Dark Side of the Ring 2x5

1. Here he is Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.

2. Man, there was only one Superfly.

3. A wild man, with the hair and the zebra trunks, and his body.

4. - He was a brilliant performer. - No one even comes close.

5. Had freakish athletic talent.

6. Going up on the top rope, flying off

7. and crashing into your opponent. Awesome.

8. By 1983, Jimmy Superfly Snuka takes the wrestling world by storm.

9. Everywhere was a sellout. All the arenas were always packed.

10. Look around and see, this guys' gonna make you money.

11. But fans are unaware of the events

12. surrounding the violent death of his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino,

13. which raises disturbing questions about who Jimmy really is.

14. Nancy was into the relationship. She was invested 100 percent.

15. She probably felt betrayed

16. because the guy she was in love with was killing her.

17. I really don't know what happened that night.

18. Rumors started to spread like fire. "Jimmy did that."He beat her up."

19. She died of a brain injury.

20. He didn't get arrested, wasn't detained.

21. We don't think we received justice from the authorities.

22. They did nothing. Keeping the case open,

23. but hoping it would just go away.

24. 30 years later, the case resurfaces

25. with shocking new information to challenge the legacy

26. and innocence of one of wrestling's greatest performers.

27. Part of our goal was to figure out who she was.

28. This isn't just Jimmy Snuka's story, it's Nancy Argentino's.

29. Let's find out what happened. Was it really an accident?

30. Was it his intention to kill her?

31. By the early 1980s,

32. the World Wrestling Federation explodes in popularity.

33. A key ingredient to its growth has been in capitalizing

34. on the star power of its most charismatic performers.

35. But the man fans love more than anyone is the Superfly...

36. Jimmy Snuka.

37. From the moment he joins the WWF,

38. audiences are entranced with his acrobatics and wild man persona.

39. He is the embodiment of a real-life Tarzan.

40. His popularity led many to believe his star would shine forever,

41. but they were wrong.

42. From the Isle of Tonga, weighing 225 pounds,

43. the Tonga Kid.

44. My name is Tonga Kid. Real name is Sam Fatu.

45. To be honest, I wasn't interested in wrestling.

46. I was this kid that was growing up in San Francisco, got in trouble.

47. I did six months in juvie for hitting a bus driver

48. so, I thought, oh, shit,

49. I'm really gonna get my ass whooped now from my parents, right.

50. And, my mom's brothers are Afa and Sika.

51. So, they send me to Afa and Sika and they said,

52. "Alright, this is what we need to do with you.

53. You're gonna be a wrestler."

54. I was 16 years old.

55. You're talking a young kid who's started in the wrestling world,

56. got thrown out to the wolves.

57. Somebody has to protect me, and that was Superfly Jimmy Snuka.

58. From the Fiji Islands...

59. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka!

60. Jimmy Snuka was a wrestler from the island of Fiji.

61. He could do it all.

62. Could have been Hulk Hogan.

63. Could have just, you know, kept his head on.

64. Kept cool.

65. I'm Don Muraco. Sunset Beach, Hawaii.

66. Started wrestling in 1970 and unofficially retired about 1988.

67. Jimmy spent a lot of time in Hawaii. He grew up almost homeless.

68. Where he slept, I have no idea. He had, basically, no home.

69. I think that's why he latched on to professional wrestling

70. 'cause it gave him a place, an identity, gave him a family.

71. Being accepted by the crowd, being accepted by people...

72. and being a hero, being somebody, meant the world to him.

73. Every time Jimmy went in the ring, he kneeled down.

74. People don't know why.

75. Some people, they kneel down when you pray, right.

76. Jimmy kneels down and he does it to respect his fans.

77. That's why Jimmy did it.

78. In the early 1980s, Snuka enters the World Wrestling Federation.

79. Owner, Vince McMahon, recognizes his star power potential

80. and soon makes Snuka his number one attraction.

81. Snuka was the most popular performer in WWE at that time.

82. Bob Backlund was the champion. They had some other stars,

83. but Snuka was on fire.

84. I'm Irv Muchnick. I'm the nephew of Sam Muchnick,

85. who is the legendary National Wrestling Alliance promoter.

86. I'd say 35 years I've been obsessed with the pro wrestling phenomenon.

87. With Snuka they brought him in originally, he was a heel.

88. They quickly figured out they had to convert him into a babyface

89. because he was just too popular

90. and, Buddy Rogers became his manager, and did the switch.

