The host of the cocaine-fueled Las Vegas bash where pro wrestler-turned-Congressional candidate Dan Rodimer allegedly pummeled a man to death is a major Republican donor whose wife accused a former Trump aide of groping her, DailyMail.com can reveal.
John Odom, 48, a flashy millionaire construction executive who owns a drag racing team, threw the wild Halloween party at a luxury suite at the Resorts World Hotel last October, where Chris Tapp, 47 suffered lethal injuries.
Tapp, who was one of his racing team’s major backers, died in the hospital five days later.
Political wannabe Rodimer, 45, who has been charged with murdering Tapp, was a guest at the party along with his wife and daughter.
Republican donor John Odom, 48, (pictured) had hosted the wild Halloween party at Resorts World Las Vegas last year where Christopher Tapp was pummeled to death
Odom, a construction executive, is a major GOP donor and Trump supporter, whose now ex-wife Trashelle (pictured) once accused the former president’s Corey Lewandowski of unwanted sexual advances
WWE star turned Republican politician Dan Rodimer (pictured left in his mugshot) is accused of pummeling Christopher Tapp (right) to death at the Las Vegas party last October. Tapp was a recently exonerated man who had served 20 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing his friend in 1996
Odom declined comment when approached by DailyMail.com at his home in Boise, Idaho.
His attorney William Carter said: ‘John was friends with Chris Tapp, but he wasn’t present when he fell or was pushed.
‘He has also passed at least one or two hair follicle tests for illegal drugs.’
Odom spent seven years in prison for financial crimes and, according to court records, is facing a new litany of lawsuits from investors, banks and creditors.
His ex-wife Trashelle hit the headlines in 2021 when she claimed top Trump aide Corey Lewandowski had drunkenly groped her and thrown a drink over her at a charity event in Vegas.
Lewandowski, 50, was charged with battery and fined $1,000, given community service and ordered to undergo impulse control counseling.
Rodimer and Odom became firm friends after meeting at a CPAC event in Dallas earlier in 2021. They often partied together when Odom was in Vegas.
‘They shared a lot of the same vices, drugs, women and the spotlight,’ one insider who has hang out with both told DailyMail.com.
‘They both loved being the center of attention.’
Odom, who has been pictured with Donald Trump and with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem – who has been accused of having an affair with Lewandowski – was a major donor to Republican Louisiana governor Jeff Landry.
Politico reported that he had donated $100,000 to Landry’s political operation – but then asked for it back when Landry hired Lewandowski as an advisor.
He also gave another $100,000 to federal Republican candidates in the 2022 midterms.
Odom’s ex-wife Trashelle (pictured together left) made headlines in 2021 when she claimed top Trump aide Corey Lewandowski (right) had drunkenly groped her and thrown a drink over her at a charity event in Vegas
Tapp, who died five days after the violent attack, was one of Odom’s racing team’s major backers and had paid tribute to his friend in a heartfelt Facebook post two weeks before the party
Odom himself also thanked Tapp for his support in a Facebook post showing himself revving a metallic blue GT-R for a race in Vegas, a week before the ill-fated event
Tapp, pictured left during a post-conviction relief hearing in 2017, Tapp, 47, was only released from prison in 2019 after serving 20 years for a murder he did not commit
The Idaho Capital Sun reported in 2001 that he had given $20,000 to former GOP congressman Raul Labrador.
According to divorce papers filed last year by Trashelle, 34, Odom started his construction business after his release but had to do so under a friend’s name because he was barred from doing business because of his conviction.
Trashelle accused him of raping and repeatedly threatening her, while carrying on relationships with nearly a dozen women including prostitutes.
The papers say Odom – who has two children with Trashelle – was ordered to pay his wife $50,000 a month while the case was ongoing but did not and he ended up owing her $478,000.
In the end a judge in Boise ruled he should pay her $15,000 a month support.
In her 53-page ruling, Magistrate Judge Fafa Alidjani wrote: ‘John’s misconduct during this case makes it nearly impossible for the court to calculate the potential liens or encumbrances’ on property including several vehicles that Trashelle was awarded.
He is now appealing the decision.
Attorney Carter – who did not represent him in the initial divorce hearing – told DailyMail.com that Odom was away at a racing event for two of the three days of the hearing and so little defense was presented on his behalf.
‘The allegations she made are all in dispute,’ Carter said.
Odom spends much of his time showcasing his exploits as a professional drag car driver on social media and YouTube.
Odom and Trashelle have since divorced and he now spends much of his time showcasing his exploits as a professional drag car driver on social media and YouTube. He is pictured posing with a fan in his hometown of Boise, Idaho on Monday
Rodimer and his wife Sarah (pictured with Kevin McCarthy in a social media photo) were guests at Odom’s Halloween party
Odom was pictured with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who has been accused of having an affair with Lewandowski, in Las Vegas
A Twitter user posted a screen shot that appears to describe the Odoms’ meeting with former President Trump
He boasts of having the ‘fastest GT-R in the World,’ a 4,500-horsepower car delivering a top speed of 250-plus miles per hour.
