Episode Transcript
Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.
Use Ctrl + F to search
0:00
Hey, you have sex, right? I
0:02
mean, I'm assuming you do because there's
0:04
a population around us and
0:07
they came from somewhere. All of us
0:09
have sex, unless you're, you know, one of those weirdos.
0:12
But most couples fall into a
0:14
rut after a while.
0:15
Well here's your chance
0:17
to fix that.
0:18
Adam and Eve is offering 50% off
0:21
just about any one item, plus free
0:24
shipping and rush processing.
0:27
All you gotta do is use the promo code
0:30
SWORD. More than that, Adam
0:32
and Eve wants to make your life easy.
0:34
They offer discreet shipping as your privacy
0:37
is a priority. Doesn't matter
0:39
how much you buy, how much you spend,
0:41
everything will be packaged and sent discreetly,
0:44
with fast and free shipping.
0:47
So don't wait. Better sex
0:49
is just a click away.
0:52
Bring more pleasure and satisfaction into your
0:54
bedroom, into your love life, into your
0:56
marriage or relationship.
0:59
Just go to adamandeve.com and select
1:01
just about any one item. It
1:03
could be an adventurous new toy
1:05
or
1:06
just about anything you desire.
1:08
Just enter offer code SWORD at checkout
1:11
and get your 50% off, plus
1:13
free shipping and rush priority processing.
1:16
That's SWORD at adamandeve.com.
1:20
This is an exclusive offer specific
1:22
to this podcast, so be sure to use
1:24
the code SWORD to get your discount.
1:26
100% free shipping and
1:29
get it fast with rush processing.
1:31
Code SWORD at
1:33
adamandeve.com. When
1:36
you look around your home, what makes you smile?
1:39
Personal touches? Beautiful light, lines,
1:41
colors, things of quality that enhance
1:43
your life. California Closets specializes
1:46
in making space for what belongs, with
1:48
richly textured finishes and quality materials
1:50
that last. From the bedroom to the pantry
1:53
to the mudroom, everything we do is custom
1:55
designed, built and installed by
1:57
people who take pride in serving you. Think
2:00
of it as practical magic. Book your
2:02
free design consultation today at CaliforniaClosets.com.
2:06
Sword and Scale contains adult themes
2:08
and violence, and is not intended
2:10
for all audiences. Listener
2:12
discretion is advised. Excuse
2:15
me?
2:17
I'm making a fool out of myself? Yeah, because I
2:19
didn't do shit. I'm
2:22
making a fool out of myself? I think you are. I
2:24
think you better stand up and look in the flipping mirror,
2:27
Bob. It's
2:31
the gold standard. At
2:33
the top of its game. In
2:36
the golden age of podcasting.
2:38
In the golden age of true crime.
2:41
This is Season 10, Episode 245
2:44
of Sword and Scale. A
2:48
show that reveals that the worst monsters
2:52
are real. In
3:15
case
3:21
you still don't know, we have an
3:23
app called Sword and
3:25
Scale. And it's where you can get Plus.
3:29
Our service, which allows you to get
3:31
early commercial free access to
3:34
all of our regular episodes. Plus
3:36
episodes with unique and exclusive
3:38
stories and all kinds of bonus content,
3:40
store discounts. Go get it guys. Swordandscale.com
3:43
slash plus.
3:58
Oh. Junk science.
4:14
That's
4:17
what doctors call many of those fruit and vegetable
4:19
supplements. Junk science because
4:22
they use extracts of common
4:24
produce department fruits and vegetables
4:27
with few health benefits.
4:29
I take Field of Greens because it's the whole
4:31
organic fruit and vegetable,
4:34
not a watered down supplement.
4:37
And it's backed by a better health
4:39
promise. Each ingredient in Field
4:41
of Greens was scientifically chosen to
4:43
support the vital organs like the heart,
4:46
lungs, and kidney.
4:47
Others support my immune system,
4:50
blood pressure, metabolism, and healthy
4:52
weight loss.
4:53
I don't eat as healthy as I should,
4:55
I'm sure. None of us do. But
4:58
that's why I take Field of Greens.
5:01
Like me, you'll probably look and feel
5:03
healthier fast
5:04
and have way more energy.
5:06
I know I do.
5:07
But your best proof will be at your next checkup
5:10
when your doctor says,
5:12
whatever you're doing, it's working.
5:14
Keep it up. Let me get you started
5:16
with 15% off.
5:18
Visit FieldofGreens.com and use
5:20
promo code MONSTERS.
5:22
That's promo code MONSTERS
5:25
at FieldofGreens.com.
5:44
About 100 miles west of Yellowstone
5:47
National Park, and just
5:49
across Wyoming's state border, is
5:51
the mid-sized and very
5:54
typical western American city of
5:56
Idaho Falls, Idaho.
5:59
If you've ever driven through that part of the United
6:02
States or just about anywhere in America,
6:05
Idaho Falls would probably feel pretty
6:07
similar to you.
6:09
Among the modest residential areas
6:11
and mostly white population,
6:15
Idaho Falls is pretty much a collection
6:17
of well-known fast food restaurants,
6:19
gas stations with convenience stores,
6:23
and car dealerships. You
6:25
know,
6:26
like most of America. Kinda
6:29
boring when you really think about it.
6:32
As for the crime rate, Idaho
6:34
Falls doesn't have much to
6:36
brag about.
6:38
The city has considerably more crime
6:40
than the US national average, which
6:43
is one of the reasons why they have a
6:45
state police force as well as a local
6:47
police department.
6:49
Crime and policing in this city have been
6:51
handled by these two departments for
6:53
many years.
6:55
Back in January of 1997,
6:58
several detectives at the
7:00
Idaho Falls Police Department were hard
7:02
at work,
7:04
questioning a young man named
7:07
Christopher Tapp. At
7:24
the time of this interview, Christopher
7:27
Tapp was 20 years old, and
7:30
he was mostly known among
7:32
his friends as a somewhat
7:34
goofy, fun-loving, couch-surfing
7:37
pothead. You know the type.
7:40
To just about everyone else, Chris was
7:43
known as a river rat.
