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00:30By 1983, Jimmy Superfly Snuka takes the wrestling world by storm.
00:36Everywhere was a sellout. All the arenas, they were always packed.
00:40Look around and see, you know, this guy's going to make you money.
00:43But fans are unaware of the events surrounding the violent death of his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino,
00:49which raises disturbing questions about who Jimmy really is.
00:53Nancy was extremely into the relationship. She was invested 100%.
00:57She probably felt betrayed because this was the guy she was in love with that was killing her.
01:03I really don't know what really happened that night.
01:07I mean, rumors just started to spread like fire.
01:10Jimmy did that. Jimmy beat her up.
01:12She died of brain injury.
01:15He didn't get arrested. Wasn't detained.
01:17We don't think we really received justice from the authorities.
01:21They did nothing, keeping the case open, but hoping that it would just go away.
01:27Thirty years later, the case resurfaces with shocking new information
01:31to challenge the legacy and innocence of one of wrestling's greatest performers.
01:36Part of our goal was to figure out who she was.
01:40This isn't just Jimmy Snuka's story.
01:41This is Nancy Argentino's story.
01:43Let's find out what happened.
01:45Was it really an accident?
01:47Was it his intention to kill her?
01:50By the early 1980s, the World Wrestling Federation explodes in popularity.
02:03A key ingredient to its massive growth has been in capitalizing on the star power
02:08of its most charismatic performers.
02:11But the man fans love more than anyone is the superfly, Jimmy Snuka.
02:17From the moment he joins the WWF, audiences are entranced with his high-flying acrobatics
02:24and wildman persona.
02:27He is the embodiment of a real-life Tarzan.
02:31His universal popularity led many to believe his star would shine forever.
02:36But they were wrong.
02:39From the Isle of Tonga, weighing 225 pounds,
02:45is the Tonga Kid.
02:48My name is Tonga Kid.
02:51Real name is Sam Fatu.
02:53To be honest, you know, I wasn't interested in wrestling.
02:56I was this kid that was growing up in San Francisco, got into a lot of trouble.
03:01I did six months in juvie for hitting the bus driver.
03:04So, you know, I thought, oh, shit, you know,
03:06I'm really going to get my ass whooped now from my parents, right?
03:09And my mom's brothers are Alpha and Sika.
03:13So they sent me the Alpha and Sika, and they said,
03:17all right, this is what we need to do with you.
03:19You're going to become a professional wrestler.
03:22I was 16 years old.
03:24You're talking a young kid that just started in the wrestling world,
03:28got thrown out there to the wolves.
03:30Somebody has to protect me.
03:32And that was the superfly, Jimmy Snuka.
03:34From the Fiji Islands, Jimmy Superfly Sanuka!
03:43Jimmy Snuka was a professional wrestler from the island of Fiji.
03:47He could do it all.
03:49Could have been Hulk Hogan.
03:51Could have just, you know, kept his head on, kept cool.
03:54I'm down in Morocco, Sunset Beach, Hawaii.
03:59Started wrestling in 1970 and unofficially retired about 1988.
04:07Jimmy, he spent a lot of time in Hawaii.
04:09He grew up almost homeless.
04:12Where he slept, I have no idea, you know.
04:14He had basically no home.
04:17I think that's why he latched on to professional wrestling,
04:20because it gave him a place.
04:22It gave him an identity.
04:23It gave him a family.
04:25Being accepted by crowd, being accepted by people,
04:29and being a hero, being somebody,
04:32meant the world to him.
04:35Every time Jimmy went in the ring, he kneeled down.
04:38And people don't know why he'd do that.
04:41It's almost like people, they kneel down when you pray, right?
04:44Jimmy kneels down and he does it to respect his fans.
04:48That's why Jimmy did it.
04:50In the early 1980s, Snooka enters the World Wrestling Federation.
04:55Owner Vince McMahon recognizes his star power potential
04:59and soon makes Snooka his number one attraction.
05:04Snooka was the most popular performer in WWE at that time.
05:08Bob Backlund was the champion.
05:09They had some other stars, but Snooka was on fire.
05:13I'm Irv Muchnick.
05:14I'm the nephew of Sam Muchnick, who is the legendary National Wrestling Alliance promoter.
05:20I would say 35 years I've been obsessed with the pro wrestling phenomenon.
05:27It's with Snooka.
05:28You know, they brought him in originally.
05:30He was a heel.
05:31They quickly figured out that they had to convert him into a babyface
05:35because he was just too popular.
05:37And Buddy Rogers became his manager and he did the switch.
05:41We feel that we've got what it takes to win.
05:44It all came together in New York.
05:47He was money.
05:47He was their biggest star.
05:49Snooka was at the peak of his drawing power.
05:52Jimmy also fully embraces the grueling lifestyle of a wrestler on the road.
05:57We go to clubs every night, party every day.
