Jimmy Snuka is mentally incompetent for murder trial, judge rules
Posted: Jun 1st, '16, 13:26
Source: mcall.com
LENTOWN — Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka has been found incompetent to stand trial in the 1983 murder of his girlfriend, Lehigh County Judge Kelly L. Banach ruled Wednesday.
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's wife took the witness stand Wednesday and described the retired wrestler as a man so "oblivious" to his surroundings that when he was arrested for murder last year he thought he was making an appearance for sports fans.
"They were all so happy to see me," Carole Snuka recalled her husband saying after he was released on bail. "They all wanted my autograph."
Jimmy Snuka, 73, was back in Lehigh County Court for the fourth day of a hearing to determine whether he's competent to stand trial for the 1983 homicide of his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino.
Carole Snuka was the final defense witness in the hearing, which has stretched over three weeks. After a lunch recess, Judge Kelly L. Banach will hear attorneys' arguments. She could rule this afternoon, or she could hand down a written opinion at a later date.
Due to a gag order in the case, lawyers would not answer questions Wednesday.
Carole and Jimmy Snuka met in 1994 and were married in 2004. She testified that her husband used to drive the couple everywhere and was so good with directions she thought he had "a photographic memory."
Then, around 2008, she said she started noticing her husband make mistakes on the road that got more and more severe as time went on.
"I'd tell him to make a left and he'd make a right, or he'd get nervous and he wouldn't turn at all," Carole Snuka said. "If he dropped his electronic [cigarette], he would bend down to pick it up rather than focus on the road."
Jimmy Snuka doesn't drive at all now, Carole Snuka said. In fact, he gets so confused that he routinely gets locked in the car because he can't operate the buttons on the door handles.
At home, she said, her husband's declining mental ability is more obvious. She would cook a meal for him, she said, and he would tell her it was too hot. Five minutes later, she said, her husband would complain about the meal being too cold and microwave it. At least once, he repeated the reheat-cool-reheat cycle until the food was burned black and inedible, she said.
Prosecutors asked Carole Snuka about wrestling appearances her husband has made in the past two year, including 2015 bouts that occurred as a grand jury was investigating him for homicide.
Carole Snuka said that her husband loves to wrestle, so if she trusts the other people in the ring to make sure he won't be hurt, she doesn't stop him.
"When he gets in the ring he's in his element. He's happy," she said.
In past weeks, two mental health experts have already taken the stand during earlier legs of the hearing.
Dr. Frank Dattilio, a forensic psychologist hired by the defense, said Snuka is a "shell of a man" who does not even know why he is in court due to concussion-related memory problems.
Forensic psychiatrist John O'Brien, the prosecution's expert, though, said Snuka is faking dementia, based on the way he interacts with people inside and outside the courtroom. O'Brien said Snuka's medical records do not even show that he sustained a single concussion.
Prosecutors last month showed Banach videos of Snuka, taken over the last year, where he was wrestling and giving interviews. Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Gallagher argued that the videos show Snuka is aware of his surroundings and can communicate with others.
But when he's at those events, Carole Snuka said Wednesday, he's not mentally present.
"Promoters will book him because his name draws," she said. "but that doesn't mean he's there."
On May 20, Snuka took the stand and told Banach that he suffered many head injuries in the ring but did not seek medical treatment. When questioned by the judge, Snuka claimed that he does not know his own age or who is President.
Snuka, of Camden County, N.J., was charged in September with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. A county grand jury last year determined that Snuka repeatedly assaulted Argentino, 23, at the former George Washington Motor Lodge in Whitehall Township and then left her in bed to die.
The charges came to light after a 2013 Morning Call investigation on the 30th anniversary of Argentino's death that uncovered a previously unseen autopsy report that concluded the case should have been investigated as a homicide.
If the judge decides that Snuka is not mentally fit to stand trial, the case could be stalled indefinitely. By law, defendants can't be prosecuted if they suffer from a mental disorder that prevents them from understanding court proceedings and assisting in the preparation of their defense.