91. We feel that we've got what it takes to win.

92. It all came together in New York.

93. He was money. He was their biggest star.

94. Snuka was at the peak of his drawing power.

95. Jimmy fully embraces the grueling lifestyle of a wrestler on the road.

96. We go to clubs every night and party every day.

97. It's a lot, man, it was tough.

98. Go to the matches, go to sleep, work out.

99. Repeat, repeat.

100. Being on the road by yourself can be boring sometimes, you know.

101. It's good to have somebody on the road,

102. you know, with you on the road sometimes.

103. And Jimmy had his girlfriend on the road.

104. I don't remember her name right off the bat,

105. - Are you talking about Nancy? - Yes.

106. Yes, I'm talking about her. Yeah.

107. My name is Lorraine Salome.

108. I'm the older sister of the late Nancy Argentino.

109. My younger sister and I say Nancy was the favorite

110. because she never gave mom a hard time.

111. Nancy was a very intelligent girl.

112. She had a lot of friends, people were drawn to her.

113. She was a hard worker. She always had a job.

114. She took great pride in her clothes, and her makeup, and her hair.

115. She always wanted to look good.

116. Nancy was very innocent.

117. Even though we lived in a city, she lived a sheltered life.

118. That changes when Nancy is introduced to pro wrestling

119. at Madison Square Garden, the premier venue for the WWF.

120. Nancy had a friend named Ellen, they grew up together.

121. Ellen was engaged to a wrestler named Johnny Rodz

122. so, Nancy got into the habit of going with Ellen

123. to go to Madison Square Garden to see the wrestling matches.

124. After, she'd go backstage and wait for Johnny,

125. and then, she met Superfly Snuka.

126. She really liked him,

127. it seemed to be a somewhat serious relationship right away.

128. At the beginning, we were like, "That's great.

129. Nancy's happy," and we didn't really understand him that much.

130. He was strange because we tried to make him comfortable.

131. He would sit in the corner

132. and he wouldn't talk to anybody except, occasionally to Nancy.

133. So, he was... he isolated himself.

134. She told my mother she was in love with him and, she took care of him

135. on the road because Buddy Rogers didn't want to travel with him,

136. like, drive him place to place.

137. Buddy Rogers' role extended far beyond a manager for Jimmy.

138. He would also become his handler and chaperon on the road.

139. And he said Jimmy was a sweet guy,

140. but he was hooked on cocaine and other junk,

141. and he was totally uncontrollable.

142. It reached a point where

143. Rogers told Vince McMahon he couldn't be in a car

144. with Snuka because he'd snort cocaine while they were driving.

145. They talked to my sister Nancy, all of a sudden, that was her job.

146. She would map out the places. She'd drive the car.

147. She'd make sure Snuka got to the matches on time.

148. She was his girlfriend, but she also had a job to do.

149. My mother liked him, even though he wasn't super friendly.

150. And, I always got the feeling that my stepfather, Ralph,

151. had his doubts about him.

152. As Jimmy and Nancy's relationship grows,

153. her family begins to see the cracks hiding behind Jimmy's quiet facade.

154. It was not that many times that I met him.

155. I'm Louise. I'm Nancy's sister. I grew up with her.

156. We were close. The whole family was close.

157. My parents were away on a weekend, and I came home, they were there,

158. and they had brought Chinese food.

159. And, I sat down to eat with them, and I was just my bubbly self,

160. just yacking and chatting, and said, "Oh, how are you?" Blah, blah, blah.

161. And, he didn't like how I was acting and he just looked over me

162. and he put his hand, like, up to my throat.

163. And he said, "I could," then he gave me that wrestling face.

164. I backed up, and I said, "Wow."

165. And I looked at my sister, I said, "I don't want to eat,"

166. and I went upstairs.

167. And then when she came upstairs, I got her in the bathroom

168. and I said, "Nancy, you need to get rid of him."

169. And she was all apologetic, like, she looked kind of like timid,

170. not what I was used to seeing in her.

171. And, she said, "Oh, no. He's tired. He's been working hard.

172. It's okay."

173. He felt bad he treated me that way

174. so, he said, "Here, I want to give you something,"

175. and I looked, and in my hand, was cocaine, I think it was cocaine.

176. And, Nancy was upset. She just said, "Don't do that. Don't do that.

177. She doesn't need that."

178. I think I gave it back to him and I said, "No.

179. Keep it," and I just said goodbye to him.

180. And, I thought, wow,

181. that's like a real change in her personality, all of a sudden.

