A former GOP Congressional candidate and ex-WWE wrestler surrendered to authorities in Las Vegas on a murder charge after a man was found dead in a hotel room. Daniel Rodimer, 45, is facing charges in connection with the murder of Christopher Tapp, 47, which took place on October 29 last year.
Tapp was a recently exonerated man who had spent 20 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing his friend in 1996. Initially believed to be an accident, Tapp's death at a Resorts World suite was later determined as a homicide by the Clark County Coroner's Office after discovering "blunt force trauma" to his head during the investigation.
Hidden Truth Comes Out
Rodimer, a married father-of-six, turned himself into Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday night. Lawyers representing Rodimer said that he "vigorously contests" the allegations, as reported by 8News Now.
Authorities said that Tapp had been engaged in an "altercation" before his death.
Originally from Rockaway, New Jersey, Rodimer became a wrestler after winning WWE's Tough Enough contest in 2004. He later worked with WWE, wrestling on its Raw brand under the name Dan Rodimer.
In 2020, Rodimer contested the District 3 seat in Nevada against Democratic Rep. Susie Lee, suffering a loss by 13,000 votes.
He then relocated to Texas to run as a Republican in a District 6 special election, adopting the slogan 'Vote Big Dan.' However, he faced another defeat, securing just over 2,000 votes, equivalent to 2.7 percent of the ballot.
Rodimer also drew ire from Donald Trump's team when he portrayed himself as the "Trump candidate" and falsely claimed that he had secured an endorsement from the then-presidential hopeful.
Rodimer's Instagram biography indicates that he is a law school graduate, and his wrestling fan page mentions he attended the University of South Florida, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and played football for the school.
Suspicious Character
Rodimer's background includes a semi-pro football career with the Tampa Bay Barracudas, involvement in the Arena Football League, and work as a personal trainer, as mentioned on his fan page.
Tapp died shortly after being released from prison, where he had served time for the wrongful conviction of the rape and murder of his friend, 18-year-old Angie Dodge, in Idaho.
Tapp was charged in February 1997, around eight months after the Dodge's nearly decapitated body was found at her apartment in Idaho Falls.
Initially denying involvement in the crime, Tapp later confessed during multiple interviews and a polygraph test when he was 20 years old and accused two others in his confession.
One of Tapp's friends was also charged, but the charges were later dismissed. Tapp was found guilty in 1998 and received a 40-year sentence.
Throughout the legal process, he claimed that he had only confessed to what the police wanted to hear. The Idaho Innocence Project eventually took up his case.
Carol Dodge, the victim's mother, also did not believe Tapp was responsible after reviewing the video of his interrogation.
She was surprised to see the police showing Tapp images of the crime scene, as he did not seem to have prior knowledge of Dodge's apartment.
In 2017, Tapp's lawyer successfully argued that his client had been coerced, leading the prosecutor's office to agree to vacate the conviction, resulting in Tapp being released with credit for time served. Nevertheless, the guilty conviction remained on his record.
In 2019, Tapp was fully exonerated when DNA evidence linked Angie Dodge's neighbor, Brian Dripps, to the crime scene. Dripps was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
