Jimmy 'the Superfly' Snuka has been charged with a 32 year old murder.
Jimmy 'the Superfly' Snuka has been charged with a 32 year old murder.
Retired wrestling legend Jimmy Snuka has been arrested and charged with murder over the death of a girlfriend 32 years ago.
The 72-year-old, who was nicknamed Superfly during his wrestling heyday in the 1970s and '80s, was taken into custody following an arrest at his home in New Jersey earlyon Tuesday on counts of third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
Police in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania allege Snuka killed 23-year-old Nancy Argentino following a fight at a motel in Allentown in 1983.
Coroners previously ruled Argentino died from traumatic brain injuries consistent with a moving head striking a stationary object and treated her death as a homicide, according to documents obtained by local paper The Morning Call.
However, Snuka, the only person of interest in the case, claimed Argentino had injured her head after he pushed her while they were "fooling around" outside the motel room on 10 May, 1983, and when he returned following a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) event at the Allentown Fairgrounds, he found the New York native gasping for air. She subsequently passed away.
He was never charged and officials abandoned the case soon afterwards, until continued pressure from Argentino's family prompted authorities to reopen the investigation last year.
Snuka posted $US100,000 ($A142,348) bail hours after his arrest.
The legal troubles emerge weeks after the former sportsman went public with his battle with stomach cancer.
