All language subtitles for 0205 Dark Side of the Ring

Here he is Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.

Man, there was only one Superfly.

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

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

Had freakish athletic talent.

Going up on the top rope, flying off

and crashing into your opponent.
Awesome.

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

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

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

But fans are unaware of the events

surrounding the violent death
of his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino,

which raises disturbing questions
about who Jimmy really is.

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

She probably felt betrayed

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

I really don't know what
happened that night.

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

She died of a brain injury.

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

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

They did nothing.
Keeping the case open,

but hoping it would just go away.

30 years later, the case resurfaces

with shocking new information
to challenge the legacy

and innocence of one
of wrestling's greatest performers.

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

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

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

Was it his intention to kill her?

By the early 1980s,

the World Wrestling Federation
explodes in popularity.

A key ingredient to its growth
has been in capitalizing

on the star power of its most
charismatic performers.

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

Jimmy Snuka.

From the moment
he joins the WWF,

audiences are entranced with his
acrobatics and wild man persona.

He is the embodiment
of a real-life Tarzan.

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

but they were wrong.

From the Isle of Tonga,
weighing 225 pounds,

the Tonga Kid.

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

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

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

I did six months in juvie
for hitting a bus driver

so, I thought, oh, shit,

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

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

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

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

You're gonna be a wrestler."

I was 16 years old.

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

got thrown out to the wolves.

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

From the Fiji Islands...

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka!

Jimmy Snuka was a wrestler
from the island of Fiji.

He could do it all.

Could have been Hulk Hogan.

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

Kept cool.

I'm Don Muraco.
Sunset Beach, Hawaii.

Started wrestling in 1970
and unofficially retired about 1988.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People don't know why.

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

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

That's why Jimmy did it.

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

Owner, Vince McMahon,
recognizes his star power potential

and soon makes Snuka
his number one attraction.

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

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

but Snuka was on fire.

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

who is the legendary
National Wrestling Alliance promoter.

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

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

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

because he was just too popular

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

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

It all came together in New York.

He was money.
He was their biggest star.

Snuka was at the peak
of his drawing power.

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

We go to clubs every night
and party every day.

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

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

Repeat, repeat.

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

It's good to have somebody
on the road,

you know, with you
on the road sometimes.

And Jimmy had his girlfriend
on the road.

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

-Are you talking about Nancy?
-Yes.

Yes, I'm talking about her.
Yeah.

My name is Lorraine Salome.

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

My younger sister and I say
Nancy was the favorite

because she never gave
mom a hard time.

Nancy was a very intelligent girl.

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

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

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

She always wanted to look good.

Nancy was very innocent.

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

That changes when Nancy
is introduced to pro wrestling

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

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

Ellen was engaged
to a wrestler named Johnny Rodz

so, Nancy got into the habit
of going with Ellen

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

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

and then, she met Superfly Snuka.

She really liked him,

it seemed to be a somewhat serious
relationship right away.

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

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

He was strange because we tried
to make him comfortable.

He would sit in the corner

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

So, he was... he isolated himself.

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

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

like, drive him place to place.

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

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

And he said Jimmy was a sweet guy,

but he was hooked on cocaine
and other junk,

and he was totally uncontrollable.

It reached a point where

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

had his doubts about him.

As Jimmy
and Nancy's relationship grows,

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

It was not that many times
that I met him.

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

We were close.
The whole family was close.

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

and they had brought Chinese food.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and I went upstairs.

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

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

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

not what I was used to seeing in her.

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

It's okay."

He felt bad he treated me that way

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

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

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

She doesn't need that."

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

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

And, I thought, wow,

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

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

is now constantly on the road
with her boyfriend

wrestling superstar
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.

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

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

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

you know,
they knew who she was with.

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

She didn't seem to really like me.

Holy mackerel!
Nailed him on the head!

Muraco went down heavy.

Maybe it was because he
and I were arch enemies.

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

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

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

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

How could he be with anyone else?

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

Jimmy and his wife Sharon
are still living together

with their four children
in North Carolina.

