Retired wrestler Daniel Rodimer, who was endorsed by Donald Trump during a failed bid for congress in 2020, surrendered to authorities after they issued a warrant for his arrest in a 2023 murder on the Las Vegas Strip.
Rodimer was spotted walking through the doors of the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday around 6 p.m., the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. It came just hours after the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department declared 45-year-old Rodimer a suspect in the killing of Christopher Tapp, an Idaho man who spent more than two decades behind bars after he was wrongfully convicted of murder. He was released from prison in 2017.
Tapp died at Sunrise Hospital on Nov. 5, after a “physical altercation” at the Resorts World Las Vegas a week earlier. According to an arrest warrant obtained by 8 News Now, Rodimer allegedly became upset with Tapp for offering his stepdaughter cocaine.
A witness claimed to hear Tapp telling him, “If you ever talk to my daughter again, I’ll [expletive] kill you,” and then two loud banging noises.
A different witness told police she saw “Dan knock Christopher to the ground, at which time Christopher’s head hit a small table,” the documents said. “Dan proceeded to punch Christopher throughout his head and body.”
In the days after the confrontation, Rodimer exchanged troubling texts with his wife, Sarah, which were later obtained by police.
“I watched you nearly murder somebody and I had to take your [expletive] hands off from his neck as he laid there and you ran away and I spent the next two hours trying to take care of him,” Sarah wrote. “Nobody should have to watch their husband murder somebody.”
The Clark County Coroner’s Office has since ruled Tapp’s death a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.
Rodimer, a Republican, challenged Democratic Rep. Susie Lee for her seat in Nevada’s District 3 in 2020. During the campaign, he earned the support of Trump, who said he would be “an incredible congressman for Nevada.”
“A former professional wrestler, he will fight for lower taxes, better education and more jobs, and he will always support our brave law enforcement!” Trump said. “Dan has my complete and total endorsement!”
Rodimer lost that election by around 13,000 votes. He later relocated to Texas, where he competed against 23 other candidates in a 2021 special congressional election to replace Republican Ron Wright. Wright was the first member of Congress to die after contracting COVID-19.
With News Wire Services