7:45
Running directly through the center of Idaho
7:47
Falls is the Snake River,
7:49
a major multi-state
7:51
river that earns its name thanks to
7:53
its S-like shape.
7:56
Back in the late 1990s, many Idaho
7:59
Falls teenagers
7:59
and young adults used to meet up at specific
8:02
places near this river.
8:05
They socialized, drank beer,
8:08
smoked weed, and
8:09
did all kinds of things, including
8:12
deciding what kind of trouble they planned to
8:14
get into on
8:15
any given night. To
8:18
the locals, these young adults became known
8:20
as the River Rats,
8:23
and Chris Tapp
8:24
was one of them. Yet,
8:27
when the police questioned Chris
8:29
in January of 1997, they weren't interested in his riverside
8:34
activities. Instead,
8:38
they had questions about a very serious
8:40
crime that involved a young woman
8:43
named Angie Dodge. Angie
8:46
Dodge, Jr. On June 13, 1996, Angie
8:49
Dodge was found dead in her apartment on
8:51
I Street in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
8:54
Angie was partially dressed and had multiple incision
8:57
wounds and lacerations on her neck,
8:59
severing all major muscles, arteries,
9:02
and veins of the neck.
9:04
This incision nearly decapitated
9:07
Angie. There was also a stab
9:09
wound to Angie's chest and breast area
9:11
that entered the chest wall. Angie's
9:13
death was ruled a homicide, and it
9:15
was determined based on the state of undress
9:18
and the semen on Angie's body that she had
9:20
been raped prior to the murder. The
9:23
stab wounds on Angie's right hand showed that
9:25
she had tried to defend herself
9:26
from her attacker. Angie
9:29
Dodge was born in December
9:31
of 1977, and throughout her short life she towered
9:37
over her friends. By
9:39
age 16, Angie was six
9:41
feet tall and was often
9:43
ridiculed because of her height.
9:46
Because of this, Angie developed some thick skin
9:49
and became somewhat of a defender against
9:52
bullies.
9:53
Angie was known to protect her friends and stand
9:56
up for them
9:57
if she saw they were being bullied. In
10:00
other aspects, Angie was a typical
10:02
teenager and pretty well liked.
10:05
Like Christopher Tapp, she was also
10:08
known as a river rat,
10:10
but she never had any issues with the law,
10:13
nor was she known to be a troublemaker.
10:17
In 1995, Angie
10:18
graduated from Idaho Falls
10:21
High School with honors.
10:23
She then continued her education at
10:25
Idaho State University for
10:27
a short time. By 1996,
10:31
Angie had moved out of her parents' house into
10:33
a two-story apartment, but
10:36
she was only there for three weeks
10:38
when something horrific happened
10:41
to her. In June of that
10:43
year, two of Angie's coworkers
10:45
found Angie dead on
10:48
her bedroom floor after becoming
10:50
concerned
10:51
that she didn't show up for work.
10:54
Angie had been brutally
10:57
stabbed to death. She
10:59
was only 18 years old.
11:02
After Idaho Falls police investigators
11:05
arrived on the scene, it was determined
11:08
that Angie had also been raped
11:10
just before she was killed.
11:13
As expected, when this
11:15
news reached Angie's family, they
11:18
took it pretty hard, and
11:20
none
11:21
more so than Angie's mom.
11:24
As Angie's mom and her other
11:26
family members mourned, Idaho
11:28
Falls homicide detectives
11:43
worked
11:46
the case.
11:48
For them, this was a big deal.
11:51
The murders didn't typically
11:53
happen in the area,
11:55
and the department was not accustomed to investigating
11:57
such a
11:58
complex and high-profile.
11:59
profile crime.
12:02
Nonetheless, after some preliminary
12:04
evidence was collected and several
12:07
police interviews were conducted,
12:10
the detectives
12:11
formed a theory.
12:13
They believed that multiple people
12:15
participated in the crime and
12:18
that Angie's death was not caused
12:21
by a lone killer.
12:23
Science, however, was telling them a
12:25
different story.
12:27
When the autopsy was performed, semen
12:30
was found on Angie's body. DNA
12:34
testing revealed that this semen belonged
12:37
to only one person. Unfortunately,
12:40
the DNA did not match anyone
12:43
in the existing criminal databases.
12:46
Investigators also took DNA
12:48
samples from dozens of potential suspects,
12:51
but
12:52
none came back as a match.
12:56
By December of 1996, six
12:58
months had passed since
13:01
Angie was killed
13:02
and Idaho Falls detectives were no
13:04
closer to solving this crime than
13:07
they were on the day that Angie died.
13:09
The leads had
13:12
started to dry up
13:14
and the pressure to solve this crime was only
13:16
building.
13:18
Then, in January of the following
13:20
year, police seemingly
13:23
got the tip they needed.
13:27
About 400 miles south of Angie's
13:29
hometown
13:30
in Eli, Nevada,
13:32
a young man was arrested for
13:35
raping a woman
13:36
at knife point. That
13:39
man was 20-year-old Ben
13:41
Hobbs and shortly
13:44
before his arrest, Ben
13:46
was a resident of Idaho Falls.
13:50
Even more interesting, Ben was a
13:52
river rat and was pretty
13:54
close with Angie Dodge.
13:56
So close, in fact, that he even attended
13:59
her funeral. When questioned, Ben admitted
14:01
that he had visited Angie's apartment once, but
14:03
that
14:14
visit
14:21
was days before she
14:23
was killed.
14:24
While sticking to that story,
14:27
Ben adamantly denied having any
14:29
involvement with Angie's murder.
14:32
Yet, when the police questioned Ben's
14:34
good friend,
14:36
Christopher Tapp,
14:38
they were told a
14:41
story,
15:09
and that he was saying it. He said, how'd you do it? Did
15:11
you fuck her in a row? And he said
15:15
he killed her. Initially Chris
15:17
Tapp denied having any knowledge
15:19
of Angie's murder, but after
15:22
the cops pressed him, he eventually confessed
15:24
that Ben Hobbs admitted to
15:26
the crime.
15:28
As detectives demanded more details,
15:31
Chris became noticeably emotional
15:35
and upset.
