Ex-GOP Congressional candidate and ex-WWE wrestler endorsed by Trump is wanted on MURDER charge in Las Vegas after 47-year-old man was found dead in hotel room
An ex-GOP congressional candidate and former WWE wrestler is wanted in Las Vegas on murder charges after a man was found dead in a hotel room.
Daniel Rodimer, 45, has been charged with the murder of Christopher Tapp, 47, which took place on October 29 last year.
Tapp was a recently exonerated man who had spent twenty years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of the 1996 murder of his friend.
His death in a Resorts World suite was initially ruled an accident, but the Clark County Coroner’s Office later ruled it a homicide after discovering “blunt force trauma” to his head.
Now Rodimer, a married father of six, is wanted in connection with the murder and is currently at large. FOX5Vegas reports.
Ex-GOP congressional candidate and former WWE wrestler Daniel Rodimer is wanted in Las Vegas on murder charges
Rodimer, 45, has been charged with the murder of Christopher Tapp, 47, which occurred on October 29 last year. He was found dead in a hotel room
Rodimer is a former WWE wrestler and has unsuccessfully run for Congress twice
Tapp was a recently exonerated man who had spent twenty years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of the murder of his friend in 1996
Police said Tapp had been involved in an “altercation” before his death.
Originally from Rockaway, New Jersey, Rodimer became a wrestler after winning the 2004 WWE’s Tough Enough match, eventually moving on to wrestle with WWE on the Raw brand under the name Dan Rodimer.
In 2020, he challenged Democratic Rep. Susie Lee ran for her seat in Nevada’s District 3 and lost by 13,000 votes.
He later moved to Texas to run as a Republican in a District 6 special election with the slogan “Vote Big Dan,” where he was trounced again by just over 2,000 votes, equivalent to 2.7 percent of the vote.
He also drew the ire of Donald Trump’s team after labeling himself as the “Trump candidate” and falsely claiming he had received the support of the current presidential candidate.
Rodimer’s Instagram bio notes that he graduated from law school and his wrestling fan page indicates that he attended the University of South Florida, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and played football for the school.
He also had a semi-professional football career for the Tampa Bay Barracudas, played for the Arena Football League and worked as a personal trainer, the page said.
Tapp died not long after being released from prison, where he was serving a sentence for the wrongful conviction of the rape and murder of his friend, 18-year-old Angie Doge in Idaho.
The former wrestler was charged with Tapp’s death after the coroner’s office changed the ruling from an accidental verdict to a murder case.
Rodimer became a wrestler after winning the WWE’s reality Tough Enough competition in 2004
Rodimer is a married father of six who tried to run as a Republican candidate in Nevada and Texas. In the photo: the suspect with his wife Sarah Rodimer
Tapp was charged in February 1997, about eight months after Dodge’s nearly decapitated body was discovered in her Idaho Falls apartment.
Tapp initially told investigators he had nothing to do with the crime, but after multiple interviews and a polygraph test, the then 20-year-old confessed to involvement and accused two others.
One of his friends was also charged, but this was later dismissed. Tapp was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to 40 years.
However, he claimed that he only told police what they wanted to hear and that his case was ultimately handled by the Idaho Innocence Project.
Carol Doge, the victim’s mother, also did not believe Tapp was responsible after watching the video of his interrogation.
She was stunned to see police show Tapp crime scene footage after he appeared to have no knowledge of Dodge’s apartment.
Steve Drizin, a clinical professor of law at Northwestern University and co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, also viewed the videos of the confession and told “Dateline” that it was the “worst example of police contamination” and “fact feeding.” he had ever seen.
In 2017, Tapp’s attorney successfully argued that his client had been coerced and prosecutors agreed to suspend sentencing until time served, but this still left him guilty.
Rodimer with With Chuck Norris on the campaign trail
Rodimer drew the ire of Donald Trump’s team after labeling himself as the “Trump candidate” and falsely claiming he had received the current presidential candidate’s endorsement
Tapp’s body was found in his Resorts World suite on October 29, 2023
“That was one of the hardest decisions of my life, to have to keep saying that I was convicted of a first-degree murder that I know I didn’t commit,” Tapp told “Dateline.”
‘But I had to move on with my life. And that was the only chance I had, so I took it the best I could.”
In 2019, he was fully exonerated after DNA evidence linked Dodge’s neighbor Brian Dripps to the scene, and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Since returning to normal life, Tapp had married, bought a house and found work in a factory.
He also pressured officials to sign legislation guaranteeing compensation for those wrongly convicted.
In 2021 the bill became law and in 2021 that bill became law. Today, wrongfully incarcerated people get $62,000 per year they enter and $75,000 per year for those on death row.
DailyMail.com has contacted Rodimer for comment.