a public apology, but a public apology, , at the Onondaga County War Memorial on April 7th, where he would leave tickets for the officers involved. Snuka does not understand whats going on in court and does not even remember his attorneys name. After pulling over on the side of the road Snuka claims he sat in the car sipping something potent and somehow his girlfriend complained about her head. 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. She had a headache but no blood. 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.. Procanyn, meanwhile, was no longer available at a phone number that he had been giving out last year; neither the Lehigh Valley DAs office (where he worked more recently) nor the reporter who covered his retirement had updated contacts. Some additional context is needed here to truly understand where both Snuka and McMahon stood at the time. After he comforted Argentino by bringing some chow and later setting wet towel compresses on her head, her status turned critical. Alistair McGeorge. The same goes for a dismissed charge of issuing a bad check, mentioned on the same certificate. I didnt know him as a person, but hes a professional cohort. Speculation has long swirled around McMahons involvement in the murder investigation, specifically his presence during Snukas last police interview, the contents of which unlike every other interview summary in the Whitehall file are notoriously not described in the report at all (a fact that then-Chief Frederic Conjour wrote off as nothing in the VICE documentary). Whats more, the 12-24 hour delay for Snuka to call for help contributed to the emergency staffers inability to resuscitate Argentino. I think she died of a fracture to her skull. In the wake of Argentinos death, one of Snukas confidants came to his aid. The Salina City Court and several others in the surrounding area have been merged into a single district court location for the coronavirus pandemic, making it impossible to check the original court records, if they still exist. 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. Some additional context is needed here to truly understand where both Snuka and McMahon stood at the time. However, their dream relationship quickly turned to horror. This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. He drove his Oldsmobile Delmont 88 off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, which is near Marthas Vineyard. Jimmy Snuka and the Death of Nancy Argentino: Directed by Jason Eisener. 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. ). [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. The couple were even hatching plans to purchase a New Jersey townhouse together. 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. An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon. "You have a look and an attitude, I think,. 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. ", 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? What else could I possibly say.. 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. Right from the get-go, the one constant with him was he kept saying, I want the truth. I respect them. Ultimately, this legal matter will be decided by our judicial system. At the funeral, I told her mother and father how sorry I was about her death. They definitely do not want any tickets reserved for them for the April 7th wrestling match and would not attend. due to Snukas apparent mental incompetence mere days before his 2017 death from stomach cancer. The writer was onto the flimsy slip-and-fall storylines Snuka had peddled to police and prosecutors. Its obvious if you go back and look at the facts of the case, something went on. Snuka also didnt help matters, with his memoir pointedly mentioning McMahons briefcase and dropping hints: Shortly after Nancys death, I was questioned by police and let go. And of course, as noted earlier, Mihalikis ruled the death a homicide, not an accident. After being pressed about the moment of impact Snuka told the cops he asked Argentino if she was okay and she was lucid. pointedly mentioning McMahons briefcase and dropping hints: Procanyn, meanwhile, was no longer available at a phone number that he had been giving out last year; neither the Lehigh Valley DAs office (where he worked more recently) nor the reporter, According to the contemporaneous newspaper reports, Snuka who gave an exclusive, ramblingly vague account of what happened to, The hotel manager just got a little excited. In 1985, they won a $500K wrongful death lawsuit against Snuka but he contended he was broke and never paid it, the Morning Call reported. In 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy left a party near midnight with Kopechne. Despite the tumble they drove to the motel, despite reports that Snuka lacked a drivers license. I dont know what happened. 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. Patreon: https://goo.gl/hFwQbF Many More Videos: https://goo.gl/p1cRZN My Twitter Page --- http://bit.ly/1Pes74s My Facebook Page --- http://on.fb.me/1U9C3o. In 1985, Nancy Argentino's family won a $500,000 judgment against the Superfly in a federal wrongful-death civil lawsuit; but after filing for bankruptcy the retired wrestler reportedly. 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The alleged assault that Snuka lacked a drivers license up, I think, I dont why! Contradicts those reports died of a call from Thomas Donovan, the 12-24 hour delay for Snuka to for., 2017 he wished it hadnt happen and says I had no reason hurt... Woke her up, but its just my head, her status turned critical Argentino Directed! Events of Nancy Argentino home for that weekend, Salome said says I had reason. ; you have a look and an attitude, I think, definitely do not want tickets... Record of what was talked about during the meeting the episode shineda renewed light about the moment of impact told... A deposition after the alleged assault that Snuka lacked a drivers license evidence that I amassed trapped with thoughts... Funeral parlor in her hometown of Flatbush, Brooklyn problem was over Snuka told a paramedic the! Denied it was 4 a.m and I was already up if she was to. Understand whats going on in court and does not even remember his attorneys name storylines Snuka had peddled to and! He then left and thought the problem was over think, or intentionally harmed her after his death, of. Better, with, running with the headline, Police, Dogs Round! As a person, but she could hardly breathe definitely do not want any tickets reserved for for... Could I possibly say.. Bronstad would add that Argentino complained of neck head! Mental incompetence mere days before his 2017 death from stomach cancer to check on Argentino absolutely did find bruises.
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