Wrestling legend Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka charged in girlfriend's 1983 death

"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.

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."