182. Despite her family's deep concern, 22-year-old Nancy Argentino

183. is now constantly on the road with her boyfriend

184. wrestling superstar Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.

185. I didn't have a relationship with her because Jimmy was protective,

186. especially when it comes around all these crazy, shark wrestlers.

187. I don't think anybody did, because they knew who Jimmy was,

188. you know, they knew who she was with.

189. - So, did you ever meet Nancy? - I met her.

190. She didn't seem to really like me.

191. Holy mackerel! Nailed him on the head!

192. Muraco went down heavy.

193. Maybe it was because he and I were arch enemies.

194. Or maybe because she knew I was friends with his wife, Sharon.

195. At any point in time, did you know that he was married?

196. I think Nancy told me, and I said, "Are you, crazy? He's married."

197. She said, "He's not with his wife. He's separated."

198. How could he be with anyone else?

199. It never crossed our mind. They're always together.

200. Jimmy and his wife Sharon are still living together

201. with their four children in North Carolina.

202. Time on the road has allowed him to live two separate lives,

203. but his secrets can't stay hidden forever.

204. My name's Kevin Amerman, a journalist for The Morning Call.

205. A paper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. So, it's January 1983.

206. Jimmy Snuka is at Howard Johnson in Salina, New York,

207. with Nancy Argentino.

208. Apparently, other guests are calling the front desk

209. saying, "It sounds like a man is beating a woman."

210. I was in my apartment sleeping

211. and I got a call at 2 o'clock in the morning from Nancy.

212. She was screaming into the phone, "Lorraine, you have to help me!

213. I have to get out!" I said, "What's wrong?"

214. She said, "He's chasing me," and then the phone went dead.

215. So, police respond.

216. Police claim that Jimmy Snuka has Nancy Argentino by the hair

217. and he's dragging her across the wall and across the floor by her hair.

218. Police attempt to intervene,

219. and they're met with super-human strength by Jimmy Snuka,

220. and he starts resisting arrest and manhandling the police.

221. There were also police dogs who responded.

222. While he's fighting police he's fighting the dogs.

223. It was unbelievable.

224. I didn't know what to do, where she went.

225. So, I waited. And finally,

226. early in the morning, she called me back.

227. I said, "Nancy, what happened last night?"

228. And she just said, "Oh, nothing.

229. Just a big misunderstanding."

230. Arrested on charges of assault and harassment,

231. Snuka is able to avoid jail time with help from Nancy.

232. Right here is a copy of Nancy's affidavit, signed by her.

233. I'm Adam Clarke. I'm a journalist who wrote the 30-year anniversary story

234. about Jimmy Snuka and Nancy Argentino.

235. "One of the charges pending is assault in the third degree.

236. This charge is a result of an assault upon me by Jimmy Snuka.

237. I wish to state he never struck me or intentionally harmed me in any way

238. on January 18, 1983 nor at any other time in the past."

239. She really was in love with Jimmy Snuka.

240. After Jimmy Snuka was charged,

241. he pleaded guilty to a minor charge of harassment,

242. and then donates $1500 to a local Ronald McDonald House

243. and, you know, he basically walked away.

244. Then she went back on the road with him.

245. They're counting on Nancy because nobody wanted to deal with him.

246. He was unpredictable. He was high a lot.

247. They really put everything on my sister

248. to make sure he got to the next match.

249. Back on the WWF circuit, Jimmy and Nancy traveled

250. from town to town across the north east.

251. So, one of their regular stops was Ag Hall in Allentown.

252. Every three weeks, the WWF shot syndicated television in Allentown,

253. which was Championship Wrestling.

254. The WWF was important to Allentown.

255. It had an economic impact.

256. Wasn't uncommon to see Andre the Giant hanging out at a bar

257. or big star hanging out at George Washington Motor Lodge.

258. At that exact moment in May, I believe, of 1983,

259. they were shooting some big angles in his feud with Don Muraco.

260. Oh, we had the strap matches, chain matches, and cage matches.

261. And it was looking good. The snowball was starting to roll.

262. In the early hours of May 10, 1983

263. Jimmy and Nancy arrive in Allentown

264. to tape an episode of Championship Wrestling.

265. Jimmy Snuka leaves George Washington Motor Lodge

266. to film wrestling.

267. He films a couple sessions,

268. comes back to the motel, and then leaves again.

