jimmy superfly snuka - charged with murder from 32 years ago

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/jimmy-superfly-snuka-unfit-murder-trial-lawyer-article-1.2346455



A lawyer for legendary wrestler Jimmy Snuka says the Superfly’s decades in the ring left him too punch-drunk to face murder charges in the 1983 death of his girlfriend.

The 72-year-old Snuka, who arrived for court Tuesday in a wheelchair, suffered enough shots to his head to raise questions about his competence, said defense attorney William E. Moore

“Ask him a question, he smiles and nods,” Moore said Wednesday. “Ask him enough questions, and he’ll admit to the Kennedy assassination — ‘Yeah, I was there on the grassy knoll.’”

Moore compared the head trauma suffered by wrestlers to that of NFL players, with one notable exception: “They don’t wear helmets. These guys get banged up.”

One forensic analyst apparently told Moore that Snuka could not aid in his own defense.

A New Jersey neighbor of the WWE Hall of Famer said Snuka’s health was failing. The wrestler, in addition to the wheelchair, was attached to a feeding tube when he arrived at court.

“Leave him alone,” the neighbor said. “He’s sick. He’s dying. He’s not coming back.”

Snuka was charged Tuesday with murder and involuntary manslaughter in the May 11, 1983, death of his 23-year-old girlfriend Nancy Argentino of Brooklyn.

Angentino died at a Pennsylvania hospital from a fractured skull and brain injuries, according to an autopsy that also indicated she had 39 contusions and abrasions all over her body.

A grand jury found that Snuka, after inflicting the fatal injuries, did not call for medical help for at least 12 hours — and perhaps as long as 24 hours.

The dead woman’s sisters pushed for Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin to reopen the cold case two years ago, leading to the stunning charges against the high-flying inventor of the “Superfly Splash.”

Snuka, accused of murder in the 1983 death, disappeared after making bail. There was no sign of the Fiji Islands native at his southern New Jersey home.

Prosecutors would undoubtedly challenge any claim of incompetence and ask for their own expert to examine Snuka.

dude wtf ... crazy

On May 10, 1983, a few hours after Snuka had performed at a WWF TV taping at the Lehigh County Agricultural Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Snuka placed a call for an ambulance. When emergency personnel arrived at Snuka's room at the George Washington Motor Lodge, they found that Snuka’s girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, had been injured. She was transported to Allentown's Sacred Heart Medical Center, where she died shortly after of "undetermined craniocerebral injuries." The coroner's report stated that Argentino, 23, died of traumatic brain injuries consistent with a moving head striking a stationary object. Autopsy findings show Argentino suffered more than two dozen cuts and bruises — a possible sign of "mate abuse" — on her head, ear, chin, arms, hands, back, buttocks, legs and feet. Forensic pathologist Isidore Mihalakis, who performed the autopsy, wrote at the time that the case should be investigated as a homicide until proven otherwise. Deputy Lehigh County coroner Wayne Snyder later said, "Upon viewing the body and speaking to the pathologist, I immediately suspected foul play and so notified the district attorney."[76]

Snuka was the only suspect involved in the subsequent investigation. Although charges were not pressed at the time against Snuka, the case was left officially open. In 1985, Argentino’s parents won a $500,000 default judgment against Snuka in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, PA. Snuka appears not to have ever paid, claiming financial inability to do so.[77] On June 28, 2013, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced that the still-open case would be reviewed by his staff.[76] On January 28, 2014, Martin announced that the case had been turned over to a grand jury.[78]

On September 1, 2015, 32 years after the incident, Snuka was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for Argentino's death.[79][80] It is the oldest case to result in charges in Lehigh County history.[79]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Snuka