It is still largely secretive, if things have even been figured out past the top guys, regarding what will happen with WWE talent when they do the brand split in July.
Tag: jimmy snuka
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Why the Jimmy Snuka prosecutor gag order worked
By Irvin Muchnick, Concussion Inc. author
Two weeks ago, a Pennsylvania judge, at the request of the district attorney, issued a gag order in the murder trial of retired wrestling superstar Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka for the 1983 death of his girlfriend Nancy Argentino.
The gag order had its immediate intended effect: Nancy’s sisters were prevented from talking with CBS News about the longest-running cold case in the history of the Lehigh Valley, and 48 Hours decided to put on indefinite hold an hour-long episode in pre-production.
Of course, 48 Hours promises to jump right back in when the gag order expires. But I believe that, by then, the national coverage could be tepid and cookie-cutter: just another story of a well-connected celebrity getting away with something for too long, and the victim’s family’s quest for a measure of justice.
From my perspective, the larger story comes in between now and then, but because of the gag order, is likely to get short shrift. I’m referring to hard-hitting examination of the original police and prosecution work — either botched or downright corrupt — that kept the Snuka case on the back burner for more than 30 years.
And make no mistake: it is the national media, and the national media alone, that would tell that story, certainly not the Allentown Morning Call.
True, it was the Morning Call’s better-late-than-never 2013 front-page package that finally got Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin moving again. But the newspaper also carefully fudged then, and continues not to make clear to its readers today, the aspects calling out an overly incestuous local criminal justice establishment.
Specifically: Martin was first assistant D.A. in ’83 under William Platt, who is now a senior state judge. Several of the same individuals and institutions that let Snuka slide, at the time and for many years now, bear the current burden of delivering to a jury a case of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Almost no one is talking about this disconnect.
Peter L. Pavlovic, a retired police officer in another county township, encapsulated the problem in a letter to the Morning Call. In order to have a truly “fresh look” at the Snuka case, Pavlovic argued, “You need a new investigation team, and that should be the state police, not a county detective who investigated the case as a Whitehall police detective and did not file any charges. This case was not rocket science; this case was a case of conflicting stories by the person involved. This was a case of just bad police work.”
Meanwhile, in a ham-handed attempt to chill the First Amendment rights of one of his constituents, D.A. Martin earlier this year sued Bill Villa, an Allentown advertising man who blogs about local skulduggery at his site “Lehigh Valley Somebody.” Martin sued Villa for defamation for having the audacity to write, among other things, that the D.A. (as a reelection candidate) and the Morning Call have used the services of the same law firm. What had started Villa in his muckraking avocation was the soft-pedaled prosecution of a son of one of the law firm’s partners. The son, Robert LaBarre, was convicted of vehicular homicide in the drunk-driving accident in which Villa’s daughter Sheena was killed.
This is not the place for reviewing the LaBarre case, except to say that almost immediately after the 2006 incident, LaBarre, who had been released without bail, jetted to Belize to party. The Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas judge who allowed all this, with no consequences, was Robert Steinberg — earlier one of the assistants who sat in with D.A. Platt at the June 1, 1983, meeting with Vince McMahon that culminated in no charges for Snuka.
The upshot of the parallel chilling of national media scrutiny in the Snuka case — via a gag order with neither merit nor constitutional basis — is that Snuka might very well get off the hook. Or he might be allowed, with little scrutiny, to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge of involuntary manslaughter (for not calling early enough for emergency medical attention) in return for dropping the felony charge of third degree murder in the traumatic brain injury death of Argentino. Remember that the original coroner’s autopsy report said Argentino had sustained a pattern of bruises throughout her body “consistent with ‘mate abuse.’”
In my estimation, today’s justice calculus goes beyond whether the 72-year-old Snuka, who is recovering from stomach cancer surgery, should do prison time for an incident from three decades ago. His conviction at trial on the felony count is no sure thing, anyway, given how stale prosecutors let the evidence against him become. There is nothing of importance in the September indictment of Snuka not fully known to them in ‘83.