269. Leaves in the afternoon and he comes back about 9.00 pm.

270. Jimmy heads to his room where Nancy has been all day.

271. Just a few hours later,

272. the motel's other occupants are awoken by a disturbance outside.

273. What woke me up was the sirens. My room was not far from Jimmy's.

274. There was an ambulance sitting outside of Snuka's room.

275. I said, "What's going on?"

276. I see the police cars and the ambulance,

277. and roped off in some yellow tape.

278. And Snuka leaning up against the cop car.

279. Jimmy looked pretty scared.

280. It was bad. It was very bad.

281. On the night of May 10, 1983 emergency responders

282. arrive at George Washington Motor Lodge

283. in Allentown, Pennsylvania

284. where Jimmy Snuka and his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino,

285. have been staying with several other wrestlers.

286. It was between 11.30 and quarter to 12.00

287. we'd gotten called to an unconscious female.

288. My name is Shirley Reeve, and I was a paramedic in 1983.

289. We drove up to the scene and the room door was open.

290. Jimmy was standing there along with the detectives.

291. She was in bed, covered up with a sheet,

292. and I examined her.

293. Her pupils were fixed and dilated

294. and that's more indication of a head injury.

295. And I'm like she's in bed, not on the floor, not outside.

296. He was just touching the feet and I had to drag things out of him,

297. and he said they must have wrestled a little too much

298. the night before he pushed over and she hit her head.

299. She came inside, they went to bed,

300. he went to his match the next morning, came back...

301. she was still conscious,

302. but I guess was becoming a little bit lethargic or sleepy.

303. He said, "I'm gonna go to my match.

304. I'll check on you later."

305. So, when he came back later on, then she wasn't responding.

306. She was having difficulty breathing, and he called the ambulance.

307. I did an intubation, put an airway in.

308. Started a line, gave her some drugs, and just took her in.

309. While Snuka's at the hospital, they're trying to revive Nancy,

310. he's starting to tell person after person what happened.

311. And at that point,

312. when police interviewed all the witnesses in the ER,

313. they all say Snuka mentioned some conflict, either shoving, striking,

314. that somehow, he physically pushed or struck Nancy

315. and she fell down and hit her head.

316. I was in my room, dead sleep,

317. and it was about 3:30, 4.00 o'clock in the morning and the phone rings.

318. They say, "This is the Lehigh Valley Hospital.

319. Can I speak to Caroline Argentino?"

320. I go in my mother's room and I wake her up.

321. "Ma, hospital's on the phone."

322. She comes to my bed

323. and I hear her say, "Is she gonna be alright?"

324. And then I hear her say, "Dead? Dead?"

325. So, Jimmy, he got on the phone

326. and, as far as I can recall, he started, like, blubbering,

327. and saying that, "Oh, it was an accident!

328. It was an accident! She fell, hit her head."

329. She hung up the phone, she went and told my father.

330. And then, my sister Lorraine.

331. We were all walking around like zombies, we were in shock.

332. We couldn't believe it. We never thought it would end up like that.

333. We called all the family members and all of our friends.

334. And I cried on the phone with them, and we were all in shock.

335. In the early morning hours,

336. Snuka returns to the motor lodge and is questioned by police.

337. He introduces yet another conflicting account of events.

338. The next morning, police come to interview Jimmy Snuka,

339. and they start asking what happened.

340. This is critical, at this point, Snuka has told people

341. at the hospital he had some involvement in her fall.

342. He says they stopped along the road

343. Nancy had to use the bathroom.

344. He says, she gets out, lots of trucks driving by,

345. so he hollers, "Come on, hurry up."

346. As she's trying to come back, she slips.

347. She hits her head on the side of the road...

348. and that's what caused the injuries.

349. By now, the news of Nancy's death made its way to WWF headquarters,

350. and Snuka's boss, Vince McMahon.

351. I got on the phone and got a hold of Vince Jr.

352. He says, "You heard anything about Snuka and his girlfriend?"

353. I said, "As a matter of fact."

354. Here I am with Lieutenant so-and-so, and I put him on the phone to Vince.

355. McMahon informs police

356. Snuka will continue to cooperate with the investigation,

357. and his star performer is released without charge.

358. At what point did you guys, as a family,

359. start to feel like maybe this isn't an accident?

360. Well, Nancy's funeral was so disturbing.

361. Traditional Italian funerals, you were laid out for three days,

362. and then you had a mass, and then were buried.

