That night, Snuka called for an ambulance. His girlfriend, 23-year-old Nancy Argentino, was unconscious in their room at the George Washington Motor Lodge. She was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. The ensuing investigation, marked by changing stories, a controversial autopsy, and allegations of a high-level corporate cover-up, remains one of the most disturbing chapters in wrestling history. It is a story of a justice system that paused for 32 years, leaving a family in Brooklyn to mourn in silence while the prime suspect continued to fly high on national television.
The Night at the George Washington Motor Lodge
On May 10, 1983, the WWF was taping television at the Allentown Fairgrounds. Jimmy Snuka, the star of the show, had driven into town with Nancy Argentino. The couple had checked into the George Washington Motor Lodge, a common stopping point for wrestlers working the territory.
According to the initial police reports, Snuka returned to the hotel room after his matches to find Argentino gasping for air. He called for help, but the timeline provided by Snuka was inconsistent from the start.
In his initial statements to the responding medical personnel and police, Snuka claimed that he and Nancy had been “fooling around” outside the motel room when she slipped and hit her head. Later, the story shifted. He told investigators that they had stopped by the side of the road to urinate, where she slipped on the soft shoulder and struck her head on a rock. He claimed she seemed fine afterwards, but later complained of dizziness and laid down to sleep while he went to the arena for his match.
The inconsistencies in the timeline—specifically regarding when the injury occurred and why medical attention wasn’t sought immediately—raised red flags for the local detectives. However, the true horror of the situation was only revealed once the coroner examined the body.
The Autopsy: Homicide
Dr. Isidore Mihalakis performed the autopsy on Nancy Argentino. His findings stood in stark contrast to Snuka’s narrative of a simple slip-and-fall accident.
The report detailed that Argentino had suffered “traumatic brain injuries” consistent with a moving head striking a stationary object. This creates a “coup-contrecoup” injury, where the brain bounces off the inside of the skull. But the injuries were not limited to her head.
The autopsy revealed more than two dozen cuts and bruises over Argentino’s entire body. These included abrasions on her back, bruises on her arms, and marks on her neck. Dr. Mihalakis noted that the injuries were consistent with domestic abuse. He famously described the pattern of abuse as “mateus rose,” referring to the reddish-purple color of the bruises.
The most damning conclusion came in the final determination of the cause of death. Dr. Mihalakis ruled the death a homicide. He believed that the injuries were not accidental. Based on the pathology, Nancy Argentino had been beaten, and the head trauma she sustained eventually caused her brain to swell, leading to death.
The Investigation and the “Meeting”
Despite the homicide ruling and Snuka being the only person with Argentino during the timeframe of the injuries, no charges were filed in 1983. The investigation stalled, leading to decades of speculation regarding outside interference.
A persistent rumor, often cited by wrestling historians and fueled by comments in Snuka’s own autobiography, involves a meeting between law enforcement, Snuka, and WWF Chairman Vince McMahon. It is alleged that McMahon arrived in Allentown carrying a briefcase.
In his 2012 autobiography, Superfly: The Jimmy Snuka Story, Snuka wrote, “Vince McMahon went into the DA’s office with a briefcase. He came out of the office without a briefcase. I don’t know what happened.”
This passage was later scrutinized heavily. Snuka claimed he was merely repeating a rumor he had heard, not confessing to a bribe. The District Attorney at the time, William Platt, has vehemently denied that any bribe took place or that McMahon influenced the decision. The official reason given for the lack of charges was that the forensic evidence, while suggestive, was not definitive enough to secure a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt in 1983. They could not definitively prove intent or rule out an accidental fall exacerbated by previous altercations.
Consequently, the case was closed. Jimmy Snuka was free to go.
The Civil Judgment and the Silence
While the criminal courts remained silent, the civil courts spoke loudly. In 1985, the Argentino family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jimmy Snuka.
