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At a hearing earlier this month, the prosecution and defense both agreed they would bypass preliminary hearings in the case against Snuka, where he is charged in the 1983 death of his then-girlfriend, Nancy Argentino in Allentown, PA. Bypassing those hearings meant the two sides would go right to trial and as part of the deal, the defense would receive access to the grand jury transcripts.
Snuka was indicted by a grand jury in September after the case remained open for 32 years. Consistent pushes by Argentino's sister and writer Irv Muchnick led to articles about the 30th anniversary of the case by The Allentown Morning Call, which discovered a ruling from the then-medical examiner stating the death should be considered a homicide.
The case was finally brought before a grand jury who made the decision to indict Snuka was made by the Grand Jury for several reasons, one of which was the changing statements he made about what happened to Argentino to authorities in the 1980s as well as his account in his autobiography Supefly, which was published several years back. Snuka initially told those who responded to the 911 call that he had struck Argentino once. He later told police that he and Argentino were wrestling and playing around and he shoved her head down. In his book, he cited that Argentino slipped and hit her head on a rock while the couple had parked on the side of a highway to go to the bathroom. The changes in story were a major part of the decision to move forward with a grand jury investigation.
Snuka's arrests in the past for assaults against Argentino (in New York, which he later plead down to lesser charges) as well as against his ex-wife was also taken into consideration, as was Argentino's autopsy report from 1983s. The medical examiner who conducted Argentino's autopsy also testified. The current Lehigh Valley Coroner concurred with the initial medical examiner that Argentino's death was a homicide.
Snuka, 70, is currently suffering from stomach cancer and questions have been raised about whether he is mentally able to stand trial. His defense attorney claimed Snuka's grand jury trial was a "sham" based upon the Judge allowing hearsay testimony from third-parties.
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