16:00
Chris denied having any knowledge of Ben's
16:02
motives, but again, he eventually walked
16:04
back
16:09
that
16:13
statement.
16:14
According to Chris,
16:16
the reason that Ben killed Angie was
16:18
because Angie
16:19
had told Ben's wife that Ben
16:21
was cheating on her. As
16:24
detectives questioned Chris, they clearly began to suspect that
16:26
he knew a lot more about
16:41
this
16:48
murder than he was letting on,
16:51
and that he may have even
16:54
witnessed it.
17:47
In an attempt to get him to tell
17:49
the whole truth,
17:51
Chris was offered an immunity
17:53
agreement.
17:55
This agreement protected Chris from prosecution
17:57
with the conditions that Chris told
18:00
the truth and that he didn't rape
18:03
Angie or participate in the murder
18:05
at all.
18:07
Chris accepted this agreement
18:10
and with his protection in place,
18:13
he admitted that he was with
18:15
Ben when Angie was killed.
18:18
According to Chris, in the early morning
18:20
hours of June 13th, 1996, he
18:24
and Ben were smoking pot and driving
18:27
around Idaho Falls when Ben suggested
18:30
that they pay Angie a visit.
18:33
Apparently, Ben wanted to confront
18:36
Angie about the things she revealed
18:38
to Ben's wife, namely
18:40
his infidelity.
18:49
Chris
18:52
explained that Ben convinced Angie to
18:55
let them into her apartment,
19:10
and not long after they walked inside,
19:13
Ben and Angie started
19:15
arguing. Chris
19:44
According to Chris, the argument between
19:46
Ben and Angie turned
19:49
into a shouting match.
19:51
And before Chris could even realize what
19:53
was happening, Ben
19:55
pulled a knife from his pocket and
19:58
began cutting Angie. which
20:00
caused her to fall to the ground.
20:22
Chris claimed that after Angie fell to
20:24
the floor, Ben climbed on top of her
20:26
and continued stabbing her.
20:29
Shocked and terrified by what he
20:31
was seeing, Chris decided
20:33
to flee the apartment.
20:35
Chris explained that he ran for several
20:37
blocks until he
20:39
got winded.
20:41
Ben decided to go back to the apartment to
20:43
check on Angie.
21:04
After
21:11
seven months of investigation,
21:14
the police finally seemed to have
21:16
what they needed.
21:18
A witness to the murder.
21:21
Armed with Chris Tapp's confession,
21:24
Idaho Falls detectives traveled to
21:26
Nevada, where Ben Hobbs
21:28
was sitting in jail for allegedly raping
21:31
a different woman. When
21:33
the detectives questioned Ben, they
21:35
didn't mince words.
21:59
As far as the night that Angie
22:02
was killed, what can you tell
22:04
us what your activity was, where
22:12
were you at, what were you doing? The
22:16
only thing you can remember about the night Angie was killed was
22:19
I was down at the river and
22:21
I saw Angie. I didn't say
22:23
a word to her. In response
22:25
to the detective's accusations, Ben
22:27
claimed that he had no ill will towards
22:30
Angie and that he had no reason
22:33
to hurt her. He explained
22:35
that he was unaware of anything that
22:37
Angie may have said to his wife and
22:40
that he didn't have anything to do with Angie's
22:42
murder. Why would Chris start trying to
22:45
find you for this? I don't know, it's a
22:47
good question. Something
22:49
out of it. That's something
22:51
I'd like to know. Maybe
22:54
he's trying to get out of what he, maybe he's
22:56
guilty of something that he's not. He
22:59
didn't kill her? I don't know if he did or not. I
23:01
don't know who did. All I know
23:03
is I did not kill Angie Dodge.
23:06
At this point, the police were pretty confident
23:08
that they had their man.
23:10
There weren't a whole lot of knife-wielding
23:12
rapists in Idaho Falls after
23:15
all.
23:16
And Ben was sitting in jail for that
23:18
exact same behavior.
23:20
On top of that, Ben couldn't tell the police
23:24
where he was on the night of Angie's
23:26
murder.
23:27
He explained that after he left the river,
23:29
he had no memory of where he went
23:32
or what
23:32
he did. Not
23:35
good. Here's the problem we're having. Number
23:39
one, we've got Chris debating
23:42
to knowing about it and implicating
23:44
you in the offsite as doing it. He's
23:48
got details about what happened. On
23:50
how you did it and what went on. The
23:54
other problem is, is you
23:57
have no alibi to where you're
23:59
at.
23:59
was going on. I will tell
24:02
you we have got DNA that
24:04
will fully convict somebody or
24:07
will eliminate somebody. It's going to eliminate
24:09
my house because I had nothing to do with this.
24:12
Confidently, Ben provided investigators
24:14
with a DNA sample.
24:16
Days later, when the results came
24:19
back, it turned out that neither Ben Hobbs
24:21
nor Chris Tapp
24:23
were a match for the semen
24:25
that was found on Angie's body.
24:28
For detectives, this didn't necessarily
24:31
mean that Ben and Chris weren't involved
24:33
in Angie's murder.
24:35
In fact,
24:36
they were still pretty sure both of them had something
24:38
to do with it.
24:40
The DNA results only suggested that a third
24:42
person
24:43
must have also been involved.
24:46
In order to get to the bottom of this, the detectives
24:49
re-interviewed Chris Tapp. I
24:52
mean, you've done a well of a job you really have,
24:54
Chris, but we're still kind of, apparently
24:57
we're still missing some pieces here. Are
25:00
they big pieces? Yeah, pretty big pieces
25:02
because, like I say, the information
25:04
we just got sounds like there's probably another person
25:06
involved. Was there another
25:08
person that went with you and Ben? No,
25:11
it was just me and Ben. Because
25:13
you only had the person that ever hung out with us was Jarrah.
25:16
So could Jarrah have been there? During
25:19
another round of questioning,
25:21
Chris told the police that when he and
25:24
Ben went to Angie's apartment,
25:26
they weren't alone.
25:28
Also with them was their close friend and
25:30
fellow river rat, 20-year-old
25:32
Jeremy Sargis.