06:02It's a lot, man.
06:03You know, it was tough.
06:04Go to the matches, go to sleep, work up, repeat, repeat.
06:10Being on a road by yourself can be very damn boring sometimes, you know.
06:14I think it's good to have somebody on the road to travel, you know, with you on the road sometime, you know.
06:19And Jimmy had his girlfriend on the road.
06:22I don't remember her name right off the bat, but yeah.
06:25Are you talking about Nancy?
06:26Nancy, yes.
06:28Yes, I'm talking about her, yeah.
06:31My name is Lorraine Salome.
06:33I'm the older sister of the late Nancy Argentina.
06:36My younger sister and I always say that Nancy was the favorite because she never gave my mother a hard time.
06:43Nancy was a very intelligent girl.
06:46She had a lot of friends because people were drawn to her.
06:49She was a hard worker.
06:50You know, she always had a job.
06:52And she took great pride in her clothes and her makeup and her hair.
06:56She always wanted to look good.
06:58Nancy was very innocent.
07:00Even though we lived in a big city, she lived a sheltered life.
07:03That changes when Nancy is introduced to the world of professional wrestling at Madison Square Garden, the premier venue for the WWF.
07:13Nancy had a childhood friend named Ellen that they grew up together.
07:17Ellen was engaged to a wrestler named Johnny Rods.
07:21So Nancy got into the habit of going with Ellen to go to Madison Square Garden to see the wrestling matches.
07:28Afterwards, she'd go backstage and they'd wait for Johnny and then she met Superfly Snooker.
07:34You know, she really liked him and it seemed to be a somewhat serious relationship right away.
07:40At the beginning, we were all like, oh yeah, that's great.
07:44Nancy's happy and we didn't really understand him that much.
07:48He was really strange because we tried to make him feel comfortable, but he would sit in the corner and he wouldn't talk to anybody except occasionally to Nancy.
07:57So he isolated himself.
08:00She told my mother that she was in love with him and she took care of him when they were on the road
08:06because Buddy Rogers didn't really want to travel with him anymore, like drive him from place to place.
08:11Buddy Rogers' role extended far beyond an in-ring manager for Jimmy.
08:16He would also become his handler and chaperone on the road.
08:21He said Jimmy was a sweet guy, but he was hooked on cocaine and other junk and he was totally uncontrollable.
08:30And it reached a point where Rogers told Vince McMahon he couldn't be in the car with Snooker anymore because he would snort cocaine brazenly while they were driving.
08:42So they talked to my sister Nancy and all of a sudden that was her job.
08:48She would map out the places, she'd drive the car, she'd make sure Snooker got to the matches on time.
08:55She was his girlfriend, but she also had a job to do.
08:57My mother liked him, even though he wasn't, like, super friendly.
09:03And I always got the feeling that my stepfather, Ralph, had his doubts about him.
09:10As Jimmy and Nancy's relationship grows, her family begins to see the cracks hiding behind Jimmy's quiet facade.
09:19It was not that many times that I met him.
09:22I'm Louise.
09:23I'm Nancy's sister.
09:25I grew up with her.
09:25We were close.
09:27The whole family was close.
09:28My parents were away on a weekend and I came home and they were there and they had brought home Chinese food.
09:35And I sat down to eat with them.
09:37And I was just my bubbly self, just yakking and chatting.
09:43And he didn't like how I was acting.
09:49And he just looked over me and he put his hand, like, up to my throat.
09:56And he said, I could.
09:59And then he gave me that wrestling face.
10:01I backed up and I said, wow.
10:08And I looked at my sister.
10:10I said, I don't want to eat.
10:11And I went upstairs.
10:12And then when she came upstairs, I got her in the bathroom and I said, Nancy, you need to get rid of him.
10:21And she was all apologetic.
10:23Like, she looked kind of, like, timid.
10:25Not what I was used to seeing in her.
10:27And she said, oh, no, no, no, no.
10:29He's just tired.
10:29He's been working hard.
10:31It's okay.
10:33He felt bad that he treated me that way.
10:35So he said, here, here, I want to give you something.
10:38And I looked and in my hand were, like, cocaine.
10:40I think it was cocaine.
10:42And Nancy was upset.
10:44She just said, don't do that.
10:46Don't do that.
10:47She doesn't need that.
10:50And I think I gave it back to him.
10:51And I said, no, no, no, keep it.
10:53And I just said goodbye to him.
10:54And I thought, wow, that's, like, a real change in her personality all of a sudden.
11:08Despite her family's deep concern, 22-year-old Nancy Argentino is now constantly on the road with her boyfriend,
11:16wrestling superstar Jimmy Superfly Snuka.
11:20I didn't have a relationship with her because Jimmy was very protective with that.
11:24Especially when it comes around all these crazy shark wrestlers, you know what I mean?