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

but his secrets
can't stay hidden forever.

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

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

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

with Nancy Argentino.

Apparently, other guests
are calling the front desk

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

I was in my apartment sleeping

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

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

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

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

So, police respond.

Police claim that Jimmy Snuka
has Nancy Argentino by the hair

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

Police attempt to intervene,

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

and he starts resisting arrest
and manhandling the police.

There were also police dogs
who responded.

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

It was unbelievable.

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

So, I waited. And finally,

early in the morning,
she called me back.

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

And she just said, "Oh, nothing.

Just a big misunderstanding."

Arrested on charges of assault
and harassment,

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

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

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

about Jimmy Snuka
and Nancy Argentino.

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

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

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

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

She really was in love
with Jimmy Snuka.

After Jimmy Snuka was charged,

he pleaded guilty to a
minor charge of harassment,

and then donates $1500
to a local Ronald McDonald House

and, you know,
he basically walked away.

Then she went back
on the road with him.

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

He was unpredictable.
He was high a lot.

They really put everything
on my sister

to make sure he got to
the next match.

Back on the WWF circuit,
Jimmy and Nancy traveled

from town to town
across the north east.

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

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

which was Championship Wrestling.

The WWF was important
to Allentown.

It had an economic impact.

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

or big star hanging out
at George Washington Motor Lodge.

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

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

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

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

In the early hours of May 10, 1983

Jimmy
and Nancy arrive in Allentown

to tape an episode
of Championship Wrestling.

Jimmy Snuka leaves
George Washington Motor Lodge

to film wrestling.

He films a couple sessions,

comes back to the motel,
and then leaves again.

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

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

Just a few hours later,

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

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

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

I said, "What's going on?"

I see the police cars
and the ambulance,

and roped off in
some yellow tape.

And Snuka leaning up
against the cop car.

Jimmy looked pretty scared.

It was bad. It was very bad.

On the night of May 10, 1983
emergency responders

arrive at
George Washington Motor Lodge

in Allentown, Pennsylvania

where Jimmy Snuka
and his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino,

have been staying
with several other wrestlers.

It was between 11.30
and quarter to 12.00

we'd gotten called
to an unconscious female.

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

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

Jimmy was standing there along
with the detectives.

She was in bed,
covered up with a sheet,

and I examined her.

Her pupils were fixed and dilated

and that's more indication
of a head injury.

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

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

and he said they must have
wrestled a little too much

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

She came inside, they went to bed,

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

she was still conscious,

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

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

I'll check on you later."

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

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

I did an intubation,
put an airway in.

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

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

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

And at that point,

when police interviewed all the
witnesses in the ER,

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

that somehow, he physically pushed
or struck Nancy

and she fell down and hit her head.

I was in my room, dead sleep,

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

They say,
"This is the Lehigh Valley Hospital.

Can I speak to Caroline Argentino?"

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

"Ma, hospital's on the phone."

She comes to my bed

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

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

So, Jimmy, he got on the phone

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

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

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

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

And then, my sister Lorraine.

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

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

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

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

In the early morning hours,

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

He introduces yet another
conflicting account of events.

The next morning, police come
to interview Jimmy Snuka,

and they start asking
what happened.

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

at the hospital he had
some involvement in her fall.

He says they stopped
along the road

Nancy had to use the bathroom.

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

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

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

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

and that's what caused the injuries.

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

and Snuka's boss, Vince McMahon.

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

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

I said, "As a matter of fact."

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

McMahon informs police

Snuka will continue to cooperate
with the investigation,

and his star performer is released
without charge.

At what point did you guys,
as a family,

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

Well, Nancy's funeral
was so disturbing.

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

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

The second day,
Buddy Rogers walks in with Snuka,

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

And, some kind of tank top.

Buddy Rogers was leading
him around, pretty much.

Then he went over to the coffin

and he started crying on the coffin
and touching her.

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

I ask my mother,
"Did he say anything?

Did he say how sorry he was?"

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

Now,
that was a pretty weird thing to say.