Did garden-variety incompetence, or WWE-greased corruption, derail swift and sure justice? Thanks to the gag order (issued by yet another former assistant D.A., Judge Kelly Banach, who had worked under Martin), we might never have that important public conversation regarding whatever kept the Snuka-Argentino file buried and in suspense for so long.
As is well known, Snuka’s own 2012 autobiography went to the trouble of recounting how his boss McMahon carried a briefcase into his meeting with Platt, Steinberg, and three Whitehall Township police detectives. Whether or not that was true (or whether it mattered even if true), WWF’s tri-weekly syndicated television tapings at the Allentown Fairgrounds and in nearby Hamburg were ongoing shots of Chamber of Commerce steroids for all of Eastern Pennsylvania.
The only arguably new information in the September grand jury presentment was the testimony of Snuka’s ex-wife and of Buddy Rogers’ widow that Snuka had shown a pattern of domestic violence against the ex-wife. In that connection, the gag order eases the pressure on prosecutors to develop additional witnesses who might have come forward subsequent to the grand jury.
Recently a woman, whose bona fides checked out, contacted Concussion Inc. with information about her time as Snuka’s girlfriend in the 1990s. The information included both allegations that Snuka abused her and a claim that he gave her an account of how Nancy Argentino had died. The account purportedly identified the blunt object in the hotel room that Nancy’s head struck.
Unfortunately, instead of advancing on such angles, the national media are in retreat. The gag order has jeopardized the full airing of something more than your average celebrity murder case.
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Judge issues gag order in Jimmy Snuka murder trial
WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka was arraigned today on charges of third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter regarding the death of his girlfriend Nancy Argentino in 1983.
During today’s proceedings, the judge issued a gag order against the press, meaning that while the case will be open to the public, prosecutors, Snuka’s family and legal team as well as Argentino’s will be banned from commenting on the case.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Gallagher III requested the order following comments that he stated were “blasphemous” during last month’s hearing of the case on the steps of the courthouse. Gallager also mentioned that he was contacted by the NBC news show Dateline in relation to the case, which was another factor in requesting the order. Robert Kirwan, Snuka’s defense attorney, said that the Argentino family had also been working with Dateline, which caused the judge to add them to the gag order as well.
It was also stated during today’s hearing by his defense attorneys that Snuka may not be competent to stand trial, and that if he is found competent they would want an out of county jury to hear the case. Judge Kelly Banach asked Snuka a series of questions during the proceedings which are normally asked to confirm whether or not a defendant is fit to stand trial. It was shown that Snuka did not know today’s date or the day of the week, or even the city where the courthouse was located.
“He has good days. He has bad days. Today is actually a good day” Snuka defense attorney Robert Kirwan stated.
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Jimmy Snuka murder trial: Is involuntary manslaughter count the poison pill?
by Irvin Muchnick
The stipulation by prosecution and defense to bypass the formality of a preliminary hearing in the Jimmy Snuka-Nancy Argentino murder case in Pennsylvania has given us yet another major clue as to the potential end game of this outrageous 32-year-long saga of provincial cover-up.
Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin (who just so happened to have been first assistant district attorney in 1983 — though you wouldn’t know that from reading the Allentown Morning Call) had petitioned Judge Maria Dantos to summarily find probable cause on the basis of the Snuka indictment presentment, which was publicly announced last month. Martin’s deputy, Charles Gallagher, argued that It would squander judicial resources not to accept the insignificant level of hearsay in a second-hand summary of the testimony of 20 grand jury witnesses. Snuka has a constitutional right to a fair trial, but not to a redundant preliminary hearing. Just get on with the trial.
Snuka’s new lawyer, Robert J. Kirwan II, said fine — but first give us access to all the grand jury testimony, and keep those details sealed from public view.
Kirwan has reiterated Snuka’s position that what happened to Ms. Argentino, his girlfriend, in May 1983 in Room 427 of the George Washington Motor Lodge in Whitehall was “an accident.” In the process, the parties jointly lay the groundwork for what could become the next and final step: a guilty plea to the charge of involuntary manslaughter — while letting the Superfly off the hook for the more serious charge of third-degree murder.
