Lawsuit accuses Resorts World of negligence in Halloween party death
A lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died after he was allegedly beaten to death by an ex-congressional candidate during a Halloween party accuses Resorts World, host and party service of negligence.
Former Republican Nevada congressional candidate Daniel Rodimer, 45, was indicted in April on a murder charge in connection with the death of Idaho man Christopher Tapp. Rodimer pleaded not guilty in May.
Rodimer, a former professional wrestler, is accused of attacking Tapp at a Halloween party hosted in a Resorts World suite by former professional race car driver John Odom after Rodimer became angry that Tapp allegedly offered cocaine to his stepdaughter, according to an arrest report.
Tapp, 47, had spent two decades in Idaho prison for a 1996 murder he didn’t commit. He was released in 2017, exonerated in 2019 and won a $11.7 million settlement in 2022 against the city of Idaho Falls.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday by Oliver Kupe, an administrator of Tapp’s estate, and Tapp’s mother, Vera Tapp. It accuses Resorts World, Vegas Nights (the concierge service that hosted the party) and Odom, both as an individual as well as his company, Odom Racing, of wrongful death and negligent security.
None of the defendants responded to requests for comment on Monday.
The complaint said that Odom was also in the master bedroom, where the attack took place. Odom and Rodimer then exited the room and told people not to call security, the complaint said.
After what the complaint said was a “significant amount of time” in which Tapp was laying concussed in the master bedroom, security was eventually called.
Odom told security that Tapp had slipped and fell, the complaint said.
Tapp was conscious with bruises on his jaw and the back of his head when security found him, according to the complaint. Around a half-hour after security arrived, medical personnel transported him to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he remained until he died on Nov. 5, 2023.
The Clark County coroner’s office ruled Tapp’s death a homicide, with the cause of blunt head trauma.
Metro investigation
His death was initially thought to be an accident, Tapp’s friends said in April. It wasn’t until January that The Metropolitan Police Department announced the case was being considered a homicide.
Attorney Joseph Troiano, who is representing Tapp’s family, said Monday that this lawsuit stemmed from the evidence in Metro’s investigation.
A day after he was charged with a murder count, Rodimer turned himself in to police. He was released hours later after posting a $200,000 bail, and he has remained out of custody since.
In text messages sent hours after Tapp was hospitalized early Oct. 30, Rodimer’s wife said he was “going to be in prison for attempted murder,” according to copies of the text messages outlined in court documents.
Rodimer’s wife, identified as Sarah Duffy in court documents, texted her husband that she “watched you nearly murder” someone, according to court records.
“I had to take your f—-ing hands off from his neck as he laid there and you ran away,” Duffy texted.
Love for street racing
Attorney John Thomas, who defended Tapp in court for a decade, said in April that Tapp wanted to use his money from the lawsuit for his wrongful convinction to get into the world of street racing. He wanted to drive fast after having never owned a car before he was locked up behind bars. He eventually wanted to own his own race car.
His friends said his connections in street racing is what led him to visit Las Vegas, where he attended the party.
“That was Chris — Chris wanted to race cars, and hang out with the folks who were racing cars,” Greg Hampikian, a friend of Trapp’s and director of the Idaho Innocence Project, said. “He got swept up into it.”
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social.