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

The undertaker
came over to my stepfather

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

because we had a hard time
getting her to look good

because she had a huge bruise
around her neck,

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

Then, I think, you know,
my stepfather knew

that something was terribly wrong
about the way she died.

The tragic death of 22-year-old
Nancy Argentino

seems to have done little
to slow the career

of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.

In the summer of 1983,

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

continuing his story line
with adversary Don Muraco.

"When Snuka flies, Muraco dies!"

Was there a part of you thinking

like something
might happen to Jimmy?

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

Just out of my own
selfish motivation.

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

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

Their feud culminates
in a legendary cage match

at Madison Square Garden,

which becomes a career-defining
moment for the Superfly.

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

We just set the place on fire.

-Snuka is busted wide open!
-Holy hell.

Jimmy was such a star

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

and splash me.

I'll never forget that night

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

I mean...!

Superfly perched 15-feet high.

Oh, my god!

It just rocked New York.

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

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

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

I was with Jimmy
for 20-something years.

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

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

Fans congregating
outside the stage exit

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

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

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

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

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

I know what I did, in my mind,

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

They want to talk,
they want to do that,

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

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

authorities in Allentown
continue their investigation.

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

They had a woman
who clearly had injuries.

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

The fact that somebody
just tells different stories

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

My name is Frederick Conjour.

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

The Lieutenant in charge,

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

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

Although they didn't
drive Snuka around

to find the place where Nancy
had supposedly fallen,

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

to the family house in Flatbush,
Brooklyn.

Detective Procanyn
sat in my living room,

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

she fell by the side of the road."

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

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

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

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

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

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

And hung up.

Unable to bring criminal charges
against Snuka,

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

arguing his behavior was negligent
on the day she died.

He let her go to sleep.

And he went off to his matches.

Didn't come back for 8 hours.

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

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

who didn't show up.

And his lawyers
did a filing with the court.

Snuka hadn't paid them.

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

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

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

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

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

My mother gave up,
threw in the towel.

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

We all were so disgusted
with the whole thing,

we just had to get on with our lives.

His drug problems got worse
at that point,

and then he became
unreliable altogether

and WWF slash WWE,
had no use for him.

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

and his decline owes to guilt

over exactly what happened
with Nancy Argentino is speculation,

but it couldn't have helped.

And so, he did the descent
of the wrestler

and went to the AWA,

went to, finally, the indie circuit.

And finally, you know,
the autograph shows

where you're not doing anything
except signing your name

for people who remember
you when.

As the years pass,

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

Then, in 2011,

interest in solving her mysterious
death was suddenly renewed.

I was sitting in my apartment,
in 2014,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2013,
I was working for The Morning Call.

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

to revisit on the 30th anniversary.

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

I called the Whitehall Township
Police Department.

I called the coroner's office.

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

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

And then, we came across
the wrongful death lawsuit.

Within that lawsuit,
there was tons of information.

That's where things really picked up.

Unlike the files
from the criminal case,

the documents contained
within the lawsuit are unsealed.

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

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

It says, "The pattern of her injuries
is consistent

with a moving head
striking a stationary object.

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

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

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

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

It says, "I believe the case
should be investigated

as a homicide
until proven otherwise,"

and it's signed by Dr. Mihalakis.

30 years after Nancy Argentino's
mysterious death,

a newly discovered autopsy report
suggesting a potential homicide,

raises questions about the
1983 police investigation.

Mihalakis says,
"I personally checked the clothing

that Miss Argentino was wearing

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

First time I've seen that report,

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

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

because he took her
back to the hotel.

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

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

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

And we're back to,
it was investigated,

as best as it could be investigated,
I guess.

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

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

there's a reporter in Allentown,
investigating this.

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

Published in December 2012,

Snuka's autobiography
marks the first time

he publicly addresses
the events in Allentown...

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

So, these are
the original police documents.

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

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

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

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

We do know after that,
the case went cold.

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

Vince McMahon would have
great reason to defend Jimmy Snuka.

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

That would be a terrible thing
for the WWF.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And, nobody knows.