It is intuitive that the prosecution’s chief challenge in convincing a jury that Snuka is guilty of murder, beyond a reasonable doubt, is the three-plus decades of reasonable doubt emanating from D.A. Martin and Detective Gerald Procanyn themselves. This adds up to an indictment not of WWF’s most popular wrestler of the early 1980s so much as of the criminal justice system of the Lehigh Valley. It’s also the reason why we have the saying “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
But when all is said and done, a plea deal might be the best option for the Martin gang. If Kirwan is an even halfway decent defense lawyer, he will focus on impeaching the details — the pettier, the better — in the grand jury testimony. Across all this minutiae from nearly two dozen third parties (who, it must be emphasized, did not themselves witness exactly what went down with Snuka and Nancy), there are bound to be inconsistencies. Whether those inconsistencies bear meaningfully on the guilt of the defendant is not his problem. Let’s say one witness testified that Snuka beat his wife daily, while another said it was only monthly — presumably, that’s a defect on a par with Snuka’s multiple versions of how Nancy fell and hit her head while peeing at a roadside stop … or is that she fell during horseplay with Snuka in the motel room … is it that she was pushed by the 250-pound wrestler and struck her head on a blunt object during a lovers’ quarrel … or ….
Hey, let’s just call it even!
All along, I’ve felt involuntary manslaughter was the curious count of the indictment. It’s the kind of thing thrown in to enable face-saving and an unsatisfactory denouement. Snuka can defiantly say, in effect, “OK, I should have called 911 earlier — but as to the rest, you’ve got nothing.” Under Pennsylvania law, I.M. is focused on gross negligence or recklessness, not on direct agency, whether intentional or not, in another person’s death. It is a misdemeanor. It is not a felony.
The whole idea of an involuntary manslaughter count is fishy. In Pennsylvania, I.M. it carries a statute of limitations of two years. D.A. Martin has not explained what makes this charge tenable 30 years past expiration. The only theory I’ve heard so far from experts is that, perhaps, special circumstances allow the prosecutor to “toll,” or stop the clock, on the S.O.L.
I keep falling back on the idea that the real Jimmy Snuka verdict here is the one of history. In light of the foregoing, we can debate whether a 72-year-old man with cancer should be incarcerated. What the upcoming national (not local) media coverage of this whole episode seems certain to expose is the cronyism, corruption, and incompetence of the Lehigh County police and courts. That this was all the launchpad of what would become the World Wrestling Federation’s historic, industry-transforming expansion is, I believe, no accident.
The 2013 ebook, JUSTICE DENIED: The Untold Story of Nancy Argentino’s Death in Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka’s Hotel Room, annotates our original article and benefits a women’s shelter in Nancy’s memory. You can order the ebook for $2.99 on Amazon Kindle (http://amzn.com/B00CPTP6VM) or a PDF copy by email (send $2.99 via PayPal to nancyargentino@gmail.com). One hundred percent of the proceeds are donated by the Argentino family, in Nancy’s memory, to the women’s shelter in development at the Salerno, Italy, church Centro Evangelical dei Fratelli.
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WWE severs ties with Jimmy Snuka
On Wednesday, WWE suspended the Legends contract of Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and began removing him from WWE.com. The process included removing his profile from the Hall of Fame section.
On Tuesday, the 72-year-old Snuka, one of the most popular pro wrestlers of the 1980s, was charged with third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 1983 death of Nancy Argentino, someone he traveled the Northeast with during the last year of WWF as a Northeast territory.
He posted $100,000 bail. One of his lawyers said Wednesday that Snuka isn’t fit to stand trial due to years of abuse in the ring.
Removing Snuka falls in line with a precedent WWE set recently when Hulk Hogan’s racist comments on the infamous sex tape were released. Hogan’s WWE contract was terminated, and he was removed from WWE.com.
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WED. UPDATE: Lots more Jimmy Snuka notes; lawyer questions competency
by David Bixenspan | davidbix@wrestlingobserver.com | Follow @davidbix
Show notes for tonight:
NXT at 8:00 p.m. ET on WWE Network features has the start of the Dusty Rhodes memorial tag team tournament, with Baron Corbin and Rhyno vs. The Ascension on the show.
