Authorities dismissed murder charges against former pro wrester Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka on Tuesday, more than 30 years after the death of his girlfriend.
Snuka was an up-and-comer in the World Wrestling Federation, now known as the WWE, when his girlfriend Nancy Argentino died in 1983. At the time, he told police she had sustained head injuries after falling down, but prosecutors say he beat her. Though Argentino’s family brought a civil suit against Snuka in 1985, police did not charge him, CNN reports. But when Snuka published an autobiography in 2012, the family was alarmed by passages in which he described personal problems and a night that ruined his life. They asked prosecutors to reexamine the case, and in 2015 Snuka was charged with homicide.
But the 73-year-old was found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial in June, exhibiting signs of dementia according to a local ABC affiliate. Prosecutors urged Judge Kelly Banach to either send Snuka to outpatient treatment to find out if he could eventually stand trial, or dismiss the charges against him. “If you believe that he’s not going to become competent, then what’s the point?” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Gallagher III. On Tuesday, Judge Banach agreed.
[WPVI]
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