363. The second day, Buddy Rogers walks in with Snuka,

364. and he's wearing flip flops and these really short, shorts.

365. And, some kind of tank top.

366. Buddy Rogers was leading him around, pretty much.

367. Then he went over to the coffin

368. and he started crying on the coffin and touching her.

369. And, my father had to pull him off the coffin.

370. I ask my mother, "Did he say anything?

371. Did he say how sorry he was?"

372. And she said, "No. He said, She looks terrible."

373. Now, that was a pretty weird thing to say.

374. Of course, she looks terrible. She's dead.

375. The undertaker came over to my stepfather

376. and he said, "I have to tell you this is disturbing

377. because we had a hard time getting her to look good

378. because she had a huge bruise around her neck,

379. and she had multiple cuts and abrasions all over her body."

380. Then, I think, you know, my stepfather knew

381. that something was terribly wrong about the way she died.

382. The tragic death of 22-year-old Nancy Argentino

383. seems to have done little to slow the career

384. of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.

385. In the summer of 1983,

386. and just a few weeks after her passing, Snuka is back,

387. continuing his story line with adversary Don Muraco.

388. "When Snuka flies, Muraco dies!"

389. Was there a part of you thinking

390. like something might happen to Jimmy?

391. - Selfishly, I was worried, yeah. - Snuka, with Muraco! Ripping his...

392. Just out of my own selfish motivation.

393. I didn't want to lose my golden goose...

394. 'cause, there was a lot of money down the road to be made.

395. Their feud culminates in a legendary cage match

396. at Madison Square Garden,

397. which becomes a career-defining moment for the Superfly.

398. People were lining up over the country to see this match.

399. We just set the place on fire.

400. - Snuka is busted wide open! - Holy hell.

401. Jimmy was such a star

402. and people wanted to see him jump off the top cage on me,

403. and splash me.

404. I'll never forget that night

405. 'cause I was there when he came off of the cage.

406. I mean...!

407. Superfly perched 15-feet high.

408. Oh, my god!

409. It just rocked New York.

410. Jimmy tried things people never tried before. He was a high flier.

411. He probably spent more time off the mat than on the mat.

412. I'm Carole Snuka. I was married to Jimmy Snuka.

413. I was with Jimmy for 20-something years.

414. Sometimes, every now and then, somebody would make a comment

415. something like, "I know what you did. I'm gonna be waiting for ya."

416. Fans congregating outside the stage exit

417. and Snuka comes out, and there's a woman who yells...

418. "Hey, Snuka, you goddamn murderer. When you gonna kill another girl?"

419. He always said, "I know what I did. Let the others think what they want.

420. If they want to think that, that's them.

421. That's in their mind. That's not my mind.

422. I know what I did, in my mind,

423. and God knows, and that's all I have to worry about.

424. They want to talk, they want to do that,

425. that's fine. Doesn't bother me."

426. While Snuka's career in the WWF is reaching new heights,

427. authorities in Allentown continue their investigation.

428. The challenge they faced in trying to prosecute the case, they had a body.

429. They had a woman who clearly had injuries.

430. But, they had no other witnesses, they had no confession.

431. The fact that somebody just tells different stories

432. is certainly not enough evidence to charge anybody with a crime.

433. My name is Frederick Conjour.

434. I was Police Chief in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, 1983.

435. The Lieutenant in charge,

436. I never had any reason to doubt that he wouldn't do the best he could

437. to investigate the case and, and I think he did.

438. Although they didn't drive Snuka around

439. to find the place where Nancy had supposedly fallen,

440. they did go to the trouble of sending two Whitehall officers 100 miles

441. to the family house in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

442. Detective Procanyn sat in my living room,

443. saying, "We're sorry, but we're gonna rule this as an accident,

444. she fell by the side of the road."

445. At that time, also, Snuka's promoter kept calling the house.

446. My mother got on the phone and I heard him say,

447. "Mrs. Argentino, I'm so sorry for your loss.

448. Do you think $25,000 would help you?"

449. At that time, my mother knew what was going on.

450. She said, "Do you think my daughter's life is worth $25,000?"

451. And hung up.

452. Unable to bring criminal charges against Snuka,

453. Nancy's family pursues him in a wrongful death lawsuit,

454. arguing his behavior was negligent on the day she died.