UFC Tonight airs at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Impact Wrestling at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Destination America features P.J. Black (c) vs. Bobby Roode in a King of the Mountain Title match
UFC Ultimate Insider airs at 9:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports with the episode that debuted over the weekend profiling Yair Rodriguez, Andrei Arlovski, and Conor McGregor.
UFC Main Event at 9:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 has a new episode of UFC Main Event about the Lyoto Machida vs. Luke Rockhold fight from April in Newark, New Jersey.
UFC Main Event at 10:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 is a rerun of the Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga episode to hype Johnson vs. Dodson this Saturday at UFC 191.
ROH at 11:00 p.m. ET on Destination America has Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Page, Cedric Alexander vs. Caprice Coleman, Cheeseburger vs. Brutal Bob Evans, and Jay Lethal (c) vs. Hanson for the ROH Televisiion Title.
Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com:
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Figure Four Weekly:
The new issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring a hands-on look at WWE 2K16 from the 2K/WWE media event last week. There are also notes on WWE’s lawsuit against their Thai TV partner, including how this type of litigation is familiar territory for WWE and one past suit is exceptionally bizaree. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.
Last week’s FREE Figure Four Weekly is still up with a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
A complete rundown of the WWE’s weekend in Brooklyn, with all the business notes, surprises and what is known about the future direction is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also cover the decision to have Holly Holm replace Miesha Tate as Ronda Rousey’s opponent next, a UFC business year-in-review story, ROH big weekend, New Japan next tour, 2017 Mania and Daniel Bryan future note.
The latest Wrestling Observer: Wrestling Observer Newsletter August 31, 2015: SummerSlam weekend wrap-up, UFC business
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We have rundowns of NXT Takeover, SummerSlam and Raw from Brooklyn. We look at the Night of Champions card and what is and isn’t confirmed, the unique aspect of that weekend no PPV, the returns of Sting and the Dudleys, Dudleys tag title reigns, Jushin Liger’s WWE future, New Japan stars at SummerSlam, Bray Wyatt’s new Wyatt family member and his booking, Jon Stewart, Lesnar and Undertaker’s finish, business notes, NXT in the U.K., Wrestlers complaining about fans at Raw, as well as more on the problems in the WWE Diva Division and what isn’t working.
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We note the death of Duke Myers, his career highlights, GFW’s latest TV taping and everything that happened, Taz getting a new gig, Wale and pro wrestling, Terry Funk wrestling again in a few months, Jim Ross talk show, Leroy McGuirk into NWA Hall of Fame, Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Red, Alberto El Patron in Europe, promoter critical of Sabu and an update on Len Rossi.
We also look at the future of Lucha Underground, ROH/New Japan relationship update, next ROH PPV show, ROH weekend shows in Philadelphia and Brooklyn notes as well as the upcoming show.
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We look at UFC’s marketing its fall and winter shows, what main events all UFC ‘s upcoming dates, Plans for the debut in Melbourne, Australia, and more notes on drug testing UFC athletes.
We also look at the next FOX show, lots of new fights, Ronda Rousey T-shirt sales, Anthony Johnson situation, Two UFC women fighters pregnant and new Fight Pass series.
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Wednesday Daily Update
— William E. Moore, the lawyer who represented Jimmy Snuka at his arraignment yesterday, told the Allentown Morning Call that not only was Snuka arrianged while wheelchair-bound and hooked to a feeding tube, but that he’s suffering from dementia stemming from decades of concussions. Due to a prior commitment, Moore will not be representing Snuka at trial if there is one. He characterized Snuka as unintelligible and lacking any kind of recall, and is skeptical of the extent of Snuka’s involvement in his autobiography, but it was released three years ago and he was relatively coherent when he did his book tour. Interestingly, the article notes that Sharon Georgi, Snuka’s first wife who testified against him during the grand jury proceedings, was with him and his family when he surrendered to the police, and was also the one to post bail for him ($10,000 bond on $100,000 bail).
— Adam Clark, who wrote the article that triggered the case getting a fresh look, did a video interview that’s available at LehighValleyLive.com.
