A former candidate for Congress from Nevada has been named as a suspect in the death of Chris Tapp, an Idahoan who was falsely convicted of a murder and served 20 years in jail before becoming champion for the unfairly accused. Tapp passed away last year.
On Wednesday, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said that it had secured a warrant for the arrest of Daniel Rodimer, 45, following the filing of a murder accusation against him.
Ex-Nevada Congressional Candidate Suspect in Hotel Killing
Chris Tapp, 47, passed away unexpectedly on October 29, resulting to a prompt reaction from medical staff upon being found at a nearby hotel. Despite the quick actions implemented and subsequent hospitalization, Tapp passed away due to his injuries.
The initial details surrounding the incident remained shrouded in mystery as the police department refrained from disclosing the nature of the accident initially perceived to have befallen Tapp. Subsequent investigations by Las Vegas detectives, however, unveiled a troubling narrative Tapp had been engaged in a heated altercation within a hotel room before being rushed to the hospital.
The situation became more serious when the Clark County Coroner's Office officially classified Tapp's death as a homicide, citing severe blunt force trauma to the head as the cause.
Tapp's life journey was marked by political actions as well as a turbulent dispute with the law. In 2020, running as a Republican candidate in Nevada, he questioned Democratic Representative Susie Lee for the District 3 seat, ultimately losing by around 13,000 votes. Unfazed, he later moved to Texas, joining a special congressional election in 2021 to fill the seat left empty by the late Republican Ron Wright, according to The Independent.
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Who is Chris Tapp?
His aspirations in politics reflected the obstacles he encountered in the legal field. In 2020, Tapp, a former wrestler and political candidate, was unsuccessful in Nevada's third congressional district race, being defeated by incumbent Suzanne Lee. However, these challenges were not the sole obstacles Tapp faced in life.
2019 saw a major development as Tapp was cleared of the murder of Angie Dodge, an 18-year-old woman who met a tragic end in her Idaho Falls apartment in 1996. Tapp had admitted to the crime before, but later took back his confession, saying it was due to intense questioning and multiple lie detector tests.
His search for justice continued even after being cleared of any misconduct. Tapp supported legislative initiatives in Idaho and other areas, pushing for fair compensation for exonerees. In 2021, the hard work paid off as Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a bill into law, granting Tapp $1.2 million as a symbolic acknowledgment of the years he spent unfairly imprisoned.
However, Tapp's legal battles extended beyond exoneration compensation. In 2022, he took legal action against the city of Idaho Falls and its police department, alleging "egregious misconduct." The lawsuit concluded with a settlement of $11.7 million and a public apology from the mayor in acknowledgment of the hardships Tapp endured, 9 News.
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