WWE News: Jimmy Snuka Found Not Competent for Murder Trial

The murder trial of former WWE superstar “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka will not happen after all. It has been over 30 years since Nancy Argentino died in mysterious circumstances and 411mania reported that the judge in the trial said that is part of the reason that the Jimmy Snuka murder trial will not continue.

According to Lehigh County Judge Kelly Banach, Snuka is not mentally competent enough to stand trial and defend himself against these murder charges. The judge also said that is the problem with waiting over 30 years to actually do anything about the death of Argentino and waiting until Snuka had lost much of his mental awareness.

Snuka’s attorneys pointed out to numerous headshots over the years in the WWE as part of the reason for dementia that he is suffering from. The defense team even brought a video of the infamous WWE Piper’s Pit episode where Roddy Piper smashed a coconut over the head of Snuka.

In response, the prosecution said that Jimmy Snuka was competent and was not in as bad of condition as he claimed to be. They brought a video of Snuka cutting a promo last year in character and showed him working in the ring. At the end of the day, the judge believed Jimmy’s team when it came to his competency.

The judge actually said that she didn’t believe that Jimmy Snuka was smart enough to fake dementia. The prosecution asked for a 60-day involuntary treatment order, which the judge also denied. She then explained that everything decays when justice is delayed for as long as this was, and Snuka’s mind is a perfect example of that.

Nancy Argentino died in 1983 and the coroner said that there was evidence that a severe blow to the head is what killed her. At the time, Jimmy Snuka gave two different stories, once saying he pushed her and she fell, hitting her head, and the other saying that she fell on her own. The police and prosecutors at the time declined to press charges against Jimmy.

Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka Ruled Mentally Incompetent; Won't Stand Trial For 1983 Murder https://t.co/npYhW0ovsV #wwe #jimmysnuka

— ??Wrestling News Source (@WNSource) June 1, 2016

Jimmy Snuka was not there when Argentino died. Snuka was wrestling and returned to the motel they were staying at and found her dead. Over 30 years later, Argentino’s family asked the prosecutors to look into it again and they believed that they had enough to actually take Jimmy Snuka to trial for the murder.

Now, thanks to his dementia, it looks like Snuka won’t have to stand trial at all. There is a new court date set for Dec. 2 for a re-evaluation and until Jimmy returns then, both sides still have a gag order and neither can talk about the case.

This likely means that, just as it has been for the last 30 years, the family of Nancy Argentino will not learn anything more about the death of their loved one. While there were some people who suspected that Jimmy Snuka was responsible, without a trial that will never be proven one way or the other.

Snuka moved on in his WWE career and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996 as one of the early inductees. Jimmy was a two-time ECW Champion, the first man to hold the title. Snuka’s last appearance in the WWE was before the recent legal problems arose, and the WWE has distanced itself from Snuka.

According to Fox News, the judge asked Jimmy Snuka numerous questions and he seemed confused at the entire situation. The 73-year-old will return to court in six months for another evaluation, but it is rare that dementia cases improve. It might just end up as a case where the prosecution waited way too long to do anything about Jimmy Snuka and the alleged murder.

[Photo by Joe Stevens/Retna Ltd./MediaPunch/IPX/AP Images]