All charges against former pro wrestler Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka related to the death of his girlfriend in 1983 have been dropped, according to reports from Deadspin and others.
The decision came from Lehigh County Judge Kelley Banach in Pennsylvania. Prosecutors had asked in August that charges be dropped or treatment begin due to reports that Snuka was suffering from dementia and was incompetent to stand trial. On Tuesday, Banach made the call to drop the charges after reading evidence that Snuka had just a few months to live.
“The Court is satisfied that the defendant remains incompetent and the Court is satisfied that the defendant will not regain competency and that it would be unjust to resume the prosecution,” Banach said, according to the Lehigh Valley Express-Times.
Snuka, a 1996 inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame, has also been hospitalized repeatedly in recent months for infections and may require hospice care.
The murder and manslaughter charges related to the death of Nancy Argentino, who was romantically involved with Snuka when she died from brain and skull injuries in a hotel in Pennsylvania. She was in the area with Snuka, who was there for a wrestling show. Stories explaining her death have ranged from Snuka pushing her against the headboard in the hotel room to her suffering a tragic fall. Either way, there have also been persistent rumors related to Vince McMahon’s involvement in covering up the crime until 2015, when Snuka finally went to trial.
This should put the issue to rest without any real resolution, even though most assume Snuka was responsible to a degree for Argention’s death. If he is as bad off physically as reports suggest, though, he won’t be making any returns to the public eye, either for the WWE or otherwise.
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