11:29I don't think anybody had a relationship with her, you know, because they knew who Jimmy was, you know.
11:34They knew who she was with.
11:35So did you ever meet Nancy?
11:37I met her, yeah.
11:38She didn't seem to really like me.
11:42Holy mackerel, nailed him right on the head.
11:45And Morocco went down heavy.
11:46Maybe it was because he and I were arch enemies, or maybe it was because she knew I was friends with his wife, Sharon.
11:54At any point in time, did you know that he was married?
11:57I think Nancy told me, and I said, what, are you crazy?
12:00I said, he's married.
12:02She said, well, he's not with his wife.
12:04He's separated.
12:05How could he be with anyone else if he was with Nancy?
12:08It never crossed our mind because they were always together.
12:10Jimmy and his wife, Sharon, are still living together with their four children in North Carolina.
12:17Time on the road has allowed him to live two separate lives, but his secrets can't stay hidden forever.
12:24My name's Kevin Ammerman.
12:25I'm a journalist.
12:26I work for The Morning Call.
12:28It's a newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
12:30So it's January 1983.
12:33Jimmy Snuka is at Howard Johnson in Salina, New York.
12:36He's there with Nancy Argentina.
12:37And apparently, other guests are calling the front desk saying, it sounds like a man is beating a woman.
12:46I was in my apartment sleeping, and I got a phone call at 2 o'clock in the morning from Nancy.
12:52She was screaming into the phone, Lorraine, you have to help me.
12:55I have to get out of here.
12:57I said, what's wrong?
12:58She said, he's chasing me.
13:00And then the phone went dead.
13:03So police respond.
13:05Police claim that Jimmy Snuka has Nancy Argentina by the hair, and he's dragging her across the wall and across the floor by her hair.
13:15So police attempt to intervene, and they're met with almost superhuman strength by Jimmy Snuka, and he starts resisting arrest and manhandling the police.
13:25There were also police dogs who responded.
13:28While he's fighting the police, he's also apparently fighting the dogs as well.
13:32It was unbelievable.
13:34I didn't know what to do, because I didn't know where she went.
13:37So I waited.
13:38And finally, early in the morning, she called me back.
13:42I said, Nancy, what happened last night?
13:45And she just said, oh, nothing.
13:47Just a big misunderstanding.
13:48Arrested on charges of assault and harassment, Snuka is able to avoid jail time with help from Nancy.
13:57Right here is a copy of Nancy's affidavit signed by her.
14:02I'm Adam Clark.
14:03I'm a journalist who wrote the 30-year anniversary story about Jimmy Snuka and Nancy Argentino.
14:09One of the charges pending against Jimmy S. Snuka is that of assault in the third degree.
14:15This charge is said to be as a result of an assault upon me by Jimmy Snuka.
14:19I wish to state that he never struck me or intentionally harmed me in any way on January 18, 1983, nor at any other time in the past.
14:29You know, she really was in love with Jimmy Snuka.
14:33So after Jimmy Snuka was charged, he ended up pleading guilty to a minor charge of harassment and then donates $1,500 to a local Ronald McDonald house.
14:43And, you know, he basically walked away.
14:48Then she just went back on the road with him.
14:51They were counting on Nancy at that point to get him places because nobody wanted to deal with him.
14:56He was unpredictable.
14:57He was high a lot.
14:58So they really put everything on my sister to make sure that he got to the next match.
15:06Back on the WWF circuit, Jimmy and Nancy traveled from town to town across the Northeast.
15:13So one of their regular stops was Egg Hall in Allentown.
15:17Every three weeks, the WWF shot syndicated television in Allentown for their A show, which was called Championship Wrestling.
15:24The WWF was important to Allentown.
15:27It had an economic impact.
15:30It wasn't uncommon to see Andre the Giant hanging out somewhere at a bar or see a big star hanging out at the George Washington Motor Watch.
15:37At that exact moment in May, I believe, of 1983, they were shooting some of the big angles in his feud with Don Morocco.
15:45Oh, we had the strap matches, chain matches, and cage matches, and it was looking good.
15:54Snowball was just starting to roll.
15:56In the early hours of May 10th, 1983, Jimmy and Nancy arrive in Allentown to tape an episode of Championship Wrestling.
16:04Jimmy Snuka leaves the George Washington Motor Lodge and goes to film wrestling.
16:10He films a couple sessions, comes back to the motel, and then leaves again.
16:16Leaves in the afternoon, and he comes back about 9 p.m.
16:19Jimmy heads to his room where Nancy has been all day.
16:24Just a few hours later, the motel's other occupants are awoken by a disturbance outside.
16:30What woke me up was the sirens.
16:33My room was not far from Jimmy's room.
16:36There was an ambulance that had been sitting outside, a Snuka's room.
16:40So what's going on over there?
16:41I can see the police cars and the ambulance and roped off into some yellow tape.
