High-flying pro wrestling star Jimmy
'Superfly' Snuka dies at 73
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[January 16, 2017]
By Jon Herskovitz
(Reuters) - Fijian-born Jimmy "Superfly"
Snuka, one of biggest stars in professional wrestling in the 1980s, died
on Sunday at age 73, less than two weeks after homicide charges were
dropped against him in Pennsylvania for the 1983 death of his
girlfriend.
Snuka, known for his high-flying offensive moves during decades as a
wrestler, died at his son-in-law's home in Florida, surrounded by family
and friends, according to his lawyer Robert Kirwan, who said the former
wrestler had battled various ailments including dementia and had been in
hospice care.
A judge in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Jan. 3 ended the case against
Snuka after ruling him mentally incompetent to stand trial over the
death of Nancy Argentino, who was 23 at the time of her death. Snuka
long had been suspected in Argentino's death but charges were not
brought against him until 2015, 32 years after her death.
Prosecutors said she was found with head injuries in their shared motel
room in Allentown, shortly before she died. He was charged after a
Pennsylvania newspaper, the Morning Call, found an unpublished autopsy
that said Argentino's death should have been investigated as a homicide.
Snuka pleaded not guilty to third-degree murder and involuntary
manslaughter.
Actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a former professional wrestler,
announced the death on Twitter on behalf of Snuka's daughter Tamina, a
wrestler working for Connecticut-based World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE), the world's top wrestling company.
"Our family @TaminaSnuka asked me to share the sad news that her dad
Jimmy Snuka has just passed away," Johnson wrote.
"I love you Dad," Tamina wrote on her Twitter feed.
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Snuka amazed fans of the choreographed mayhem that is professional
wrestling with his "Superfly Splash," a dive off the top turnbuckle
onto the chest of a prone opponent. Snuka was involved in the main
event of the first WrestleMania show in 1985 and was a member of the
WWE Hall of Fame alongside such stars as Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant
and "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
In a statement on its website, the WWE said it was saddened to learn
of his death and hailed him as "the pioneer of high-flying offense"
in the ring.
Snuka also was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of
Fame, a separate organization.
"He was doing very poorly," Kirwan said of Snuka's health prior to
his death. "Jimmy had charisma, even in his poor health, and as he
was battling dementia."
Born James Reiher in 1943 on the Pacific island of Fiji, he later
moved with his family to the Marshall Islands and to Hawaii when he
was growing up, according his Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
biography.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Will Dunham)
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