Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast
Murdered By a Pro Wrestler - The Chris Tapp story
Thu, 06 Feb 2025
This is the story of Chris Tapp and how he was allegedly murdered by Dan Rodimer in Las Vegas
Chapter 1: Who is Chris Tapp and what happened to him?
So this guy, he's gonna get wrongly convicted, become a millionaire, and then get into a fight with a pro wrestler. Now the guy, his name's Chris, and Chris is 20 years old, and he just wants to live his life to the fullest. So he goes to a party one night out by the river with a bunch of his friends, including this girl, Angie. Now unfortunately, the next morning after that party,
Chapter 2: How was Chris Tapp connected to Angie's murder?
Angie is found unalived in her apartment. And then six months later, bam, police bring in Chris for questioning since he was at the same party with her the night before. So they questioned Chris and they asked him if he was involved in the murder. And Chris is like, no, but police don't believe him. And they take a DNA sample from him.
Then after a few more interviews, police still believe that Chris had something to do with Angie's murder. So they get a warrant, and they arrest him, and they bring him in, and they grill him for hours. And they're threatening him with prison time, and they're telling him that they have evidence against him, even though they don't. Because, by now, the DNA results have come back.
Chapter 3: Why did police arrest Chris Tapp despite DNA evidence?
And the DNA of the killer is not a match with Chris's DNA. Oh, but that doesn't seem to matter, because police are still convinced that he is guilty. And poor Chris, at this point, he doesn't know what to do. He knows he didn't unalive anyone, but police won't let it go. And they interrogate him for a total of 28 hours over multiple sessions.
And ultimately, they offer him immunity if he confesses to being involved in the murder. So Chris, with no other option, he confesses, thinking he'll get immunity and that police will finally leave him alone. Well, guess what? Police don't leave him alone. In fact, they straight up void his immunity agreement and they charge him with first degree murder.
Chapter 4: How did Chris Tapp end up being convicted?
So Chris goes to trial and the only real evidence they have against him is the confession he was tricked into giving. So kaboom, he gets convicted and he's sentenced to life in prison. And yeah, this sucks for Chris because
prison is hard for him and so he files appeal after appeal but his appeals just keep getting rejected one after another and more than 10 years go by and he's still there in prison miserable suffering in a cell and he wants nothing more than to get out so that he can finally live his life to the fullest but then one day something crazy happens
Chapter 5: What role did the Innocence Project play in Chris Tapp's case?
A nonprofit learns about his case and they get involved. They're called the Innocence Project and they help people who they feel were wrongly convicted. So they get involved and they push for further DNA testing because DNA analysis had improved so much over those 10 years.
And around the same time, Angie's own mother, this woman, Carol, she also starts to believe that Chris had nothing to do with Angie's murder. And she starts to advocate for him. And then eventually, after years of working on this, they convince the district attorney to reduce Chris's sentence to time served.
Meaning finally, after spending 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, Chris is a free man. And then two years later, they use DNA technology to identify the actual killer and they arrest him and he confesses and Chris is totally exonerated. Oh, but it's not over yet, because Chris is about to get paid. Because he goes and sues the state for wrongful imprisonment.
And the state ends up settling with him, and they agree to pay him $11.7 million. Meanwhile, Chris, he gets involved with the Innocence Project. And he's traveling around the country, giving lectures and speeches at universities, trying to help others who were also wrongly convicted. I mean, it looks like Chris's life is really starting to turn around.
Until about three years pass after he wins his lawsuit and it's Halloween and Chris and some of his buddies, they decide to take a trip to Las Vegas. I mean, he has millions of dollars to spend, so why not? So they're all in Las Vegas in a group having a Halloween party in this hotel room. and allegedly Chris offers to share some of his drugs with this young woman there.
Apparently she was already doing drugs, he just offered her some more. That young woman happens to be the stepdaughter of another man at the party, this guy, Rodimer. So Rodimer finds out that Chris offered his stepdaughter drugs and he gets pissed and he is not about to let this slide. Here's the thing about Rodheimer. He's an interesting guy. He actually used to be a pro wrestler.
He's also an aspiring politician. He ran for Nevada State Congress and lost twice. Then he ran for the House of Representatives in Texas. And he actually got endorsed by a very well-known Bible salesman. Rodimer. But regardless, Rodimer still lost his election. Anyway, at the party, Rodimer finds out that Chris offered his stepdaughter drugs, and he gets really pissed off.
Now, some of this next part is alleged, and I'll explain why in a second. Now, allegedly, Rodimer hears what Chris did, and he rushes over to him, and he confronts him, and he gets all up in his grill, and he says, if you give my daughter any of that, I'll f***ing kill you, allegedly. Then, of course, they get into it. And Rhodeimer, he tackles Chris.
And Chris falls and hits his head on an end table. Then when Chris is down, Rhodeimer starts punching him over and over again. And finally, he starts choking him. And that is when Chris stops moving. And at some point, someone calls 911, and Chris is rushed to the hospital. And there, he fights for his life. But ultimately, after a few days, he passes away.
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