Judge rules Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka incompetent for murder trial

Jay Busbee
· Senior writer
Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka. Courtesy of the Allentown Morning Call.
Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka. Courtesy of the Allentown Morning Call.

A Lehigh County, Pa. judge has ruled that wrestling star Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka is not mentally competent to stand trial. Snuka is accused of third-degree murder in association with the 1983 death of his girlfriend Nancy Argentino. However, the judge has delayed the trial indefinitely after a four-day competency hearing.

Snuka was arrested in September 2015 after an Allentown Morning Call investigation induced the Lehigh County district attorney's office to reopen the case. Argentino died after Snuka made an appearance at the Allentown (Pa.) Fairgrounds for the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). He said he returned to his hotel room to find Argentino suffering from more than three dozen wounds caused, an autopsy determined, by blunt trauma from a stationary object.

Snuka pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his attorneys have suggested that years of concussions and head trauma in the ring have left him unfit for trial. During his competency hearing, Snuka, 73, said he was in his 80s. He did not know the year is 2016, and could not identify any of the current presidential candidates or remember his mother's name. His wife, Carole Snuka, said that when he was arrested, he thought he was headed to an appearance for wrestling fans.

Judge Kelly L. Banach ruled that Snuka did not possess the mental faculties to stand trial, and had not been faking his dementia. "I don't believe he's faking it," Banach said. "No offense, but I don't think he's smart enough to fake it."

Snuka had long denied responsibility for Argentino's death, even though no other person of interest ever emerged in the case. "Many terrible things have been written about me hurting Nancy and being responsible for her death, but they are not true," Snuka wrote in his autobiography. "This has been very hard on me and very hard on my family. To this day, I get nasty notes and threats. It hurts. I never hit Nancy or threatened her."

Here's Snuka leaving court:

The trial has been delayed indefinitely. Snuka has indicated he will move to Florida, a move which is permitted under the terms of his bail.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.