455. He let her go to sleep.

456. And he went off to his matches.

457. Didn't come back for 8 hours.

458. And by then, she was pretty much, she was dead.

459. The Argentino family won a $500,000 default judgment against Snuka,

460. who didn't show up.

461. And his lawyers did a filing with the court.

462. Snuka hadn't paid them.

463. The family never collected a dime of that half million-dollar judgment.

464. Jimmy's family and Jimmy... didn't do anything about it.

465. They never went. Never showed up. Didn't do anything.

466. I don't know who advised him on that, but I feel it was the wrong decision.

467. I think it should have been handled right then and there.

468. My mother gave up, threw in the towel.

469. She had a very hard time dealing with it. Very hard.

470. We all were so disgusted with the whole thing,

471. we just had to get on with our lives.

472. His drug problems got worse at that point,

473. and then he became unreliable altogether

474. and WWF slash WWE, had no use for him.

475. And, I think the half-life of Jimmy Snuka's career

476. and his decline owes to guilt

477. over exactly what happened with Nancy Argentino is speculation,

478. but it couldn't have helped.

479. And so, he did the descent of the wrestler

480. and went to the AWA,

481. went to, finally, the indie circuit.

482. And finally, you know, the autograph shows

483. where you're not doing anything except signing your name

484. for people who remember you when.

485. As the years pass,

486. Nancy's story is nearly forgotten by everyone except her family.

487. Then, in 2011,

488. interest in solving her mysterious death was suddenly renewed.

489. I was sitting in my apartment, in 2014,

490. and I get a call from Adam from The Morning Call,

491. and she said, "Oh, hi. We're doing an article

492. about the 30-year cold case death of your sister, Nancy Argentino."

493. It clearly was a mystery, and it seemed there was a story

494. that was ripe for us to dive into and figure out.

495. One, what the hell happened. Two, what can we bring to light

496. that nobody's seen before and nobody's talking about.

497. 2013, I was working for The Morning Call.

498. My editor was a wrestling fan, and he thought it'd be interesting

499. to revisit on the 30th anniversary.

500. One of the first things I did was try to find the autopsy report.

501. I called the Whitehall Township Police Department.

502. I called the coroner's office.

503. He said he couldn't turn it over 'cause the case was still open.

504. It was up to us to find another way to go get that document.

505. And then, we came across the wrongful death lawsuit.

506. Within that lawsuit, there was tons of information.

507. That's where things really picked up.

508. Unlike the files from the criminal case,

509. the documents contained within the lawsuit are unsealed.

510. Surprisingly, it includes Nancy's never-before-released autopsy report.

511. This is the autopsy report nobody had seen publicly until our story.

512. It says, "The pattern of her injuries is consistent

513. with a moving head striking a stationary object.

514. It is not consistent with a fall in view of the other injuries

515. that she has. Scalp, facial, bodily bruises and abrasions."

516. It says, "the magnitude of injuries may be suggestive of "mate" abuse."

517. The last sentence is really the bombshell of the autopsy report.

518. It says, "I believe the case should be investigated

519. as a homicide until proven otherwise,"

520. and it's signed by Dr. Mihalakis.

521. 30 years after Nancy Argentino's mysterious death,

522. a newly discovered autopsy report suggesting a potential homicide,

523. raises questions about the 1983 police investigation.

524. Mihalakis says, "I personally checked the clothing

525. that Miss Argentino was wearing

526. and found no evidence of dirt or tears in the fabric."

527. First time I've seen that report,

528. but I could tell ya, if I were a defense attorney...

529. I'd say, "Of course they didn't have any dirt or anything

530. because he took her back to the hotel.

531. She laid in bed. Then was put in the ambulance."

532. This is brought up in the case years and years later:

533. "I believe the case should be investigated as a homicide."

534. And we're back to, it was investigated,

535. as best as it could be investigated, I guess.

536. So... you know, did everything that was conceivably possible.

537. As I'm working on this, Jimmy Snuka has no clue

538. there's a reporter in Allentown, investigating this.

539. While we're working on this, his book comes out.

540. Published in December 2012,

541. Snuka's autobiography marks the first time

542. he publicly addresses the events in Allentown...

543. as well as the meeting he had with McMahon and local authorities.

544. So, these are the original police documents.

545. It is the most complete record that anyone has ever seen.

546. So, this is the only record we have of that final meeting.

547. Unlike all of the other interviews that were done in this case,

548. there is no detailed transcript of what was said over an hour.

