1983 Death of Jimmy Snuka’s Girlfriend to be Investigated

According to The Morning Call, a Lehigh County grand jury will be investigating the death of Nacny L. Argentino, the girlfriend of WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka. Argentino died over thirty years ago on May 10, 1983. At the time of her death, the supposed cause of death was head trauma. Argentino was just 23 years old when she passed.

On the night of her death, Jimmy Snuka returned to his hotel room from a WWE taping and saw his girlfriend, Argentino, gasping for air with some sort of yellow fluid coming out from both her mouth and nose. He immediately called the front desk of the hotel and Argentino was rushed to a hospital. There, she unfortunately passed away as doctors were not able to save her life.

Interestingly, the case was never solved. In addition to that, the Lehigh County district attorney’s office refused to release her autopsy report to the public.

In his autobiography, Jimmy Snuka stated that the incident ruined his life. He believed that the only thing that he was guilty of was cheating on his wife. Additionally, he maintained that he did not hit or threaten Argentino. Snuka has claimed that Argentino fell backwards and hit her head on the road, while going to the bathroom on the side of the road. This then led to her having a severe concussion, according to Snuka.

However, that is not what Jimmy Snuka told the responding police officer. Snuka told the officer that he had pushed her and she fell and hit her head while the two fooled around outside their hotel room door. Two emergency room employees claim that Snuka told them that Argentino fell and hit her head, after he pushed her during an argument.

The Morning Call previously ran a story on the 30th anniversary of her death. In its story it noted that it was Jimmy Snuka and Vince McMahon who met with met with the assistant district attorney, the medical examiner and detectives in 1983. The assistant district attorney recalled that McMahon did all the talking. Snuka also wrote in his autobiography that the only thing he recalls was that McMahon had a briefcase with him and that he “doesn’t know what happened” after that.

Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin issued the following press release regarding the situation:

SEVENTH INVESTIGATING GRAND JURY IN LEHIGH COUNTY TO REVIEW 1983 DEATH OF NEW YORK WOMAN

Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin has directed that evidence in the 1983 death of Nancy L. Argentino of New York be presented to the Seventh Investigating Grand Jury.

Argentino, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died on May 11, 1983, in Allentown.

District Attorney Martin has issued the following statement regarding the death:

“Several months ago, I was contacted by the surviving sisters of Nancy L. Argentino, who died under unusual circumstances. I directed Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles F. Gallagher III to conduct a preliminary review of the investigative file and any and all evidence that was gathered over the past 30 years by the lead Detective, former Whitehall Township Detective and now Lehigh County Detective Gerald Procanyn, and others.

“Chief Deputy District Attorney Gallagher has recommended that the District Attorney’s Office utilize the power and resources of the current Investigating Grand Jury in this matter.

Accordingly, I directed that the circumstances surrounding the death of Nancy L. Argentino, and all evidence related thereto, be presented to the Seventh Investigating Grand Jury, which is currently empanelled.

“Grand Jury proceedings are a time-consuming process, and it will take months before the Grand Jury concludes its work on this case.

“Under the Investigating Grand Jury Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. §4541 et seq., the proceedings of the Grand Jury are secret and may not be disclosed. Accordingly, I will have no further comment on this matter until the Investigating Grand Jury concludes its work.”