Getty/Innocence Project Daniel Rodimer and Christopher Tapp.
Daniel Rodimer is a former professional wrestler and Congressional candidate who is accused in the death of Christopher Tapp in an “altercation” at a resort on the Las Vegas strip while dressed as a “Ken” doll for a Halloween Party, according to Las Vegas police and prosecutors.
“Through the course of the investigation, homicide detectives were able to identify 45-year-old Daniel Rodimer as the suspect in this case. On March 6, 2024, an arrest warrant was issued for Rodimer on the charge of open murder,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release.
Rodimer has now surrendered to police, the Associated Press reported. According to Fox5 Vegas, a criminal complaint says the altercation occurred at a Halloween Party in which Rodimer was dressed as a “Ken” doll.
According to the Associated Press, Rodimer was known as “Dan Rodman when he was with World Wrestling Entertainment.” Rodimer’s lawyers told the AP, “He intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected.”
The man who died, Christopher Tapp, “is an Idaho man who spent two decades in prison after he was wrongfully convicted,” The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Police Say Daniel Rodimer Caused the Death of Christopher Tapp With ‘Blunt Force Trauma to the Head’ While Wearing a ‘Ken’ Costume
Getty Nevada Republican congressional candidate and former professional wrestler Daniel Rodimer speaks during a rally for U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the Boulder City Airport on October 8, 2020 in Boulder City, Nevada.
Fox5 reported that the Halloween Party occurred at Resorts World in 2023 and was attended by an F1 racer and “Instagram influencers.” A “fun room” at the party “included lines of cocaine laid out beside a hundred-dollar bill,” the television station reported.
“If you give my daughter any of that (expletive), I will (expletive) kill you,” Rodimer is accused of telling Tapp, referring to Rodimer’s stepdaughter, who had accompanied him to the party, Fox5 reported, adding that witnesses believed Rodimer ran into the room to fight Tapp. A witness said that Rodimer knocked Tapp down, and Tapp hit his head on a table, Fox5 added, noting that the witness accused Rodimer of continuing to punch Tapp “throughout his head and body.”
Dan Rodimer was wearing “a large fur jacket with no shirt as a ‘Ken’ costume. A witness told police he watched ‘angry Ken’ rip off his jacket and run into the bedroom containing the ‘fun room,'” Fox5 reported.
On November 22, 2023, LVMPD Homicide “was made aware of a suspicious death that occurred October 29, 2023, in the 3000 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard,” police wrote in the release.
On October 29, 2023, medical personnel “responded to a call for service regarding a male, later identified as 47-year-old Christopher Tapp, suffering from injuries as a result of a purported accident. Tapp was transported to the hospital and was later pronounced deceased,” the release says.
“Through the course of the suspicious death investigation, LVMPD Homicide Detectives have learned Tapp was in an altercation inside a room at a resort before being located and transported to the hospital,” it says.
“The Clark County Coroner’s Office has since ruled Tapp’s death a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to the head,” the release says.
Tapp’s wrongful conviction stemmed from the rape and murder of a woman named Angie Dodge. According to the Innocence Project:
On the morning of June 13, 1996, Angie Dodge was raped and stabbed to death in her apartment in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She was 18 years old, and her body was found after she didn’t show up for work.
The city’s police department investigated the killing, but the summer and fall came and went without an arrest. That changed in early 1997, after a man from Idaho Falls named Benjamin Hobbs was arrested on January 5 in Ely, Nevada, and charged with sexual assault. After learning of the arrest, Idaho Falls police interviewed Hobbs and then began interviewing his friends, trying to build a case against him. One friend was 20-year-old Christopher Tapp. He and Dodge were part of a sprawling group of young people, so-called “River Rats,” who hung out by the trails along the Snake River not far from Dodge’s apartment. Tapp had also been seen with Dodge at a gathering the night before she died . . .
Mitochondrial DNA testing performed at the regional laboratory of the Federal Bureau of Investigation showed that the DNA on the hair was consistent with the DNA of the semen and excluded Tapp. Tapp’s legal team continued to push for further DNA testing.
The DNA was later matched to another man, Brian Dripps, according to the Innocence Project. Dripps received a life prison sentence, according to Idaho Press.
2. Dan Rodimer Said Ted Cruz & the ‘Trump Family Sent Him’ to Run for Congress in Texas
According to Ballotpedia, Daniel Rodimer has run for office several times, losing each race.
