Homicide Charges Against Ex-Wrestler Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka Dropped

A Lehigh County, Pa. judge on Tuesday dropped homicide charges against former pro wrestler Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, who was accused of murdering his girlfriend Nancy Argentino in 1983.

Homicide Charges Against Ex-Wrestler Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka Dropped

Snuka, 73, wasn’t arrested or charged for this alleged murder until 30 years later, however.

Judge Kelly L. Banach ruled in a one-sentence decree that Snuka is not competent to stand trial, adding “it would be unjust to resume the prosecution.” Experts strongly disagreed on Snuka’s competence, with doctors called by the defense indicating that Snuka is in hospice care and has only six months left to live. However, psychiatrists called by the prosecution contended that Snuka was faking dementia for the judge and the cameras.

As noted last June, Snuka was arrested in September 2015 after an Allentown, Pa. Morning Call investigation into Argentino’s death led the Lehigh County district attorney’s office to reopen the case. Argentino died after Snuka made an appearance at the Allentown Fairgrounds for the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE).

At the time, Snuka claimed he returned to his hotel room to discover Argentino suffering from over three dozen wounds caused, according to an autopsy, by blunt trauma from a stationary object. Snuka, who called 911, said the couple was “fooling around” outside the hotel room when she somehow hit her head on concrete while the two were wrestling, adding later that she had slipped and hit her head as the couple was “clowning around” on the side of the highway during a bathroom break.

The Morning Call uncovered documents in 2013 during a report that revealed Argentino’s death should have been investigated as a homicide.

In the initial phases of the trial, Snuka pleaded not guilty to the charges of third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and his attorney maintained that years of concussions and head trauma in the ring have left him unfit for trial. During a competency hearing, Snuka misstated his age, saying he was in his 80s. He also did not know the correct year, could not identify presidential candidates, or remember his mother’s name. According to his wife, Snuka believed that when he was arrested, he thought he was going to an appearance for wrestling fans.

“I don’t believe he’s faking it,” Banach said in June. “No offense, but I don’t think he’s smart enough to fake it.”

Lehigh County Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Gallagher’s office released a statement suggesting a possible appeal: “We are considering our options and will decide at the appropriate time what actions we will take.”

Snuka, born James Wiley Smith, was known as one of the high-flyers of the golden age of professional wrestling. Added to the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996, his section on the website was removed after he was charged last year.

Article by Pablo Mena