Tapp was a major sponsor, using money from an $11.7million settlement he was awarded when he was cleared of murdering his teenage girlfriend and spending 20 years in prison.
In turn, Tapp frequently joined Odom at racing events and parties.
‘John easily exploited the fact that this guy had never really explored any of this lifestyle,’ the insider told DailyMail.com.
‘There’s nobody better than John, with the possible exception of Dan Rodimer, at walking in front of you and making you feel like the world is yours. All of a sudden, Tapp had the financial means to participate, and John was very good at keeping that wallet open.
‘There were always, always, always girls.’
Just a week before the fateful Vegas party, Odom posted video on Facebook of himself revving up his metallic blue GT-R for a race in Vegas.
In that same post, he thanked supporters including ‘Chris Tapp for all you do and Resorts World Las Vegas for everything!!!!’
A few days before that, Tapp put a video on Facebook showing Odom hugging him and thanking him for his support.
‘Chris Tapp has been a friend of mine for about 20 years,’ Odom declares in the clip.
‘Chris Tapp was one of the individuals who’s been wrongfully convicted, spent 20 years in prison.’
Odom’s Halloween party featured a night of debauchery with young models and ample drugs.
Among his friends and associates, Odom invited Rodimer, a retired professional wrestler who ran for Congress as a Republican in both Nevada and Texas, losing heavily each time.
The incident unfolded in a hotel room in Resorts World Las Vegas on October 29, 2023 after an alleged bust-up with the former wrestler-turned GOP candidate. Tapp later died in hospital
Rodimer became a wrestler after winning the 2004 WWE’s reality ‘Tough Enough’ contest
VIP host Jonathon Walker put on a 21st birthday party for Odom’s stepdaughter Bella Duffy (left) last April. With them is her best friend Dani Lyons, a witness to the alleged attack
Walker’s Instagram page is full of pictures of him at parties surrounded by scantily clad women
Rodimer attended with his wife Sarah, 21-year-old stepdaughter Bella Duffy and 22-year-old Dani Lyons – Bella’s close friend who like her is a model and Instagram influencer.
Rodimer is accused of attacking Tapp because he had given cocaine to Duffy.
‘If you give my daughter any of that s**t, I will f***ing kill you,’ he told Tapp, according to the police report.
Rodimer, who was dressed as Ken from the Barbie movie, ripped off his fur coat and charged at him shirtless, punching him and pushing him, the report alleges. Tapp allegedly hit his head on a table as he fell.
Duffy’s friend Lyons told police that she’d been doing cocaine with Bella and another person even before Tapp entered the room, and that she saw Rodimer then pummel Tapp, who didn’t fight back.
The victim was left with a life-threatening brain bleed and a severely swollen neck and was drifting in and out of consciousness when he was taken to the hospital.
According to police records, Odom was not in the room during the fracas and then tried to ‘neutralize’ the situation before emergency services were called.
Las Vegas Police reports on the October 30 incident redacted names of all the witnesses in the case.
DailyMail.com has discovered the identities of most of the key players.
Walker (pictured with Duffy) had met the Rodimers after they asked him to organize Duffy’s 21st birthday party at the Encore Beach Club in Vegas in April last year
Walker has organized dozens of parties in Las Vegas and was ccontaacted by Sarah Rodimer to bring girls to the event where Tapp was fatally injured
Odom declined to comment when approached by DailyMail.com outside his Boise home (pictured). He previously spent seven years in prison for financial crimes and, according to court records, is facing a new litany of lawsuits from investors, banks and creditors
Odom started his business, HMH Construction, after his stint in prison
Odom hosted the party and Rodimer’s wife Sarah, 43, brought in Jonathon Walker – who describes himself as a VIP host – to provide girls for the party.
Walker’s Instagram page is full of pictures of him at parties surrounded by scantily clad women.
Walker had met the Rodimers when they asked him to organize Duffy’s 21st birthday party at the Encore Beach Club in Vegas in April last year.
The night of the Halloween party, Odom and his assistant Mark Snyder, 35, set up a ‘fun room’ in the suite’s master bathroom, with lines of cocaine and a rolled-up $100 bill to snort it, according to the police report.
Rodimer, who adamantly denies murder, was only charged in early March, four months after Tapp died, when police got a warrant to search phones belonging to him, his wife, Odom and Bella Duffy.
They found a series of angry messages Sarah, 43, wrote to Rodimer within four hours of the attack.
One of them said: ‘I watched you nearly murder somebody and I had to take your f***ing hands off from his neck as he laid there and you ran away.
‘Nobody should have to watch their husband murder somebody,’ she added.
Another message said: ‘I watched you murder somebody like let that sink in you psychopath.’