Snuka did not mount a defense. He reportedly claimed he was broke and could not afford legal representation, or simply chose to ignore the proceedings. As a result, a default judgment was entered against him. The court ordered Snuka to pay the Argentino family $500,000.
Snuka famously never paid the judgment. He claimed indigence, despite continuing to work as a top star for the WWF and later ECW. For the Argentino family, the civil victory was hollow. It was a piece of paper that acknowledged their loss but provided no justice and no financial restitution.
For the next 30 years, the case gathered dust. Snuka was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996. He was celebrated as a legend. The death of Nancy Argentino became a “dark secret” of the industry—something whispered about in locker rooms but rarely addressed by the mainstream media.
The Cold Case Reopened: The Morning Call
The catalyst for justice came not from the police, but from the press. In 2013, the Morning Call, a newspaper based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, published a story marking the 30th anniversary of the death.
Journalists Harry Hylton and Frank Warner uncovered the original autopsy report, which had never been fully released to the public. They highlighted the discrepancy between the “homicide” ruling and the lack of charges. They also unearthed the transcripts of Snuka’s police interviews, which showed clear contradictions in his story.
The article sparked public outrage. It pressured the Lehigh County District Attorney, Jim Martin, to reopen the case. A grand jury was convened to review the evidence, utilizing modern forensic understanding of domestic violence and head trauma.
The Charges: September 2015
On September 1, 2015, more than 32 years after Nancy Argentino died, Jimmy Snuka was arrested. He was charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
The grand jury presentment was scathing. It detailed the history of domestic violence between Snuka and Argentino, including a prior incident in New York where Snuka had assaulted her in a hotel room (an incident involving Harvey Wippleman as a witness). It dismantled Snuka’s alibi, noting that his description of the “fall” did not match the medical evidence of the injuries.
WWE immediately suspended Snuka’s Legends contract and removed his profile from their website. The industry that had protected him for three decades finally distanced itself.
The Trial That Never Was
The legal proceedings against Jimmy Snuka became a race against time and biology. By 2016, Snuka was 73 years old and suffering from stomach cancer. More critically, his defense team argued that he was mentally unfit to stand trial.
Snuka’s lawyers claimed he was suffering from dementia, likely caused by decades of head trauma in the wrestling ring (CTE). They argued he did not understand the charges against him and could not assist in his own defense.
In June 2016, a judge ruled Snuka incompetent to stand trial. However, the judge refused to dismiss the charges immediately, hoping Snuka’s condition might improve. It did not.
On January 3, 2017, the judge dismissed the charges, stating that Snuka would likely never regain competency. The case was over. There would be no verdict.
Twelve days later, on January 15, 2017, Jimmy Snuka died.
The Tragedy of the Argentino Family
The dismissal of the charges was a devastating blow to the Argentino family. Nancy’s sisters, Louise and Lorraine, had spent their entire adult lives fighting for their sister. They had kept scrapbooks, written letters, and refused to let Nancy be forgotten.
To have the killer charged, only to see him die a free man due to a technicality of health, felt like a final denial of justice.
“He got away with murder,” Louise Argentino-Upham stated in interviews following the dismissal. “We have to live with that.”
Legacy of the Cold Case
The Nancy Argentino case forced the wrestling world to confront its history of enabling dangerous behavior. It highlighted the power dynamics of the 1980s, where a star wrestler’s value to the promoter often outweighed the law.
The “briefcase” story, whether true or apocryphal, serves as a symbol of the perceived corruption of that era. It represents the belief that money and fame could make a body disappear.
Today, Nancy Argentino is no longer just a footnote in Jimmy Snuka’s biography. Her story is documented in podcasts, articles, and the Dark Side of the Ring documentary series. While the legal system failed to render a verdict, the court of public opinion has largely accepted the findings of the 1983 autopsy. The “Superfly” legacy is now permanently stained by the mateus rose bruises of the woman he left in a motel room in 1983.