16:47And Snuka leaning up against the cop car.
16:50Jimmy looked pretty scared.
16:53It was bad.
16:54It was very bad.
17:00On the night of May 10th, 1983, emergency responders arrive at the George Washington Motor Lodge in Allentown, Pennsylvania,
17:09where Jimmy Snuka and his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, have been staying with several other wrestlers.
17:16It was between 11.30 and quarter to 12 that we had gotten called to an unconscious female.
17:22My name is Shirley Reeve, and I was a paramedic in 1983.
17:25We drove up to the scene, and the room door was open.
17:31Jimmy was standing there along with the detectives.
17:34She was in bed, covered up with a sheet, and examined her.
17:39Her pupils were fixed and dilated, and that's more indication of a head injury.
17:45And I'm like, well, she's in bed, not on the floor, not outside.
17:48He was just, like, just touching the feet, and I had to basically drag things out of him.
17:54And he just said that they must have wrestled a little bit too much the night before when he pushed her over, and she had hit her head.
18:01She came inside.
18:02They went to bed.
18:04He went to his wrestling match the next morning, came back.
18:06She was still conscious, but I guess was becoming a little bit lethargic or sleepy.
18:12So he just said, well, you know, I'm going to go to my match.
18:14I'll come back and check on you later on.
18:16So when he came back later on, then she wasn't responding.
18:19She was having difficulty breathing, and that's what he called the ambulance.
18:24I did do an intubation, put an airway in.
18:27He started the line.
18:28We gave her some drugs and just took her in.
18:30While Snuka's at the hospital, and they're trying to revive Nancy, he's starting to tell person after person what happened.
18:40And at that point in time, when police interview all of these witnesses in the ER,
18:44they all say that Snuka mentioned some sort of conflict, either shoving, striking,
18:50that somehow he physically pushed or struck Nancy, and she fell down and hit her head.
18:56I was in my room, dead sleep.
18:58It was about 3.30, 4 o'clock in the morning, and the phone rings.
19:02I pick it up, and they say, this is the Lehigh Valley Hospital.
19:06Can I speak to Caroline Argentino?
19:08So I get up, and I go in my mother's room, and I wake her up.
19:11I said, Ma, the hospital's on the phone, and she comes to my bed.
19:15And I hear her say, is she going to be all right?
19:19And then I hear her say, dead?
19:21Dead?
19:22So Jimmy, he got on the phone, and as far as I can recall, he started, like, blubbering
19:32and saying that, oh, it was an accident.
19:35It was an accident.
19:36She fell and hit her head.
19:38She hung up the phone.
19:40She went and told my father, and then my sister Lorraine.
19:43It was like we were all walking around like zombies, because we were in shock.
19:47We just couldn't believe it.
19:48We never thought that it would end up like that.
19:53And then we just called all the family members and all of our friends, and I cried on the phone
20:00with them, and we were all in shock.
20:03In the early morning hours, Snooker returns to the motor lodge and is questioned by police.
20:08He introduces yet another conflicting account of events.
20:12The next morning, police come to the hotel to interview Jimmy Snooker, and they start
20:16asking him about what happened.
20:18And this is critical, because at this point in time, Snooker has already told multiple
20:21people at the hospital that he had some involvement in her fall.
20:25He says that they stopped alongside the road when they were coming to Allentown.
20:29Nancy had to go to the bathroom.
20:30He says she gets out.
20:32There's a lot of trucks driving by, so he hollers at her, come on, hurry up.
20:35And as she's trying to come back, she slips, she hits her head on the side of the road.
20:41And that's what caused the injuries.
20:44By now, the news of Nancy's death has made its way to WWF headquarters and Snooker's boss,
20:51Vince McMahon.
20:52I got on the phone and caught a hold of Vince Jr.
20:58Vince says, have you heard anything about Snooker and his girlfriend?
21:01I said, as a matter of fact, here I am with Lieutenant so-and-so, and I put him on the
21:08phone to Vince.
21:09McMahon informs police that Snooker will continue to cooperate with the investigation, and his
21:15star performer is released without charge.
21:18At what point did you guys as a family start to feel like maybe this isn't an accident?
21:26Well, Nancy's funeral was so disturbing.
21:31Traditional Italian funerals in those days, you were laid out for three days, and then
21:35you had a mass, and then you were buried.
21:37The second day, Buddy Rogers walks in with Snooker, and he's wearing flip-flops and these
21:43really, really short, shorts, and some kind of tank top.
21:48Buddy Rogers was leading him around, pretty much.
21:52Then he went over to the coffin, and he started crying on the coffin and touching her, and my
21:59father had to pull him off the coffin.
22:02I asked my mother, did he say anything to you?
22:04Did he say how sorry he was?
22:06And she said, no, he said, she looks terrible.
22:10Now, that was a pretty weird thing to say.
22:14You know, of course she looks terrible, she's dead.