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

and said to him, "It's over.

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

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

Then, seemingly,
the investigation stops there.

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

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

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

so that's why there's no record.

The meeting with McMahon
and law enforcement

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

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

Obviously, he covered the
situation with Nancy as well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

he ever laid a hand on her.

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

but not exactly the same.

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

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

She went to use the bathroom.

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

she came back over like a stream
that was there.

She jumped and slipped,
and banged her head.

For decades,

Snuka has maintained Nancy's
injuries occurred on route

with no mention
of any other passengers in the car.

I understand you were
at the George Washington Hotel

on May 10, 1983.

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

Yeah.
We drove to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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

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

-Yeah.
-What do you remember from that?

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

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

He always loves cologne

and we just talked
and chopped it all up.

Going to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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

And, I went my way to my room.

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

when the lady got, when Nancy got...

when Nancy got killed that night.

Do you recollect
what his story was

he told about what had happened.

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

It was basically that they were
driving coming into Allentown,

and she had to use the restroom.

She walked outside the car

and fell while was using the
bathroom outside the car.

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

Did you have any personal
interactions with Snuka, yourself?

Not that I recall that I actually...

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

The only reason I'm mentioning
that is because

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

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

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

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

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

But I mean, if you pinned me down

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

But,...

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

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

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

because he's never told me that.

But,
the wrestlers, they're not lying.

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

After the autopsy report
is uncovered,

Lehigh County Attorney's Office
responds to intense public pressure

and announces
Nancy Argentino's death

is being officially re-investigated.

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

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

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

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

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

Jimmy Snuka should be charged.

On September 1, 2015
Jimmy Snuka is arrested

and charged
with 3rd Degree Murder.

He's now 72 years old,

and only a month earlier

announced he was suffering
from stomach cancer.

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

It's really happening,
after all these years.

Better late than never.

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

this story, my story would become
a headline everywhere.

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

and charged with murder
because of a local paper.

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

Jimmy's health
during the trial was really bad.

He didn't understand anything.

He had too much brain damage.

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

he didn't know what it was about.

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

They had a series of hearings

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

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

so he is not capable
of standing trial."

His attorney had argued
that his dementia was so bad

he didn't even realize
what was going on.

The judge basically ruled
he was unfit to stand trial,

she felt he was mentally unfit
to stand trial.

For Nancy's family,
seeing Snuka confronted

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

Everybody was talking about it.
They knew.

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

punishment for Nancy's death, so...

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

I can't see Jimmy hurting anyone.

That's just what I believe.

The family, you know,
still felt slighted.

Somebody lost a daughter.

They certainly
had to be sad and hurt.

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

The event occurs in 1983.

We go 30 years
before charges are filed.

Charges are filed,

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

So, he never gets
to fully clear his name.

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

There was no final resolution
on the case,

That's why people debate it.

Ten days after the ruling
on January 15, 2015,

Snuka succumbs to his cancer
and dies.

It was devastating for me.
It was sad.

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

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

Til today, I'm still angry about it.

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

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

I loved Jimmy a lot.

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

one of the biggest of his time.

A talented wrestler,
well respected for his craft.

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

can't overlook what happened
with Nancy.

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

It's a complicated legacy

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

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

What happens outside of the ring
is just as influential

as what happens in the ring.

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka

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

A daredevil acrobat
far ahead of his time,

but his legacy will never escape
the events in Allentown.

For Nancy's family,
her memory lives on,

while justice remains out of reach.

Lorraine
and I really want to share the story

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

We feel like Nancy
just keeps calling out to us

in some way
or another to seek justice.

There's no closure for anybody.

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

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

Something should have been done.

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

I think too often
stories of domestic violence,

when they involve powerful men,
center around the men.

And the women
are reduced to just the victim

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

This was the victim.

As you can see,
she was filled with life.

And she had
so much hope for her future.

She was 19 here.

And she died when she was 23.

Her life was just cut down
too briefly.

That's a great picture of her.

Subtitles by: Chris Ransley
Iyuno-SDI Group