The Pennsylvania County grand jury will investigate the 1983 death of Nancy L. Argentino, the girlfriend of WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka.
District Attorney Jim Martin determined that after taking a “fresh look” at the cold case, there is enough evidence for the Lehigh County grand jury to review it. His decision to re-examine the case stemmed from a report in the Allentown, Pennsylvania-based newspaper The Morning Call seven months ago, which published a story concerning Argentino’s death. The article revealed an autopsy report and police interviews that were never released to the public.
The following press release concerning the case was issued.
SEVENTH INVESTIGATING GRAND JURY IN LEHIGH COUNTY TO REVIEW 1983 DEATH OF NEW YORK WOMAN
Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin has directed that evidence in the 1983 death of Nancy L. Argentino of New York be presented to the Seventh Investigating Grand Jury.
Argentino, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died on May 11, 1983, in Allentown.
District Attorney Martin has issued the following statement regarding the death:
“Several months ago, I was contacted by the surviving sisters of Nancy L. Argentino, who died under unusual circumstances. I directed Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles F. Gallagher III to conduct a preliminary review of the investigative file and any and all evidence that was gathered over the past 30 years by the lead Detective, former Whitehall Township Detective and now Lehigh County Detective Gerald Procanyn, and others.
“Chief Deputy District Attorney Gallagher has recommended that the District Attorney’s Office utilize the power and resources of the current Investigating Grand Jury in this matter.
Accordingly, I directed that the circumstances surrounding the death of Nancy L. Argentino, and all evidence related thereto, be presented to the Seventh Investigating Grand Jury, which is currently empanelled.
“Grand Jury proceedings are a time-consuming process, and it will take months before the Grand Jury concludes its work on this case.
“Under the Investigating Grand Jury Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. §4541 et seq., the proceedings of the Grand Jury are secret and may not be disclosed. Accordingly, I will have no further comment on this matter until the Investigating Grand Jury concludes its work.”
————————————————————————-
The Morning Call reports that a Lehigh County grand jury will investigate the death of Nancy L. Argentino, who was the girlfriend of WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka. Argentino passed away over thirty years ago on May 10, 1983, at the age of 23 due to head trauma.
“I’m kind of in, like, total shock,” said Lorraine Salome of New York, Nancy’s older sister. “This is something that should have happened 30-some-odd years ago. But at least it’s happening now.”
At the time of her death, Snuka returned from a WWF taping to his hotel room and saw Argentino gasping for air with yellow fluid coming out of her mouth and nose. He called the front desk and Argentino was rushed to the hospital, where she died after doctors were unable to save her life. The case was never solved, and her autopsy report has been refused to be released by the Lehigh County district attorney’s office.
“I think it’s important to have a grand jury take a look at it and we’ll see what they think,” District Attorney Jim Martin said today.
Snuka wrote in his autobiography that the incident ruined his life, and said that if he was guilty of anything, it was cheating on his wife. He claimed to have never threatened or hit Argentino.
Snuka claims that Argentino fell backwards and hit her head on the road while going to the bathroom on the side of a highway, which resulted in a bad concussion. He told the same story to Sam Roberts earlier last year, which you can watch in the video above.
However, he told the responding officer that he had pushed her and she fell and hit her head while they were fooling around outside the hotel room door. Two emergency room employees told police that Snuka said that she fell and hit her head after he pushed her during an argument.
The Morning Call ran a story last summer after the 30th anniversary of the death and noted that in June of 1983, Snuka and Vince McMahon – who was said to be completely cooperative with police during the investigation – met with the assistant district attorney, the medical examiner and detectives. According to the assistant district attorney, McMahon did all the talking, but noted that he couldn’t remember any specifics of the meeting. Snuka wrote in his book that the only thing he remembered was that McMahon had a briefcase with him, and that he doesn’t “know what happened.” After that meeting, the article noted that there is no record of police interviewing Snuka ever again.