25:35
Naturally, after hearing this, police
25:38
wanted to speak with Jeremy.
25:41
You guys hung around Angie quite
25:43
a bit? To
25:45
me, she wasn't really like a hangout
25:48
friend. I never called her. She never called
25:50
me. But when we saw each other, it was, hey, what's going
25:53
on? With
25:54
Ben, I guess, he didn't know very
25:56
much.
25:59
Hobbs and Chris Tapp all
26:02
knew Angie Dodge,
26:04
but Chris and Ben were a
26:06
little closer to her than Jeremy
26:08
was.
26:10
According to Chris, on the night that all three
26:12
of them went to Angie's apartment,
26:14
things played out pretty much like
26:17
he had originally explained.
26:19
The major difference was that Jeremy
26:21
was also there, and
26:23
Jeremy
26:25
was the one that brought along the murder
26:27
weapon. And so with Jeremy,
26:31
his total involvement in this
26:34
whole thing was what? Little
26:37
less than what I've done. Okay,
26:39
okay, go ahead and a little less than what you've done. Everything
26:42
that you know that he was involved in. Everything
26:45
probably with the knife. Okay.
26:49
Actually, I think it was his knife. Well,
26:51
walk me through it. You know, Angie came down,
26:54
couldn't figure out what the hell all of us were doing there. What
26:56
was the excuse
26:57
or what she? What was
26:59
the excuse? No, what she what she say. You
27:02
know, it was basically
27:04
what the hell you're doing here. Attitude.
27:07
Chris explained that after Angie
27:09
answered the door, all three of them
27:11
went inside her apartment.
27:13
And after a brief argument with Ben,
27:17
Ben stabbed her.
27:19
Then Jeremy and Ben violently raped
27:22
Angie. Now, there's some pretty sick things
27:24
done to her. And we have a pretty dang good idea, you know,
27:26
what what some sick things that happened
27:29
to her. Okay. Apparently,
27:31
you know, they made her do some stuff before before
27:34
she died. Correct. So
27:37
what they make her do, I guess, is
27:39
just for the sex. Okay.
27:41
You saw them forced to have sex. Is that correct?
27:45
Okay, who raped her? I guess
27:48
a little of both.
27:49
Okay, so they're both doing her. Okay.
27:52
I believe that. Mr.
27:55
Ravener, right? Both of them are doing
27:57
her. Okay. So when one
27:59
is on.
27:59
top of her, how
28:02
they rape her. They're
28:04
doing a vagily, they're doing anally. Little
28:09
bulk. There's a little bulk. Who
28:12
was doing her from behind? Cher.
28:16
Cher was doing her from behind. Who
28:19
was doing her in the front then? She
28:22
was Ben. Ben was doing her in the front.
28:25
Who tried to have her do
28:28
the oral sex? Who
28:29
tried to have her give him a blowjob? Cher.
28:33
Cher. So Cher
28:35
was forcing her to give him a
28:38
blowjob, is that correct? Okay.
28:40
Do you recall any of them
28:43
ejaculate in honor? No. Okay.
28:46
Chris further explained that during the rape,
28:49
Ben held a knife against Angie's neck
28:52
and threatened to cut her throat
28:54
unless she gave Jeremy
28:56
oral sex. Angie
28:58
complied, but Ben
29:00
slit her throat anyway.
29:03
Obviously, these accusations were
29:06
pretty extreme,
29:07
but detectives believed they had finally
29:10
gotten the truth out of Chris Tapp.
29:13
Yet when they questioned Jeremy about
29:15
it, Jeremy adamantly
29:18
denied everything. I mean,
29:21
Angie was not a good friend of mine.
29:24
She was not anything
29:26
more than an acquaintance, you know,
29:28
an acquaintance that I know better than maybe neither.
29:30
But I have no reason to have
29:33
a positive or a negative feeling towards her. Okay.
29:36
I have no reason to kill her. Myself,
29:39
and the Grimes, and just about
29:41
everybody working on the case has no doubt that
29:43
you have knowledge of
29:45
the case. Okay. You have not come
29:47
clean with that
29:50
information. Okay. You
29:52
will be arrested. For what?
29:55
You don't have shit on me. You won't have shit on me.
29:57
I'm guaranteeing that right now. You're
30:00
going to arrest me as you think that
30:02
I know something. Well, you know something. What
30:04
are you going to do when you find out? What
30:06
are you going to do
30:08
when you find out that I don't know nothing? Well,
30:10
if that is true, let me go and say, we're sorry
30:12
for putting you on jail. Detectives
30:15
pushed Jeremy pretty hard, but
30:18
he never admitted to anything.
30:20
And just like Ben, he freely offered up
30:23
a DNA sample.
30:25
A few days later, when the results came
30:27
back, investigators were shocked to find
30:30
that the semen on Angie's body was
30:32
not
30:33
a match for Jeremy Sargis.
30:37
At the same time, Jeremy's alibi for the night
30:39
of the murder checked out. He
30:42
was with his girlfriend the entire
30:44
night
30:45
and the next morning. There
30:47
was simply no way that Jeremy could
30:49
have been with Ben and Chris on the night of
30:52
Angie's murder.
30:54
At this point, police were thinking,
30:56
what the fuck?
30:58
Chris Tapp had seemingly led them
31:00
down a path of
31:03
lies.
31:04
So once again,
31:06
Chris was brought in for another
31:09
round of questioning.
31:11
But now the cops were
31:14
kind of pissed off. When
31:17
they met with Chris this time, they
31:19
demanded answers.
31:21
They wanted the truth, but more
31:24
than that, they wanted to put someone in prison
31:27
for Angie's murder.
31:29
Unfortunately, to
31:31
the detriment and disgrace
31:33
of their careers and to justice,
31:35
they
31:37
were willing to do
31:38
just about anything
31:40
to make that happen.
31:53
When you look around your home, what makes you smile?
31:56
Personal touches? Beautiful light, lines,
31:58
colors, things of quality.