22:17The undertaker came over to my stepfather, and he said, you know, I have to tell you, this
22:22is disturbing, because we had a hard time getting her to look good, because she had a huge bruise
22:29around her neck, and she had multiple cuts and abrasions all over her body.
22:34Then, I think, you know, my stepfather knew that something was terribly wrong about the
22:41way she died.
22:49The tragic death of 22-year-old Nancy Argentino seems to have done little to slow the career
22:55of Jimmy Superfly Snooker.
22:57Look what I got next to me.
22:58In the summer of 1983, and just a few weeks after her passing, Snooker is back, continuing
23:05his storyline with adversary Don Morocco.
23:08When Snooker flies, Morocco dies.
23:12So was there, like, a part of you that was thinking, like, something might happen to Jimmy?
23:16Selfishly, I was worried, yeah.
23:18Snooker, and Morocco, ripping it short!
23:22Just out of my own selfish motivation, you know, I didn't want to lose my Golden Goose,
23:28because there's a lot of money down the road to be made.
23:33Their feud culminates in a legendary cage match at Madison Square Garden, which becomes
23:38a career-defining moment for the Superfly.
23:41People were lining up all over the country to see this match.
23:46Listen to the crowd!
23:47We just set the place on fire.
23:49Snooker is busted wide open.
23:51Holy hell.
23:52Jimmy was such a star, and people wanted to see him jump off the top cage on me and splash
23:57me.
23:59I'll never forget that night, because I was there when he came off of the cage.
24:05I just rocked New York.
24:17Jimmy, he tried things that people never tried before.
24:21He was a high flyer.
24:22He probably spent more time off the mat than on the mat.
24:26I'm Carol Snooker.
24:28I was married to Jimmy Snooker.
24:30I was with Jimmy for 20-some years.
24:33Sometimes, every now and then, somebody would make a comment and said something about,
24:39I know what you did, Jimmy.
24:40I'm going to be waiting for you.
24:43Fans congregating outside the stage exit, and Snooker comes out, and there's a woman
24:48who yells to Snooker, hey, Snooker, you goddamn murderer.
24:53When are you going to kill another girl?
24:55He's always said to me, I know what I did.
24:57Let the other people think what they want, okay?
24:59If they want to think I did that, that's them.
25:01That's in their mind.
25:02That's not my mind.
25:04I know what I did in my mind, and my God knows, and that's all I have to worry about.
25:09They want to talk?
25:11They want to do that?
25:12That's fine.
25:13It doesn't bother me.
25:15While Snooker's career in the WWF is reaching new heights, authorities in Allentown continue
25:21their investigation.
25:22The challenge that they faced in trying to prosecute this case was, they had a dead body, they
25:27had a woman who clearly had injuries, but they had no other witnesses, they had no confession.
25:34The fact that somebody just tells different stories is certainly not enough evidence to charge
25:42anybody with a crime.
25:44My name is Frederick Conjure.
25:46I was the police chief in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania in 1983.
25:49The lieutenant in charge of the investigation, I never had any reason to doubt that he wouldn't
25:57do the best he could to investigate the case, and I think he did.
26:02Although they didn't drive Snooker around to try to find the place where Nancy had supposedly
26:09fallen, they did go to the trouble of sending two Whitehall officers 100 miles from Allentown
26:15to the family house in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
26:19Detective Prokannon sat in my living room, sitting there, saying, you know, we're sorry,
26:25but we're going to rule this as an accident that she fell by the side of the road.
26:29At that time also, Snooker's promoter kept calling the house.
26:34My mother got on the phone, and I heard him say to her, Mrs. Argentino, I'm so sorry for
26:39your loss.
26:40Do you think like $25,000 would help you?
26:43At that time, my mother knew what was going on.
26:46She said, do you think that my daughter's life is worth $25,000?
26:51And hung up.
26:54Unable to bring criminal charges against Snooker, Nancy's family pursues to the
26:59him in a wrongful death lawsuit, arguing his behavior was negligent on the day she died.
27:05He let her go to sleep, and he went off to his matches.
27:10He didn't come back for like eight hours later, and by then, she was pretty much, she was dead.
27:14The Argentino family won a $500,000 default judgment against Snooker, who didn't show up, and his lawyers
27:25then did a filing with the court.
27:28Snooker hadn't paid them.
27:29The family never collected a dime of that half-million-dollar judgment.
27:34Jimmy's family and Jimmy didn't do anything about it.
27:38They never went.
27:39They never showed up.
27:40They didn't do anything.
27:41I don't know who advised him on that, but I feel it was the wrong decision.
27:46I think it should have been handled right then and there.
27:49My mother just gave up.
27:51She threw in the towel.
27:52You know, she had a very hard time dealing with it.
27:54Very hard.
27:55We all were so disgusted with the whole thing.
27:58We just had to get on with our lives.
