Las Vegas Murder Case! Retired Wrestler, Former Congressional Candidate Maintains Innocence, Pleads Not Guilty
LAS VEGAS – On Wednesday, a retired professional wrestler who had previously run for Congress in Texas and Nevada entered a not-guilty plea to a murder charge related to a man who died at a Las Vegas Strip hotel last year.
The 45-year-old Daniel Rodimer showed up in court for a quick arraignment. Richard Schonfeld and David Chesnoff, his attorneys, informed a state court judge that they planned to submit paperwork contesting Rodimer’s charge in the Halloween party death of Christopher Tapp of Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Chesnoff stated to reporters outside the court that Rodimer “vigorously denies any responsibility for the allegations.”
Texas is home to Rodimer. His Republican campaigns for Congress in Texas in 2021 and Nevada in 2020 were unsuccessful.
Remaining free on a $200,000 bail, he turned himself into Las Vegas police on March 6 in anticipation of his arrest.
Rodimer attacked Tapp after a fight about drug use in front of Rodimer’s stepdaughter at the Resorts World Las Vegas party, and Tapp struck his head on a table, killing him, according to evidence presented to the grand jury. A few days later, Tapp passed away.
The lawsuit he was wrongfully convicted of in Idaho in 1996 resulted in a $11.7 million settlement for 47-year-old Tapp in 2022. He had served over twenty years in prison.