31:59
that enhance your life. California
32:02
Closets specializes in making space
32:04
for what belongs, with richly textured
32:06
finishes and quality materials that
32:08
last. From the bedroom to the pantry
32:10
to the mudroom, everything we do is custom
32:12
designed, built, and installed by
32:15
people who take pride in serving you. Think
32:17
of it as practical magic. Book your
32:19
free design consultation today at californiaclosets.com.
32:24
Ever notice what happens when your home is beautifully
32:26
organized? You have more space, more
32:28
room to breathe. At California Closets,
32:31
our designers know just what questions to
32:33
ask to create exactly what you want. Your
32:35
personalized experience includes custom
32:38
design and installation to deliver
32:40
a result that truly reflects your style
32:42
and needs. That's the California Closets
32:44
difference. We call it practical
32:47
magic. Book your free design consultation
32:49
today at californiaclosets.com.
32:52
We made USAA
32:54
insurance for veterans like James. When
32:56
he found out how much USAA was helping
32:59
members save, he said, it's time to switch.
33:01
We'll help you find the right coverage at the right
33:03
price. USAA, what you're made
33:06
of or made for. Restriction supply.
33:22
In January
33:22
of 1997, 20-year-old
33:25
Chris Tapp confessed to Idaho
33:27
Falls homicide detectives that
33:29
he witnessed two of his friends,
33:32
Ben Hobbs and Jeremy Sargis, violently
33:35
rape and brutally murder their
33:37
friend, 18-year-old
33:38
Angie Dodge.
33:41
Yet, when detectives attempted
33:43
to corroborate Chris's confession,
33:47
they found that the male DNA on
33:49
Angie's body didn't match any of them. On
33:52
top of that, Jeremy Sargis had a
33:54
solid alibi for
33:56
the night of the murder.
33:58
For detectives, it was obvious that that Chris
34:00
Tapp had lied to them,
34:02
which was a violation of that sweet
34:05
immunity agreement that he secured for
34:07
himself.
34:08
As a result, Chris's immunity agreement
34:11
was dissolved and the detectives
34:13
were quick to confront him
34:15
about his lies. So,
34:17
when Chris Tapp tells us things, we
34:20
think, great, cool, that sounds pretty
34:22
good. I think he may be telling us the truth this
34:24
time. We're going to check it out and it's bogus.
34:27
The detectives were angry. They
34:30
wanted answers. Again, the
34:32
unidentified male DNA that
34:34
was found on Angie
34:36
was not a match for Ben or Chris,
34:39
but that didn't necessarily mean that
34:41
they didn't in some way
34:44
contribute to the murder. All
34:47
it meant was that there must have been another
34:50
person involved, and the
34:52
detectives believed that Chris Tapp knew
34:54
who that person was.
34:57
First of all, more than likely
34:59
you never left the apartment. Second
35:01
of all, there's definitely
35:03
another person involved that you haven't told us about.
35:07
Detectives spent several hours interrogating
35:10
Chris,
35:11
but no matter how hard they pushed him,
35:14
he simply wouldn't give up the name
35:17
of the third man.
35:19
You know the name, Chris. You know we know you
35:21
know the name. Chris,
35:23
you know. Alright. You do have
35:25
a name. Chris, you do have
35:27
a name. My name comes. We're not going
35:29
anywhere until we get the name, Chris. I know
35:32
this. Alright. Well,
35:35
Chris, we could be out of here. Yes, it
35:38
is. No, Chris, you're screwing with me now. Yes,
35:40
sir. Where are we? Well, you
35:43
know
35:43
you are. Chris never provided the name of
35:45
the mysterious third man,
35:47
but he did make a startling
35:50
confession.
35:51
Chris told detectives that
35:54
he had a much more active role
35:56
in the killing
35:57
than he had previously admitted.
36:00
According to him,
36:02
Ben Hobbs and the third man
36:04
threatened Chris
36:05
and forced him to stab Angie
36:08
Dodge
36:09
in the chest.
36:28
Based on this confession,
36:30
Chris was now considered to have an active
36:32
role in the murder, and
36:35
given that he was refusing to provide
36:37
the name of the third killer, Chris
36:40
was also considered to be uncooperative.
36:44
Ultimately, Chris Tapp was arrested and charged
36:47
with first degree murder and
36:49
rape.
36:51
As for Ben Hobbs,
36:52
he received the same charges, but
36:55
aside from Chris's unreliable
36:57
confession,
36:59
no other evidence linked Ben
37:01
to Angie's murder.
37:03
Eventually Ben's charges were dropped
37:06
and
37:07
the only person left holding the bag
37:10
was Chris Tapp.
37:12
After he was charged, Chris pled
37:15
not guilty,
37:16
and in 1998 his case went to trial.
37:20
During that trial, prosecutors maintained
37:23
the theory that Chris Tapp,
37:25
Ben Hobbs, and a third unidentified
37:27
man
37:28
raped and murdered Angie
37:30
Dodge.
37:32
The prosecutors successfully convinced
37:34
a jury
37:35
that Chris Tapp participated
37:38
in this crime,
37:40
and he was convicted of rape and
37:42
murder.
37:43
During the sentencing phase,
37:45
prosecutors asked for a death sentence,
37:49
but ultimately a judge spared
37:51
Chris's life.
37:53
He was sentenced to 36 years
37:55
to life in prison,
37:58
with a chance of parole. by
38:00
the year 2027.
38:04
Now, normally after I tell you guys about
38:06
a conviction and prison sentence,
38:08
I give a few closing remarks, play
38:10
some outro techno music or
38:12
whatever, and then tell you to stay safe.
38:15
I might remind you about PLUS. Sign
38:17
up at swordandscale.com slash PLUS. But
38:21
not this time, because you see, the
38:23
story of Angie Dodge and Chris
38:25
Tapp is far from over.
38:29
About 13 years after Chris Tapp
38:31
was sentenced, Angie's mom
38:34
made a disturbing
38:36
revelation.
38:38
She learned that the detectives
38:40
that interrogated Chris Tapp
38:43
had manipulated him in ways that
38:45
are almost beyond comprehension
38:48
in order to coerce a
38:51
confession.
38:53
To understand exactly how this happened,
38:55
it should be noted
38:57
that the lead detective that interrogated
38:59
Chris was 35-year-old
39:01
Jared Furman.
