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'Superfly' Snuka Case Reopened By Lehigh County D.A.

Posted: Jul 18th 2013 By: CMBurnham

Sisters Louise Argentino-Upham and Lorraine Salome never completely gave up on finding justice for their family.

Three decades after a third sister, Nancy Argentino, was found dead in an Allentown, Pa., hotel room, Argentino-Upham and Salome have renewed hope that Jimmy ?Superfly? Snuka, a pro wrestling legend living in South Jersey, will be held responsible for her death.

Fueled by publicity surrounding the 30th anniversary of Argentino?s death in May 1983, Argentino-Urban and Salome sent a two-page letter to Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin requesting another look at the case.

Despite his own doubts about the sisters? contentions, Martin said the case would be reopened, a development first reported in the Allentown Morning Call.

?I told them I didn?t want to raise any false expectations and I wasn?t making any commitments, but I told them we?ll take a look at it,? Martin told the Courier-Post in a phone interview.

Argentino-Upham says her family is thrilled with the development. They have always believed their sister?s mysterious death was the result of manslaughter, not a head injury suffered in a fall.

?I have faith,? she noted from her Florida home.

?I think if it?s meant to be and the Lord wants (Snuka) to do penance for it here on this Earth, it?s going to happen.

?Nancy was a young girl who had marks all over her body... His stories were conflicting.

?Seriously, I don?t have ill will against him (Snuka),? Argentino-Upham maintained. ?I just feel if you did something like that, you should pay for it and you do your time.?

The married Snuka was traveling the wrestling circuit in 1983 with Nancy Argentino, his 23-year-old girlfriend. They were en route to a television shoot in Allentown on May 10 when Nancy suffered a head injury, he told officials.

According to a death certificate, Argentino died at the now-demolished George Washington Motor Lodge in Whitehall, Pa., from ?undetermined craniocerebral injuries.?

Snuka reportedly has told several accounts about what happened, but in his 2012 autobiography he wrote that Nancy had fallen after they pulled over on the side of a road during their trip to Allentown.

Now 70, Snuka denied requests by the Courier-Post for an interview. But his wife Carole said by phone, ?Jimmy?s been very quiet ever since,? referring to a report in the Morning Call that the case would be reopened.

?His words were, ?You know I?ll talk to you any day of the week, but this is something I just don?t want to do in the papers,? ? Carole Snuka added. ?He says he feels bad about it, but he?s a private person.?

Until recently, the Argentino family had gone on with life, always hoping for justice. Snuka was found liable in a 1985 wrongful death judgment and ordered to pay $500,000.

He has yet to do so.

Earlier this year, Nancy?s sisters teamed with freelance writer Irv Muchnick, who had investigated the case years earlier for a magazine story.

On the 30th anniversary of Nancy?s death in May, they released the e-book: ?Justice Denied: The Untold Story of Nancy Argentino?s Death in Jimmy ?Superfly? Snuka?s Motel Rom.?

Carole Snuka said she purchased and read a copy because proceeds ?are going to a good cause? ? My Sister?s Place, a battered women?s shelter in White Plains, N.Y.

Nancy?s sisters granted interviews last month to the Courier-Post for a story on the case. The Morning Call also did an investigative story in June.

Martin, the Lehigh County D.A., assigned Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Gallagher to the case for a review that began in late June and will last another four to six weeks. In September, Gallagher will recommend the case be dropped or sent to a grand jury.

?Charles Gallagher is a very experienced homicide prosecutor who was in the Philadelphia D.A.?s office for 35 years and, during a significant portion of that, he ran the homicide division,? Martin noted.

But he doubts anything will come of the new investigation.

?Don?t get me wrong,? Martin insisted. ?I feel empathy for the Argentino family, but 30 years ago there was not sufficient evidence in this case to charge anybody with a crime.

?There?s an inconclusive pathology report on the autopsy. It hasn?t been ruled a homicide. And basically what we have is Snuka giving some inconsistent statements.??

Gallagher will work the case with help from Lehigh County Det. Gerry Procanyn, who was a Whitehall detective leading the initial investigation into Nancy Argentino?s death.

?Procanyn knows the case better than anyone who?s still alive and he?s probably one of the most tenacious investigators I?ve met,? Martin said. ?So as far as I?m concerned, the sisters? complaints and Muchnick?s (e-book) observations are unfounded.?

Nor does Martin believe Snuka will be questioned.

?It?s unlikely that we?re going to talk to Snuka at this point,? he said. ?We?re going to look at the files. If Charlie Gallagher thinks that there?s an avenue of investigation that was not done, or not done adequately at the time, we may talk to other people. We may not.?

Regardless, Nancy Argentino?s sisters remain committed.

?We?ll never let it go,? Argentino-Upham declared.