549. We do know after that, the case went cold.

550. The police interviews stopped. There was nothing else in that file.

551. Vince McMahon would have great reason to defend Jimmy Snuka.

552. Let's say, he is charged with murder in 1983.

553. That would be a terrible thing for the WWF.

554. Vince McMahon is a business man and, no matter what,

555. if one of your top employees is investigated for murder, that's bad.

556. Jimmy talked a lot about Vince. He called him "Brother Vinny".

557. And, Jimmy felt very close to Vince and he trusted him 100 percent.

558. He didn't read or write English, didn't understand it.

559. With his contracts, with everything, he trusted the people.

560. He said to me one time, people would come before a match

561. and he'd say, "Vince said sign this or you won't get paid."

562. He would sign papers and he had no idea what they said.

563. I've tried to find out what happened in that room back in '83...

564. And, nobody knows.

565. Jimmy said to me, "Vince came down with his briefcase

566. and said to him, "It's over.

567. Don't worry about. It's done." And he thought it was done.

568. There's no transcript. The only one with no transcript.

569. Then, seemingly, the investigation stops there.

570. There's been a lot of speculation on what could have happened.

571. I haven't a clue. I don't see that, that makes any difference.

572. I'd only say, there wasn't anything significant said,

573. so that's why there's no record.

574. The meeting with McMahon and law enforcement

575. isn't the only section of the book to stir controversy,

576. but also, the way he portrays his relationship with Nancy.

577. Obviously, he covered the situation with Nancy as well.

578. Because he couldn't do a book and not...

579. I said, "Sure you want to put that in?"

580. And he said, "Definitely. That's my book.

581. That's my life. It's gotta be in there."

582. In there, he says, "Nancy was nice, but she ruined his life."

583. When we read that, we were like, "Nancy ruined his life?"

584. When I got to the part about my sister, I was furious.

585. He insinuated she was a once-in-awhile girlfriend.

586. Oh, and he denied he ever hurt her, he never touched her.

587. Why would he do that? So, he totally denied that...

588. he ever laid a hand on her.

589. The version Jimmy Snuka tells in his book is similar to 1983,

590. but not exactly the same.

591. That was one issue over the years, as he talked about this in interviews

592. and other accounts, it was slightly different with some of the details.

593. She went to use the bathroom.

594. Pulled over to the side, and I guess after she got done

595. she came back over like a stream that was there.

596. She jumped and slipped, and banged her head.

597. For decades,

598. Snuka has maintained Nancy's injuries occurred on route

599. with no mention of any other passengers in the car.

600. I understand you were at the George Washington Hotel

601. on May 10, 1983.

602. I was there at the George Washington hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

603. Yeah. We drove to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

604. Me, Jimmy, and her. We jumped in the car, drove there.

605. So you, Jimmy, and Nancy drove together to Allentown?

606. - Yeah. - What do you remember from that?

607. Oh, it was fun. I was in the backseat.

608. We had the albums going, and Jimmy had some nice cologne.

609. He always loves cologne

610. and we just talked and chopped it all up.

611. Going to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

612. Soon as we arrived in Allentown, Jimmy and Nancy went their way.

613. And, I went my way to my room.

614. And, that's when all that stuff took place when...

615. when the lady got, when Nancy got...

616. when Nancy got killed that night.

617. Do you recollect what his story was

618. he told about what had happened.

619. I don't really know what Jimmy told the police.

620. It was basically that they were driving coming into Allentown,

621. and she had to use the restroom.

622. She walked outside the car

623. and fell while was using the bathroom outside the car.

624. - Do you remember that story at all? - No, I don't remember that story.

625. Did you have any personal interactions with Snuka, yourself?

626. Not that I recall that I actually...

627. No, I... No, I...

628. The only reason I'm mentioning that is because

629. the person that was in this house before you...

630. - Said he was in the car. - ... said he was in the car!

631. So... and he's never told his story before, and so...

632. You ever heard there could have been a third person in the car?

633. When you ask me about that, I... somehow, I had heard that.

634. But I mean, if you pinned me down

635. and said, "What day, time, who was this person...?"

636. But,

637. there was never any, any contradiction to Snuka's story.

638. Yeah, we're talking 30 years, 30 years ago.

639. I did talk to Sam Fatu and I think that might be confused

640. because he's never told me that.

641. But, the wrestlers, they're not lying.

642. It's just, they don't remember the whole thing.

643. After the autopsy report is uncovered,

644. Lehigh County Attorney's Office responds to intense public pressure

645. and announces Nancy Argentino's death

646. is being officially re-investigated.