39:04
And Furman had met Chris Tapp long
39:06
before Angie Dodge was killed.
39:10
Before becoming a detective, Furman
39:13
worked as a school resource officer
39:15
at Chris Tapp's high school.
39:17
And because of that, Chris trusted
39:20
Furman. Throughout Chris's
39:22
many interrogations,
39:24
Detective Furman leaned hard
39:27
into that trust. I trust you,
39:30
and hopefully you trust me, okay?
39:33
I'm not gonna screw up, as you know. I
39:36
will do everything in my power to help
39:39
you, okay?
39:42
I'm gonna give you my word on it. An especially
39:45
naive 20-year-old Chris Tapp
39:48
believed that Detective Furman had
39:50
his back.
39:52
For Chris, it didn't matter what he said
39:55
because no matter what happened,
39:56
a friendly police detective was in
39:59
his corner.
40:00
Or so he thought.
40:02
The truth was, unfortunately, a
40:05
much different story.
40:18
Another thing you should know about Detective
40:20
Furman is that he was
40:23
blindly determined to put
40:25
Ben Hobbs on trial for Angie's
40:27
murder,
40:28
which was a goal he had made
40:31
abundantly clear while interrogating
40:33
Chris Tapp. For
40:48
reasons that aren't entirely
40:50
clear, Detective Furman
40:53
wanted to dropkick Ben Hobbs
40:55
through the goalposts of life. Whatever
40:58
the hell that means. But
41:01
in order to do that, Detective Furman
41:04
needed Chris Tapp to implicate Ben
41:07
and Angie's murder.
41:10
Yet when Chris was first questioned,
41:12
and even though Furman had established some
41:15
trust,
41:16
Chris adamantly denied having
41:18
any involvement with or knowledge
41:21
of Angie's murder.
41:24
In watching and listening to Chris's interrogation
41:26
tapes,
41:27
there are plenty of reasons to believe that
41:30
Chris
41:31
was telling the truth. For
41:33
one, Chris didn't even know
41:36
when Angie was killed.
41:54
Not only did Chris not know the date
41:56
of the crime,
41:58
but he also didn't know how.
42:00
Angie was killed.
42:02
That is until detective Furman
42:05
told him.
42:26
Pretty early on and before Chris
42:29
made any admission of guilt,
42:31
Chris was told that Angie was stabbed
42:34
several times.
42:36
With that knowledge and with the encouragement
42:39
of detective Furman,
42:41
Chris made up a story.
42:43
He explained that he saw Ben Hobbs stab
42:46
Angie to death, but his story
42:48
had big problems. For
42:51
starters, Chris didn't even know
42:53
where in Angie's apartment
42:55
she was killed. Angie was raped and murdered
42:58
in her bedroom. There was no
43:00
blood or any
43:18
evidence
43:21
of a struggle in
43:22
her living room. Chris
43:25
was dead wrong about where the murder
43:27
happened. In fact,
43:30
he didn't even know the layout of Angie's apartment
43:32
because
43:33
he'd never been there. A
43:35
particularly interesting part
43:37
of Chris's interrogation
43:40
is when Chris is asked about a
43:42
stairwell in Angie's apartment.
44:00
In this clip, Chris points out that
44:02
Detective Furman told him earlier that Angie's
44:04
apartment had stairs,
44:07
and he was right. Furman
44:09
mentioned it well before Chris made
44:12
any admissions of guilt. I
44:14
mean, if you were there, and he
44:16
told you maybe that if you were there
44:19
at the apartment with him, he told you to hang
44:21
downstairs or whatever.
44:23
If there was ever a doubt that
44:25
Chris had absolutely no knowledge of
44:27
Angie's apartment, it was made abundantly
44:30
clear when detectives asked him to
44:32
draw a top-down layout of
44:34
the home. Since Chris
44:37
had never been inside the apartment,
44:40
he failed this test
44:41
miserably. But,
44:44
one of the detectives was
44:46
more than happy to assist Chris
44:49
in getting it right.
44:58
Over
45:01
the course of three weeks, Chris Tapp was questioned nine times,
45:03
totaling over 30
45:05
hours of interrogation,
45:08
not including the seven polygraph
45:10
examinations he underwent. Throughout
45:14
those interrogations, the detectives repeatedly
45:16
fed up with the
45:32
non-public information about the crime, which included details
45:35
about how Angie was killed,
45:37
and the layout
45:39
of her home.
45:46
Chris
45:46
was shown photographs of Angie's apartment
45:48
and the
45:59
and her dead body.
46:02
But detectives didn't stop
46:04
there.
46:05
They also drove Chris to the crime scene
46:07
and showed him around.
46:09
Conveniently,
46:11
none of this little field trip was video
46:14
or audio recorded,
46:16
so we have no idea what other details
46:18
the detectives shared with Chris.
46:22
Needless to say, after spending many
46:24
hours and days with detectives,
46:27
Chris had a pretty good understanding
46:30
of Angie's murder.
46:32
But that's only one aspect of
46:34
how the cops were able to coerce
46:37
a confession out of him.
46:39
Perhaps the most egregious and revolting
46:42
thing that the cops did to Chris
46:45
was psychologically
46:47
manipulate him. I wasn't there.
46:49
I mean, you wouldn't have done it? I wouldn't have done it. No,
46:51
but you wouldn't have started. I wasn't even down
46:53
the fucking stairs. I wasn't nowhere around.
46:56
I know this. Probably
46:59
the God. I know
47:02
this. The woman's going to hurt Chris.
47:03
I wasn't there. I
47:05
mean, I think you're telling it to me. Like,
47:07
I was there. You
47:10
know, the line doesn't shut
47:12
down on all of us. Well. Okay.
47:16
Just like me. Some of the
47:18
brutal stuff that we see out on the streets. Seriously.
47:21
Hear me out. Some of the brutal stuff we see on the
47:23
streets. My mind shuts
47:25
down on me because I don't want to remember it. Okay.
47:29
And as John was saying, this may be the case
47:31
here with you.