28:01His drug problems got worse at that point, and then he became unreliable altogether, and
28:07WWF slash WWE had no use for him.
28:11And I think the half-life of Jimmy Snooker's career and his decline owes to guilt over exactly
28:19what happened with Nancy Argentino is pure speculation, but it couldn't have helped.
28:24And so he did the dissent of the wrestler and went to the AWA, went to finally the indie circuit,
28:32and finally, you know, the autograph shows where you're not doing anything except signing
28:38your name for people who remember you when.
28:41As the years pass, Nancy's story is nearly forgotten by everyone except her family.
28:47Then in 2011, interest in solving her mysterious death was suddenly renewed.
28:53I was sitting in my apartment in 2014, and I get a call from Adam from The Morning Call,
28:59and he said, oh, um, hi, we're doing an article about the 30-year cold case death of your sister
29:06Nancy Argentino.
29:07It clearly was a mystery there, and it seemed that there was a story that was really ripe
29:11for us to dive into and figure out, one, what the hell happened, and two, what can we
29:16bring to light that nobody's ever seen before and that nobody's talking about.
29:20In 2013, I was working for The Morning Call.
29:23My editor was a big wrestling fan, and he just thought it would be something interesting
29:27to revisit on the 30th anniversary of it.
29:30One of the first things I did in my reporting was try to find the autopsy report.
29:34So I called over to the Whitehall Township Police Department to try to get the files.
29:38I called the coroner's office.
29:40He said he wasn't allowed to turn it over because the case was still technically open.
29:43So really, it was up to us to find another way to go get that document.
29:48And then we came across the wrongful death lawsuit.
29:52Within that lawsuit, there was tons of information.
29:56That's where things really picked up.
29:58Unlike the files from the criminal case, the documents contained within the family's lawsuit
30:03are unsealed.
30:05Surprisingly, it includes Nancy's never-before-released autopsy report.
30:10This is the autopsy report that nobody had seen publicly until the live story came out.
30:18It says the pattern of her injuries is consistent with a moving head striking a stationary object.
30:24It is not consistent with a single simple fall in view of the other injuries that she has,
30:28scalp, facial, and bodily bruises and abrasions.
30:31It says that the magnitude of the injuries may even be suggestive of meat abuse.
30:35The last sentence of this document is really the bombshell that came out of the autopsy report.
30:40And it says,
30:41I believe that the case should be investigated as a homicide until proven otherwise.
30:46And it's signed by Dr. Mahalikos.
30:47Thirty years after Nancy Argentino's mysterious death,
30:58a newly discovered autopsy report suggesting a potential homicide
31:03raises questions about the 1983 police investigation.
31:08Mahalikos says here,
31:09I personally checked the clothing that Ms. Argentino was wearing at the time of her injury
31:13and found no evidence of dirt or tears in the fabric.
31:16It's the first time I've seen that report.
31:19But I could tell you, if I were a defense attorney,
31:23I'd say,
31:24well, of course she didn't have any dirt or anything
31:26because he took her back to the hotel room.
31:29She laid down in bed.
31:30Then she was put in the ambulance.
31:32Well, this was brought up in the case years and years later.
31:35I believe the case should be investigated as a homicide until proven otherwise.
31:39And we're back to it was investigated
31:41as best as it could be investigated, I guess.
31:45So, you know, did everything that was conceivably possible.
31:51So as I'm working on this story, of course,
31:53Jimmy Snuka has no clue that there's a reporter in Allentown, Pennsylvania,
31:56who's investigating this case.
31:58And while we're working on the story, his book comes out.
32:02Published in December 2012,
32:04Snuka's autobiography marks the first time
32:07he publicly addresses the events in Allentown,
32:09as well as the meeting he had with McMahon and local authorities.
32:15So these are the original police documents.
32:17It is the most complete record that anyone has ever seen.
32:21So this is the only record we have of that final meeting.
32:26Unlike all of the other interviews that were done in this case,
32:30there is no detailed transcript of what was said over an hour.
32:35And we do know that after that meeting, the case effectively went cold.
32:37The police interviews stopped.
32:39There was nothing else in that file.
32:42Vince McMahon would have great reason to defend Jimmy Snuka.
32:45Let's say at the time he is charged with murder in 1983.
32:48That would be a terrible thing for the WWF.
32:51Vince McMahon is a businessman.
32:53And no matter what business you're running,
32:54if one of your top employees is being investigated for murder,
32:58that's bad for business.
33:00Jimmy talked to me a lot about Vince.
33:02He called him Brother Vinny.
33:03And Jimmy felt very close to Vince, and he trusted him 100%.
33:07He didn't read or write English.
33:09He didn't understand it.
33:10You know, with his contracts, with everything, he trusted the people.
33:14He actually said to me one time,
33:15people would come to him before a match, and he'd say,
33:18Vince said sign this, or you won't get paid after the show.
