The latest Morning Call report notes there are at least seven different versions of Jimmy Snuka’s story which have been made public, and they range from Argentino slipping and falling to him shoving her while they were “messing around” which resulted in her hitting her head.
However, and what could end up being the most incriminating to Snuka, is the version of the story he published in his autobiography, which is drastically different from what he had previously claimed:
Many terrible things have been written about me hurting Nancy and being responsible for her death, but they are not true. 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…
…One afternoon, we were driving to Allentown, Pennsylvania—just she and I—from a Connecticut show because I had a TV shoot the next morning. We were drinking some beers, and she asked me to stop so that she could pee. I pulled over to the side of the road and I waited in the car for her, drinking. When she came back, she told me she slipped on the way and hit her head. I didn’t see it happen, but I remember she told me she was jumping over a little river or stream that was there and she slipped.
The following statement was contained in the original Grand Jury presentment back in 1983:
We believe it is important to note that James Snuka changed the location of the injuries in his discussion with the chaplain to happening on the highway traveling to [the George Washington Motor Lodge], but still admitted that she sustained her injury after he shoved her and she fell backward, hitting her head on the concrete.
The Argentino family won a $500,000 judgment by default, however Snuka never paid the family as he claimed he was too broke to afford a legal defense.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