“He ran in a special election to the U.S. House to represent Texas’ 6th Congressional District. He lost in the special general election on May 1, 2021,” Ballotpedia reports.
According to Ballotpedia, Rodimer also lost a 2018 race for the Nevada State Senate. He lost a Republican primary, the site reports.
In 2020, he ran for U.S. House in Nevada, also as a Republican, losing to Democrat Susie Lee, Ballotpedia reports. He was endorsed by President Donald Trump in that race, according to the Review Journal.
When Rodimer, who lived in Nevada, decided to run for the Congressional race in Texas, he said “Ted Cruz and the Trump family sent him,” Politico reported. Rodimer also told people “he had come from Mar-a-Lago and would be returning there after,” Politico reported.
Pressed on these reports by Politico, he said, “A number of individuals have privately encouraged me to run for office in the state. I did have dinner with Sen. Cruz a couple of weeks ago, and he thought I should consider a future run but not specifically this seat.”
Politico reported that Rodimer would face “carpetbagging attacks,” although he “previously worked as a homebuilder in Houston and owned a house in Galveston.” CNN described Rodimer as pro-Trump.
However, according to her X page, Trump endorsed a different candidate in that race, Republican Susan Wright.
3. Daniel Rodimer Released a Campaign Video Showing Him Riding a Bull & Railing Against ‘the Commies in D.C.’
When Rodimer announced he was running for Congress in Texas, he was described by Newsweek as a “surprise entry” in the race to replace deceased Rep. Ron Wright, who died of COVID-19, Newsweek reported.
He started the video by talking about “bull riding.” The video shows him on a bull. “We call that bull Nancy Pelosi. It’s a beast,” a man says on the sidelines.
“I’m big Dan Rodimer,” Rodimer declares in the video. “We need a big fighter to solve those problems.”
He added, “Send Big Dan to Congress. I know how to handle Nancy Pelosi. I’ll put a boot right in her socialist platform.” The video then shows him stepping in a pile of manure.
“The commies in D.C. are ruining America,” he says in the video. Politico reported that Rodimer sent “shock waves through the race.”
4. Daniel Rodimer, Who Was Born in New Jersey, Is a Father of 5 Who Was Director of Security for a Faith & Community Initiative
Innocence ProjectChristopher Tapp.
According to Newsweek, Rodimer stands 6 foot 7 inches tall and was born in New Jersey.
PWTorch described Rodimer as a top WWE prospect because “at 6’7″ and 300lbs, with a naturally arrogant presence, Rodman knows how to play the part of the heel, which is why WWE reportedly wanted him to win the 2004 Tough Enough competition.”
That site reported that Rodimer has a background in college football at the University of South Florida,” and “wrestles a power style.”
According to PWTorch, he could bench press 500 pounds and graduated with a 3.8 grade-point average before starting a mortgage company in Tampa, Florida.
He “grew up idolizing Hulk Hogan,” PW Torch reported.
According to Ballotpedia, Rodimer “attended and graduated from Ave Maria School of law.”
The site says he is a father of five and “Director of security for the Faith and Community initiative in Nevada as well as Clark County school district school safety committee member.” According to Fox5, the criminal complaint indicates Rodimer is going through a divorce.
Dan Rodimer “is professional experience includes working as a businessman, professional wrestler, and football player,” Ballotpedia reported, adding that his wife is named Sarah. Rodimer’s wife once accused him of having “stolen her jewelry and guns,” Politico reported.
5. Daniel Rodimer Has a Prior Arrest History for Assault
In 2019, when he was running for Congress in Nevada, the Associated Press dug up his old arrest record, reporting that he “has been accused of assault three times.”
The incidents occurred in Florida from 2010 through 2013, AP reported, adding that Rodimer “was accused of punching or throwing someone to the ground in disputes at nightclubs and restaurants.” He was arrested for battery at a Waffle House in one incident, AP reported.
In one of the incidents, according to AP, a bartender told police Rodimer “sucker punched” him in the face after the bartender asked Rodimer “to have his girlfriend lower her skirt because several male customers were trying to look up her skirt.”
According to Politico, Democrats ran ads raising the accusations, with one accusing Rodimer of causing a man “intracranial bleeding.” The ad says, “Rodimer himself said he likes to ‘f—‘ people up,’” according to Politico.
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