Retired pro wrestler who ran twice for Congress pleads not guilty in Las Vegas murder case

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A retired skilled wrestler and former congressional candidate in Nevada and Texas pleaded not responsible Wednesday to a homicide cost within the loss of life of a person final 12 months at a Las Vegas Strip resort.

Daniel Rodimer, 45, appeared in courtroom for a quick arraignment. His attorneys, Richard Schonfeld and David Chesnoff, advised a state courtroom choose they intend to file paperwork difficult Rodimer’s indictment within the Halloween social gathering loss of life of Christopher Tapp of Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Exterior courtroom, Chesnoff advised reporters that Rodimer “vigorously denies any accountability for the allegations.”

Rodimer lives in Texas. He misplaced Republican bids for Congress in Nevada in 2020 and in Texas in 2021. He surrendered to Las Vegas police for his arrest March 6 and stays free on a $200,000 bail.

A grand jury was advised that Tapp was fatally injured when he hit his head on a desk after Rodimer attacked him throughout a dispute about drug use within the presence of Rodimer’s stepdaughter on the social gathering on the Resorts World Las Vegas resort. Tapp died a number of days later.

Tapp, 47, was the recipient in 2022 of an $11.7 million settlement in a lawsuit stemming from his a wrongful conviction in Idaho in a 1996 killing. He had spent greater than 20 years in jail.