33:21He would sign papers, and he had no idea what they said.
33:26And I've tried to find out what happened in that room back in 83.
33:30And nobody knows.
33:32Jimmy said to me, Vince came down with his briefcase,
33:36and said to him, it's over, don't worry about it, it's done.
33:40And he thought it was done.
33:42There's no transcript of the meeting.
33:43It's the only interview there's no transcript of.
33:45And then seemingly the investigation stops there.
33:48And there's been a lot of, like, speculation on what could have happened in that meeting.
33:52I haven't a clue.
33:53I mean, I don't see that that makes any difference.
33:57I would only say there wasn't anything significantly said or done,
34:01so that's why there's no record of it.
34:03The meeting with McMahon and law enforcement isn't the only section of the book to stir controversy,
34:08but also the way he portrays his relationship with Nancy.
34:12And obviously he covered the situation with Nancy in there as well.
34:17Right, because he couldn't do a book and not.
34:19I had said to him, are you sure you want to put that in there?
34:22And he said, definitely.
34:23He said, that's my book.
34:24It's my life.
34:25It's got to be in there.
34:26And in there, he talks about, oh, yeah, Nancy was a nice girl, but Nancy ruined his life.
34:33And when we read that, we were like, Nancy ruined his life?
34:36When I got to the part about my sister, I was furious.
34:39He kind of insinuated she was a once-in-a-while girlfriend.
34:43Oh, and he denied that he ever hurt her.
34:46He never touched her.
34:47Why would he do that?
34:48So he totally denied that he ever laid a hand on her.
34:53So the version that Jimmy Snuka tells in his book is very similar to what he told in 1983,
34:58but it's not exactly the same.
34:59And that was one issue over the years as he talked about this in some radio interviews and other accounts.
35:05It was always just slightly different with some of the details.
35:09So she got out and one go used the bathroom, pulled over to the side.
35:13I guess after she got done, she came back over like a stream that was there.
35:17She jumped and slipped and banged her head.
35:22For decades, Snuka has maintained Nancy's injuries occurred en route to Allentown,
35:27with no mention of any other passengers in the car.
35:31I understand that, you know, you were at the George Washington Hotel on May 10, 1983.
35:37Yes, I was.
35:39I was there, the George Washington Hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
35:43Yeah.
35:43We drove to Allentown, Pennsylvania, me, Jimmy, and her.
35:48We jumped into the car and drove there.
35:51Okay, so you and Jimmy and Nancy drove together to Allentown.
35:54Yep.
35:55And what do you remember from that ride all over?
35:57Oh, it was fun.
35:59I was in the back seat.
36:00We had the Elvis going, and Jimmy had some nice, beautiful cologne on.
36:04He always loves cologne.
36:05It smells good.
36:06And we just talked and chopped it all up, you know, going to Allentown, Pennsylvania.
36:11Yep.
36:12As soon as we arrived there to Allentown, Jimmy and Nancy went their way, their room,
36:16and I went my way to my room.
36:18And that's when all that stuff took place when the lady got, when Nancy got killed that night.
36:27You recollect what kind of his story was, that he had told about what had happened with Nancy?
36:32I don't really know what Jimmy told the police.
36:36Yeah, it was basically that.
36:37They were driving, coming into Allentown, and she had to use the restroom.
36:42And so she walked outside the car, and she fell while she was using the bathroom outside the car.
36:47You remember that story at all?
36:48No.
36:49No, I don't remember that story.
36:52Did you ever have any personal interactions with Snooko yourself, or not?
36:56Not that I recall that I actually...
37:01No, I...
37:02No, I...
37:04Well, here's the thing.
37:04The only reason I'm mentioning that is because the person that was just in this house before you...
37:09Uh-oh.
37:11Said he was in the car?
37:12Said he was in the car.
37:14So, and he's never told his story before.
37:16And so, so had you ever heard that there could have been a third person in the car?
37:21When you ask me about that, you know, I...
37:24Somehow, I had heard that.
37:28But, I mean, if you pinned me down and said,
37:31What day, time, who was this person?
37:34But, there was never any, any contradiction to Snooko's story.
37:44Yeah, we're talking 30 years, uh, 30 years ago.
37:47So, I did talk to Sam Fatou, and I think that might be confused, because he's never told me that.
37:53But, you know, the Rastlerists, they're not lying.
37:56It's just, they don't remember the whole thing.
37:58After the autopsy report is uncovered, the Lehigh County Attorney's Office responds to intense public pressure
38:10and announces Nancy Argentino's death is being officially reinvestigated.
38:16The main difference in how the District Attorney's Office handled the case in 1983
38:21versus how the District Attorney's Office handled the case in 2013 was
38:25that the District Attorney's Office in 2013 ultimately put it to the people.
38:30We are going to put this in front of a grand jury.
