Grand jury indicts ex-congressional candidate on murder charge, documents show
A Former Nevada congressional candidate was indicted on a murder charge in connection with the death of an Idaho man in a Las Vegas Strip resort room in the fall.
A Clark County grand jury voted to indict Daniel Rodimer on Thursday, according to District Court documents.
The indictment alleges that the former Republican House nominee struck Christopher Tapp on the head and that the killing was “willful, deliberate and premeditated.”
Four people testified in front of the grand jury, including a police officer and a medical examiner, according to records.
Rodimer’s wife, identified as Sarah Duffy in court documents, was not summoned.
According to authorities, she had texted Rodimer in the hours after the alleged attack, purportedly writing that she had “watched you nearly” murder someone and that he was “going to be in prison for attempted murder.”
Rodimer’s attorneys had sought to suppress the messages but it wasn’t immediately clear if a Las Vegas Justice Court judge ruled on the motion before the case moved on to District Court.
Rodimer — who also is a former professional wrestler who now resides in Texas — was summoned for an arraignment hearing May 8, records show.
Rodimer turned himself into Metropolitan Police Department custody on March 6 and promptly was released after posting $200,000 in bail.
“Mr. Rodimer is voluntarily surrendering to authorities and will post a court ordered bail,” attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld wrote in an emailed statement at the time. “He intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected.”
On Friday evening, Rodimer’s attorneys said, “Mr. Rodimer maintains his complete innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court.”
Police allege that Rodimer attacked Tapp during a party at the Resorts World hotel suite on Oct. 29.
Tapp, 47, was released from an Idaho prison in 2017 after serving two decades for a murder he didn’t commit and for which he was later exonerated.
Rodimer’s apparent anger at Tapp was sparked after Tapp was alleged to have offered Rodimer’s stepdaughter cocaine, or other drugs, according to Las Vegas police documents, which cite witnesses.
A “visibly upset” Rodimer then went into a bathroom where Tapp was and was heard to say, “If you ever talk to my daughter again, I’ll f—-ing kill you,” according to the arrest documents.
Rodimer, who was endorsed by then-President Donald Trump in 2020, lost his bid for Nevada’s 3rd District to incumbent Rep. Susie Lee.
The following year, Rodimer lost a bid in Texas’ 6th Congressional District during a special election.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