LENTOWN — Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka has been found incompetent to stand trial in the 1983 murder of his girlfriend, Lehigh County Judge Kelly L. Banach ruled Wednesday.
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's wife took the witness stand Wednesday and described the retired wrestler as a man so "oblivious" to his surroundings that when he was arrested for murder last year he thought he was making an appearance for sports fans.
"They were all so happy to see me," Carole Snuka recalled her husband saying after he was released on bail. "They all wanted my autograph."
Jimmy Snuka, 73, was back in Lehigh County Court for the fourth day of a hearing to determine whether he's competent to stand trial for the 1983 homicide of his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino.
Carole Snuka was the final defense witness in the hearing, which has stretched over three weeks. After a lunch recess, Judge Kelly L. Banach will hear attorneys' arguments. She could rule this afternoon, or she could hand down a written opinion at a later date.
Due to a gag order in the case, lawyers would not answer questions Wednesday.
Carole and Jimmy Snuka met in 1994 and were married in 2004. She testified that her husband used to drive the couple everywhere and was so good with directions she thought he had "a photographic memory."
Then, around 2008, she said she started noticing her husband make mistakes on the road that got more and more severe as time went on.
"I'd tell him to make a left and he'd make a right, or he'd get nervous and he wouldn't turn at all," Carole Snuka said. "If he dropped his electronic [cigarette], he would bend down to pick it up rather than focus on the road."
Jimmy Snuka doesn't drive at all now, Carole Snuka said. In fact, he gets so confused that he routinely gets locked in the car because he can't operate the buttons on the door handles.
At home, she said, her husband's declining mental ability is more obvious. She would cook a meal for him, she said, and he would tell her it was too hot. Five minutes later, she said, her husband would complain about the meal being too cold and microwave it. At least once, he repeated the reheat-cool-reheat cycle until the food was burned black and inedible, she said.
Prosecutors asked Carole Snuka about wrestling appearances her husband has made in the past two year, including 2015 bouts that occurred as a grand jury was investigating him for homicide.
Carole Snuka said that her husband loves to wrestle, so if she trusts the other people in the ring to make sure he won't be hurt, she doesn't stop him.
"When he gets in the ring he's in his element. He's happy," she said.
In past weeks, two mental health experts have already taken the stand during earlier legs of the hearing.
Dr. Frank Dattilio, a forensic psychologist hired by the defense, said Snuka is a "shell of a man" who does not even know why he is in court due to concussion-related memory problems.
Forensic psychiatrist John O'Brien, the prosecution's expert, though, said Snuka is faking dementia, based on the way he interacts with people inside and outside the courtroom. O'Brien said Snuka's medical records do not even show that he sustained a single concussion.
Prosecutors last month showed Banach videos of Snuka, taken over the last year, where he was wrestling and giving interviews. Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Gallagher argued that the videos show Snuka is aware of his surroundings and can communicate with others.
But when he's at those events, Carole Snuka said Wednesday, he's not mentally present.
"Promoters will book him because his name draws," she said. "but that doesn't mean he's there."
On May 20, Snuka took the stand and told Banach that he suffered many head injuries in the ring but did not seek medical treatment. When questioned by the judge, Snuka claimed that he does not know his own age or who is President.
Snuka, of Camden County, N.J., was charged in September with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. A county grand jury last year determined that Snuka repeatedly assaulted Argentino, 23, at the former George Washington Motor Lodge in Whitehall Township and then left her in bed to die.
The charges came to light after a 2013 Morning Call investigation on the 30th anniversary of Argentino's death that uncovered a previously unseen autopsy report that concluded the case should have been investigated as a homicide.
If the judge decides that Snuka is not mentally fit to stand trial, the case could be stalled indefinitely. By law, defendants can't be prosecuted if they suffer from a mental disorder that prevents them from understanding court proceedings and assisting in the preparation of their defense.