38:32Sure enough, the grand jury thinks there should be charges filed in this case.
38:37Jimmy Snooko should be charged with murder.
38:38On September 1st, 2015, Jimmy Snooko is arrested and charged with third-degree murder.
38:47He's now 72 years old, and only a month earlier had announced he was suffering from stomach cancer.
38:54There's a few articles that we saved over the years, this being one of them.
38:59It's really happening.
39:00After all these years, better late than never.
39:03When I started working on this, I never thought that just a couple years later,
39:07this story, my story, would become a headline everywhere.
39:12It was one of the biggest stars in the history of professional wrestling,
39:15being arrested and being charged with murder because of a story in the local newspaper.
39:19That just doesn't happen, and it was surreal then, and it's still surreal now.
39:23Jimmy's health during the trial was really bad.
39:26He didn't understand anything at that point.
39:28He had too much brain damage.
39:31Honestly, I think it was a blessing because when he went through the courts,
39:34he didn't know what it was about.
39:36And I think if he had known what it was about, it would have been devastating to him.
39:41They had a series of hearings, and all of a sudden, Snooker's lawyer said,
39:47he has brain damage because he took so many blows to the head.
39:50So he is not capable of standing trial.
39:53His attorney had argued that his dementia was so bad that he didn't even realize what was going on.
40:00And the judge basically ruled that he was unfit to stand trial.
40:03And specifically, she felt that he was mentally unfit to stand trial.
40:07For Nancy's family, seeing Snooker confronted with his past in a courtroom is the only justice they'll ever get.
40:15Everybody was talking about it.
40:17They knew what he did.
40:18So we were happy that he got somewhat of punishment for Nancy's death.
40:27It hurted me bad because I know what type of person he is.
40:33I can't see Jimmy hurting anyone.
40:35That's what I believe.
40:37The family, you know, still felt dislighted.
40:41Somebody lost a daughter.
40:43They certainly, you know, have to be saddened or hurt.
40:47The one shame about this case is that there was no true final resolution.
40:54The event occurs in 1983.
40:56We go 30 years before charges are filed.
41:00Charges are filed.
41:01But then a judge rules that Jimmy Snooker is incompetent to stand trial.
41:06So he never gets to fully clear his name.
41:09The Argentinos never get to fully get a prosecution.
41:13There was no final resolution on the case.
41:16And that's why people continue to debate it.
41:19Ten days after the ruling on January 15, 2015, Snooker succumbs to his cancer and dies.
41:28It was devastating for me.
41:30It was sad.
41:32I was pretty depressed, you know.
41:34He lost a...
41:37He lost a good man, a good person, you know.
41:41Until today, I'm still angry about it.
41:44I'm angry that the man passed.
41:47I'm angry what people say about him, you know.
41:50It's sad.
41:51All the way around, it was sad.
41:53On both parties.
41:55I loved it, Jimmy, a lot.
41:57There's no doubt that Jimmy Snooker was a great professional wrestler, one of the biggest stars of his time.
42:03A talented wrestler, well-respected for his craft.
42:06But at the same time, you can't overlook his personal life.
42:09You can't overlook what happened with Nancy.
42:12You can't overlook the violence that's been brought up over the years.
42:15So it's a complicated legacy, and it's a legacy that will always be clouded by his personal life.
42:20There is no more separation of the ring and outside of the ring.
42:24What happens outside of the ring is just as influential these days as what happens in the ring.
42:29Jimmy Superfly Snooker stands as one of the most iconic professional wrestlers in history.
42:35A daredevil acrobat far ahead of his time.
42:39But his legacy will never escape the events in Allentown.
42:43For Nancy's family, her memory lives on while justice remains out of reach.
42:49Lorraine and I really want to share this story because we don't feel like we've gotten justice.
42:59We feel like Nancy just keeps calling out to us in some way or another to seek justice.
43:06There's no closure for anybody, you know, no closure.
43:10I've never met Nancy or anyone in her family.
43:12I feel really bad for them.
43:14They lost their daughter.
43:16Okay, something should have been done.
43:17I think letting it go for 32 years caused a lot of damage.
43:24I think too often stories of domestic violence, and especially when they involve powerful men,
43:29center around the men, and the women are reduced to just the victim.
43:33And you don't know anything about them except this is the person who was attacked by someone.
43:37This is the person who was the victim.
43:40As you can see, she was filled with life, and she had so much hope for her future.
43:45She was 19 here, and she died when she was 23.
43:51Her life was just cut down too briefly.
43:55It's a great picture of her.
43:57She was 18 if she was attacked by herself.
43:58She was 19.
43:58She was 18 weeks
44:11and she was a man.
44:12Yeah.
44:12She was 18 years old to be a girl.
44:13She was quite productive as a girl.
44:16Um, I don't know that one.
44:17I don't know that one day.
44:19She was a girl doing it too early.
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