Race car driver failed to help dying man in Las Vegas hotel room, lawsuit alleges
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A professional race car driver is accused of advising partygoers in a Las Vegas Strip hotel room not to call security after an attack that later claimed a man’s life, the victim’s mother alleges in a lawsuit filed in a Las Vegas court.
Vera Tapp, the mother of Christopher Tapp who died in November 2023, filed the civil suit Thursday against John Odom; his company, Odom Racing; Resorts World Las Vegas and Vegas Nights VIP.
Dan Rodimer, a former Nevada Republican congressional candidate and ex-wrestler, faces charges for allegedly attacking Tapp on Oct. 29, 2023. Doctors pronounced Tapp dead at a Las Vegas hospital on Nov. 5. Dan Rodimer is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
The Clark County coroner’s office ruled Tapp’s death a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to his head, documents said. A scan showed he suffered several brain bleeds.
Las Vegas Metro police issued an arrest warrant in March for Dan Rodimer, 45, for the death of Christoper Tapp, 47. Tapp died after an incident at Resorts World on Oct. 29, 2023. A Clark County grand jury indicted Dan Rodimer on the murder charge earlier this year. (KLAS)" loading="lazy" width="900" height="506" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="rounded-lg" style="color:transparent" fifu-data-src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/5h7KlKKQwUwZKORStES2lw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/klas_articles_549/3ee6593c612fe224a7bc8400b2e61ae7">
Las Vegas Metro police issued an arrest warrant in March for Dan Rodimer, 45, for the death of Christoper Tapp, 47. Tapp died after an incident at Resorts World on Oct. 29, 2023. A Clark County grand jury indicted Dan Rodimer on the murder charge earlier this year. (KLAS)
“Defendant John Odom was in the master bedroom when the attack occurred, and during the attack, two loud banging noises were heard by persons who attended the party,” the complaint said. “After the attack occurred, defendant John Odom and Daniel Rodimer exited the bedroom and defendant John Odom loudly said not to call security.”
None of the defendants called for medical service despite knowing Tapp was severely injured, according to the complaint.
“After laying concussed in the master bedroom for a significant period of time, Resorts World’s security was contacted,” the complaint stated. Odom told security Tapp slipped and fell, the complaint alleges.
Medical personnel arrived 20 to 30 minutes later, according to the complaint. The complaint also alleged defendants did not provide security for the party and failed to timely render aid to Tapp after he was attacked.
Police initially suspected Tapp died of an “apparent overdose” and “fall,” according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained earlier this year. However, after interviews with witnesses, police believe Dan Rodimer attacked Tapp after he allegedly offered Dan Rodimer’s model stepdaughter cocaine during the party.
Investigators later said they learned Tapp — who himself was acquitted of murder after serving two decades in prison — had been involved in an altercation inside the hotel room before he was found and taken to the hospital.
A grand jury later indicted Dan Rodimer for murder.
A witness claimed to hear Dan Rodimer say, “If you ever talk to my daughter again, I’ll [expletive] kill you,” documents said. “Immediately after hearing Dan say this to Christopher, [the witness] heard two loud banging noises,” police said.
A photo of the outside of Resorts World Las Vegas welcome Odom as provided in the civil lawsuit. (KLAS)
A second witness told police she saw “Dan knock Christopher to the ground, at which time Christopher’s head hit a small table.” She then said she witnessed Dan Rodimer “punch Christopher throughout his head and body,” documents said.
Another witness told a person attending the hotel room party that Tapp slipped and fell and hit his head on a coffee table, according to the documents. Other witnesses told police several people used cocaine at the party.
It does not appear anyone at the party ever called 911, according to documents.
Evidence obtained by the 8 News Now Investigators included a video of Rodimer dressed as shirtless “Ken” for the Halloween party and to celebrate Odom and his image on the side of the exterior of Resorts World.
A witness told the grand jury she is a friend of Dan Rodimer’s stepdaughter and that Tapp offered her and the stepdaughter cocaine, documents said. Later, Dan Rodimer allegedly made the threat to Tapp when Dan Rodimer’s wife, Sarah Rodimer, entered the room, dressed as “Barbie” in an attempt to calm down her husband.
According to grand jury transcripts, the witness said Sarah Rodimer told her the next day not to say anything if law enforcement asked.
“She said if anyone asks you about it, law enforcement wise, to say you didn’t see anything,” the witness told the grand jury. “She said you don’t want to get involved in this.”
Investigators also obtained text messages between Dan Rodimer and Sarah Rodimer where Sarah Rodimer said: “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. Nobody should have to watch their husband murder somebody.”
Dan Rodimer faces a murder charge for the death of Christopher Tapp, 47. Tapp died days after Rodimer allegedly punched him inside Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip on Oct. 29, 2023. (KLAS)
Dan Rodimer’s attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, previously argued that text messages from Sarah Rodimer should not be part of the evidence in the case. At the time of their client’s arrest, they said Dan Rodimer intended to fight the charge. The attorneys also told a judge some grand jury testimony was impermissible, however, the judge later denied their claims.
Tapp, of Idaho, was previously charged in the 1996 rape and murder of an 18-year-old, despite being excluded by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project. He was convicted in 1998 on charges of first-degree murder, rape, and use of a deadly weapon, and sentenced later that year to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 30 years for the murder conviction and 10 years for the rape conviction.
On July 17, 2019, Tapp’s murder conviction was vacated.
In 2020 Dan Rodimer, a former professional wrestler, lost his bid to represent Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District against Democratic Rep. Susie Lee. Dan Rodimer lost the 2020 election to Lee by nearly 13,000 votes — or 3 percentage points. He later left Nevada and lost a bid to represent Texas’ 6th Congressional District, coming in 11th in a 2021 primary.
Dan Rodimer remained out of custody Friday on $200,000 bond. A jury trial was scheduled for February.
As of November, Odom, Sarah Rodimer and other partygoers had not been criminally charged.
Attorneys for Vera Tapp filed the civil complaint in Clark County District Court. The 8 News Now Investigators previously reached out to Odom last May, and again Friday evening. The 8 News Now Investigators also reached out to Resorts World on Friday evening.
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