47:31
Okay. Detectives
47:34
successfully convinced Chris that his
47:36
mind was playing tricks on him
47:39
and that he had repressed
47:41
the memories
47:43
of witnessing Angie's rape
47:45
and murder.
47:47
Cops are real good at gaslighting.
47:49
So don't talk to him. For
48:00
hours upon hours and days upon days, detectives
48:03
told Chris that his mind contained
48:05
memories
48:26
about what
48:29
happened
48:29
to Angie.
48:31
They encouraged him to recover those memories
48:34
and, more importantly,
48:36
vocalize them.
48:37
In your mind, you've
48:39
got to release it. You've got to
48:41
tell us. Let's
48:44
work on that. You know, I know it's tough.
48:48
You've got to sit there. You've
48:50
got to think about it in your mind.
48:52
You've got to go through
48:54
it.
48:56
This is part of what your recovery
48:58
is. For
49:01
you to cope with this, it's tough. It's tough.
49:04
It's tough to do stuff like this. It's tough to bring it
49:06
through.
49:06
Just
49:10
think hard about it. I
49:12
know it's there. Like I said, it's hard
49:14
to tell it. And this
49:16
is the point where you have to trust us.
49:19
Another aspect of psychological manipulation
49:22
that Chris Tapp was subjected
49:24
to
49:25
involved his polygraph examinations,
49:29
also known as lie detector
49:31
tests. The polygraph, back
49:33
to your polygraph, the
49:35
two questions that came
49:37
out very deceptive
49:39
were number one, did
49:41
you kill Angie? Or
49:43
did you kill Angie? Chris was
49:45
told and convinced that the lie
49:47
detector machine
49:49
could determine what memories his mind
49:51
was suppressing.
49:53
In other words,
49:54
if Chris said that he didn't kill
49:57
Angie,
49:58
and the lie detector shows Should
50:00
that be false, it didn't
50:02
mean that Chris was lying, it only meant that
50:04
Chris didn't remember
50:07
it. Years later,
50:09
and long after Chris was convicted
50:11
of murder and sent to prison, his
50:14
interrogation and polygraph examination
50:16
tapes
50:17
were reviewed by several retired
50:19
attorneys and law professors.
50:22
Unanimously,
50:24
they all agreed that Chris's polygraph
50:26
tests
50:27
were not conducted
50:29
in an effort to find
50:31
the truth.
50:50
In layman's terms, the lie
50:52
detector tests were used as a
50:54
means to manipulate Chris and
50:57
convince him that the machine knew
50:59
the truth better than
51:01
Chris's own mind.
51:04
It's almost like when they convince you that the government
51:07
has a better use for your money
51:09
than you do.
51:11
With this manipulation in place,
51:14
Chris Tapp was ready to surrender
51:16
and provide detectives with whatever
51:19
information
51:20
they wanted to hear. Initially,
51:48
the
51:50
Chris
52:00
only admitted to being at Angie's apartment
52:02
and witnessing Ben Hobbs commit the
52:05
murder. But the male DNA
52:07
found on Angie's body
52:09
didn't match Ben
52:11
or Chris.
52:12
So Chris gave the cops another story
52:15
and said that Jeremy Sargis was
52:17
also there.
52:19
But yet again, the DNA
52:20
didn't match. But
52:24
the bottom line is this, Chris. The bottom line
52:26
is this. Chris, you
52:28
told us Jeremy Sargis was
52:30
there.
52:31
You not only told us that he was there,
52:34
but he took an act of pardon. Now we're finding
52:36
out that Sargis probably wasn't there and that
52:38
you were screwing with us.
52:40
I'm not screwing with you. What
52:42
is it, Chris? I don't know what the hell you guys
52:44
want. Okay, well Sargis there or not? It's
52:47
my recollection, yes.
52:50
Listen, you're the one that's providing the details.
52:52
You're running the show here, not us. Okay,
52:55
you're running the show, Chris.
52:57
On the contrary,
52:59
Chris Tapp wasn't running the show
53:01
at all.
53:02
The detectives were entirely responsible
53:05
for the information that Chris had
53:08
given them.
53:09
They manipulated him into
53:12
providing information that they
53:14
believed to be true for
53:16
whatever reason.
53:18
The main problem, of course, was that
53:20
it wasn't true. Not
53:23
a single
53:24
word of it.
53:26
To that point, Detective Furman was clearly
53:28
upset that Jeremy's DNA didn't
53:30
match the DNA at the crime scene
53:33
and he took his frustration out on
53:35
Chris.
53:37
But here's the thing.
53:38
Chris
53:39
didn't tell Detective Furman that Jeremy
53:42
participated in the crime until
53:44
after Furman told Chris
53:47
that Jeremy was involved.
53:50
Chicken or
53:51
the egg? It just comes to our attention
53:53
that it looks like Jeremy was probably more involved
53:56
than it looks
53:58
like he probably was there.
53:59
I
54:02
remember Jeremy in there, wouldn't I?
54:05
I would think. I don't remember seeing
54:07
him there.
54:09
This part of Chris's interrogation
54:11
is extremely telling.
54:13
Notice how he asks the detective if
54:16
he would remember
54:17
that Jeremy was there.
54:20
Chris is questioning his own memory
54:23
because the cops convinced him
54:26
that his memory was unreliable.
54:29
At the same time, Chris looks
54:32
for affirmation
54:33
from Detective Furman,
54:35
whom he trusts to guide him to the
54:38
right place.
54:40
As for Furman, before the DNA
54:42
results on Jeremy Sargis came back,
54:45
he was absolutely certain
54:47
that Jeremy was somehow involved
54:50
in Angie's murder.
54:52
The certainty is obvious
54:55
throughout Jeremy's interrogation.
55:06
Yes,
55:23
Detective Furman.
55:44
You and all the detectives that
55:46
investigated this case had made
55:48
complete fools of yourselves.
55:51
But that fact, along with a lot
55:53
of other facts,
55:55
seemed completely lost on them.
55:59
investigation they could have and
56:02
should have stopped and
56:04
said hey, wait a minute, none
56:05
of the DNA matches and
56:08
none of the evidence is corroborating
56:10
what Chris Tapp is telling us.