— Snuka’s WWE.com page was pulled after LehighValleyLive.com pointed out that it was still up, though he’s still listed on the Hall of Fame page.
— LehighValleyLive.com and WABC-TV in New York both talked to members of Nancy Argentino’s immediate family about Snuka being charged.
— The Allentown Mprning Call has a good timeline for the case that lays out the essential information.
— USA Today’s “The Big Lead” blog is the first mainstream outlet to focus on Vince McMahon and his role in the case.
— Irv Muchnick’s original article about the case is availablee on his website.
— Dave has an article about Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera’s career and retirement at MMAFIghting.com.
— News from Kris Zellner’s Lucha Report (full, illustrated version here):
L.A. Park told Medio Tiempo yesterday that he isn’t in EMLL for a long run and he only wants Rush’s hair that’s it. Park thinks that their apuestas match should be main eventing the Anniversario not Atlantis & Sombra because it’s a bigger match. Park said that he & Dr. Wagner Jr. are now the biggest stars there since they have come back although he thinks Wagner is a sellout for pandering to the fans and being friendly with the Ingobernales.
Mistico II will be a cast member on the TV Azteca/Telemundo reality variety show Si Se Puede where the cast of stars will try and do various forms of entertainment throughout the run such as dancing, magic, even beat boxing. I’m not sure if this is a show where they get voted off or what.
Volador Jr. vs. Johnny Mundo vs. Mephisto actually did happen in Los Angeles on August 30th and my dear friend Alfredo Esparza was there with this report
— From Bellator: Not one, but two must-see bouts have been added to the preliminary portion of “Bellator 143: Warren vs. Davis” on September 25 at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, with the addition of undefeated Darrion “The Wolf” Caldwell (7-0) versus Shawn Bunch (4-1) and heavyweight action seeing Chase Gormley (12-4, 1 NC) against Dan “The Man” Charles (9-3). The contests will take place during the prelims of “Bellator 143: Warren vs. Davis,” which airs live on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while the opening portion of the event will stream on Spike.com at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.
— The Pancakes and Powerslams podcast interviewed Dave Penzer this week. On the death of WCW: The way I learned about the end of the company is that somebody called me at home and said turn on the (WWE) website. I turned it on, and it was the [WWE] logo, right in the middle was “Purchases”, and on the bottom right-hand corner, it had the WCW logo. My heart sank, and I had tears in my eyes, I ain’t gonna lie to you. When you get to live your dream and possibly get it taken away, it’s not a fun thing. I went to Nitro in Panama City, and I decided to do the best that I could do. We didn’t know at the time that Shane McMahon was going to be there, we found out at the production meeting. I decided that I was gonna lay it all out on the table and let the WWE guys that were there see what I could do, and hope for the best. If it was the swansong, I was gonna enjoy it, and I did that.
— From Emerson Witner: The Wrestling Outsiders Podcast is now on TalkShoe.com! Tune in at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/139049 on Wednesday night at 10pm EST for our review of the infamous Bash at the Beach 2000 show and then again on Thursday night at 10pm EST when we are joined by Tough Enough contestant (and Lance Storm trainee) Chelsea Green!
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Breaking: Jimmy Snuka charged with third degree murder in Argentino death (updated)
By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com
Jimmy Snuka, one of the most popular pro wrestlers of the 1980s, was charged Tuesday with third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 1983 death of mistress Nancy Argentino, someone he traveled the Northeast with during the last year of WWF as a Northeast territory.
Snuka surrendered himself into custody in Pennsylvania, was booked, and is being held on $100,000 bond.
The case was reopened last year after the Allentown Morning Call (PA) published a story about all the questions that were not answered involving the case. Here’s the paper’s updated story.
Argentino passed away on May 11, 1983, from traumatic brain injuries. Her body had a number of cuts and bruises.
Snuka had told police that while driving to Allentown, Argentino got out of the car, slipped when going to urinate on the side of the road, and hit her head. However, there were inconsistencies in his story from other stories reported by those who had spoken to him at the time.
The WWE made a statement regarding today’s legal proceedings:
“WWE expresses its continued sympathy to the Argentino family for their loss. Ultimately this legal matter will be decided by our judicial system.”