647. The difference in how the District Attorney handled the case in 1983,

648. versus how the District Attorney handled the case in 2013 was,

649. the District Attorney in 2013, ultimately, put it to the people:

650. "We're going to put this to a grand jury."

651. Sure enough, the grand jury thinks there should be charges filed.

652. Jimmy Snuka should be charged.

653. On September 1, 2015 Jimmy Snuka is arrested

654. and charged with 3rd Degree Murder.

655. He's now 72 years old,

656. and only a month earlier

657. announced he was suffering from stomach cancer.

658. There's a few articles that we saved over the years, this is one of them.

659. It's really happening, after all these years.

660. Better late than never.

661. When I started on this, I never thought a couple years later,

662. this story, my story would become a headline everywhere.

663. He was one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling being arrested

664. and charged with murder because of a local paper.

665. That doesn't happen. It was surreal then, and it still is.

666. Jimmy's health during the trial was really bad.

667. He didn't understand anything.

668. He had too much brain damage.

669. I think it was a blessing because when he went through the courts,

670. he didn't know what it was about.

671. If he had known what it was about, it would have been devastating.

672. They had a series of hearings

673. and all of a sudden, Snuka's lawyer said,

674. "He has brain damage because he took so many blows,

675. so he is not capable of standing trial."

676. His attorney had argued that his dementia was so bad

677. he didn't even realize what was going on.

678. The judge basically ruled he was unfit to stand trial,

679. she felt he was mentally unfit to stand trial.

680. For Nancy's family, seeing Snuka confronted

681. with his past in a court room is the only justice they'll get.

682. Everybody was talking about it. They knew.

683. So, we were happy that he got somewhat...

684. punishment for Nancy's death, so...

685. It hurt me bad because I know what type of person he is.

686. I can't see Jimmy hurting anyone.

687. That's just what I believe.

688. The family, you know, still felt slighted.

689. Somebody lost a daughter.

690. They certainly had to be sad and hurt.

691. The one shame about this case is there was no final resolution.

692. The event occurs in 1983.

693. We go 30 years before charges are filed.

694. Charges are filed,

695. but then a judge rules Jimmy Snuka is incompetent to stand trial.

696. So, he never gets to fully clear his name.

697. The Argentino's never get to fully get a prosecution.

698. There was no final resolution on the case,

699. That's why people debate it.

700. Ten days after the ruling on January 15, 2015,

701. Snuka succumbs to his cancer and dies.

702. It was devastating for me. It was sad.

703. I was pretty depressed, you know. You lost a...

704. Lost a good man, a good person, you know.

705. Til today, I'm still angry about it.

706. I'm angry the man passed and angry what people say about him.

707. It's sad. All the way around, it was sad. On both parties.

708. I loved Jimmy a lot.

709. There's no doubt Jimmy Snuka was a great pro wrestler,

710. one of the biggest of his time.

711. A talented wrestler, well respected for his craft.

712. At that time, you can't overlook his personal life,

713. can't overlook what happened with Nancy.

714. You can't overlook the violence that's been brought up.

715. It's a complicated legacy

716. and it'll always be clouded by his personal life.

717. There's no separation of the ring and outside of the ring.

718. What happens outside of the ring is just as influential

719. as what happens in the ring.

720. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka

721. stands as one of the most iconic pro wrestlers in history.

722. A daredevil acrobat far ahead of his time,

723. but his legacy will never escape the events in Allentown.

724. For Nancy's family, her memory lives on,

725. while justice remains out of reach.

726. Lorraine and I really want to share the story

727. because we don't feel like we've gotten justice.

728. We feel like Nancy just keeps calling out to us

729. in some way or another to seek justice.

730. There's no closure for anybody.

731. You know, no closure. I've never met Nancy or her family.

732. I feel really bad for them. They lost their daughter.

733. Something should have been done.

734. I think letting it go for 32 years caused a lot of damage.

735. I think too often stories of domestic violence,

736. when they involve powerful men, center around the men.

737. And the women are reduced to just the victim

738. and you don't know anything except this is the person who was attacked.

739. This was the victim.

740. As you can see, she was filled with life.

741. And she had so much hope for her future.

742. She was 19 here.

743. And she died when she was 23.

744. Her life was just cut down too briefly.

745. That's a great picture of her.