56:12
Maybe
56:13
just maybe we
56:15
are going
56:16
in the wrong direction.
56:19
I mean that's the logical path to
56:21
take, right?
56:22
Well, unfortunately
56:25
neither Furman nor anyone
56:28
at the Idaho Falls Police Department
56:30
said that, even when Chris Tapp
56:32
gave them the chance. You
56:35
went from no involvement
56:37
to getting in my face saying
56:40
I don't know anything to where you're
56:43
starting to come clean on some of the stuff.
56:48
I mean we're not there. I was never there, I wasn't involved.
56:51
I would
56:53
just start way back then.
56:55
After Jeremy Sargis was eliminated
56:58
as a suspect,
56:59
the detectives remained hard
57:01
headed. They maintained their
57:04
theory that Chris Tapp, Ben Hobbs,
57:06
and a third unknown man
57:08
were responsible for Angie's murder.
57:11
So once again, they
57:13
went back to Chris and demanded
57:16
that
57:16
he give them the name of
57:19
the third man.
57:20
Well, something's there because you're not giving up that
57:22
person, Chris. I would if I could, Jeremy, I would.
57:25
Jesus Christ, I would. But
57:28
I don't know, I can give you every goddamn name in the book.
57:31
The facts still remain and
57:33
they are facts. It's not probable
57:36
cause, but it's facts. Right.
57:38
Chris, you were there, another person
57:41
was there. I know and I'm not trying to dick you
57:43
around that, you know. Well, you are dickin'. I'm
57:45
not trying to dick around Chris, you are.
57:48
You're dickin' us around right now. Because
57:50
I won't say his name. And my thing is,
57:52
the name, nothing comes to my head. No, but Chris.
57:55
What more do you want? I mean, if
57:57
nothing comes to my head, what can I do? I'm
58:00
trying to give you everything I can remember. What more, I
58:03
mean, that's it. We're
58:05
not the bad guys here."
58:07
Naturally Chris couldn't provide
58:09
the name of this third man because
58:11
there was no third man.
58:14
Chris continued to butt heads with
58:16
detectives who
58:17
were trying to get an answer that
58:20
didn't exist.
58:22
As a result, Angie's murder
58:25
could only be pinned on one person. Remember
58:29
tap. Well, no different if
58:31
Chris stuck her once. No different.
58:34
Well, what do you mean to this? Oh, what? I'm
58:36
still going to be a what? Murder now instead of accessory? Oh, Chris,
58:38
Chris, what? Talk to me here, okay? I'm sorry, I have
58:40
to do the worst case. Well, let's think of the
58:42
worst case, okay? So
58:47
what if? What if? What
58:49
if you did, okay? Cut her once. Okay, so you cut
58:51
her once, okay?
58:52
Maybe I did cut her. Okay, so you cut her once, okay?
58:54
Maybe I did cut her. Okay, so you cut her once, okay? Maybe
58:56
I did cut her. I'm sure you did. I mean, come on, man.
58:59
I mean, you're the heat of the moment. She's putting up the fight. Ben's
59:01
screaming at you, you know? You're caught. You're right
59:03
there in the middle, right? Sure you are. Sure
59:05
you are. on? What
59:08
am I doing?
59:09
Man, you get caught up in it. What? Yeah,
59:11
yeah, yeah. This is a one-time only. You've
59:13
never done it before. You're not going to be able to do it. You're not
59:15
going to be able to do it. You're not going to be able to do it. You're not going to
59:17
be able to do it. You're not going to be able to do it. Then,
59:20
man, you get caught up in it. Yeah,
59:24
yeah, yeah. This is a one-time only. You've never done it before.
59:27
You're hating yourself for even doing it. But the fact is, you did do it. So
59:29
let's do it. Let's, you know,
59:30
get into it. Chris
59:35
Tapp's last interview with Detective
59:37
Furman was on January 30, 1997. During
59:42
that interview, Chris confessed
59:45
to stabbing Angie Dodge.
59:48
Based on that confession alone,
59:51
Chris was convicted of rape and
59:54
first-degree murder, and
59:57
subsequently sent to prison.
59:59
Sadly, in one of the most egregious
1:00:03
miscarriages of justice imaginable,
1:00:07
it was
1:00:08
in prison that
1:00:09
Chris Tapp remained for
1:00:12
twenty years.
1:00:30
Ever notice what happens when your home is beautifully
1:00:33
organized? You have more space, more
1:00:35
room to breathe.
1:00:36
At California Closets, our designers
1:00:38
know just what questions to ask to create
1:00:40
exactly what you want. Your personalized
1:00:43
experience includes custom design and
1:00:45
installation to deliver a result that
1:00:47
truly reflects your style and needs.
1:00:49
That's the California Closets difference. We
1:00:52
call it practical magic. Book
1:00:54
your free design consultation today at
1:00:56
CaliforniaClosets.com.
1:00:58
Hello and welcome
1:01:01
to the Kroger Show. At Kroger,
1:01:03
everyone wins when it comes to saving big. Because
1:01:05
when you order online through the Kroger app,
1:01:07
you get the same great prices, deals
1:01:10
and rewards on pickup or delivery that you do
1:01:12
in-store with no hidden fees or markups.
1:01:15
So no matter how
1:01:15
you shop, you'll always save big at Kroger.
1:01:18
Kroger. Fresh for everyone. Save
1:01:20
big on your favorites with the Buy 5 or More,
1:01:22
Save a Dollar Each sale. Simply buy five
1:01:24
or more participating items and save a dollar each
1:01:26
with your card. Kroger. Fresh
1:01:29
for everyone. Hello
1:01:30
and welcome to the Kroger Show.
1:01:32
At Kroger, everyone wins when it comes
1:01:34
to saving
1:01:35
big. Because when you order online through the Kroger
1:01:37
app, you get the same great prices, deals
1:01:40
and rewards on pickup or delivery that you do
1:01:42
in-store with no hidden fees or markups.
1:01:45
So no matter how
1:01:45
you shop, you'll always save big at Kroger.
1:01:48
Kroger. Fresh for everyone.
1:01:49
Save big on your favorites with the Buy 5
1:01:52
or More, Save a Dollar Each sale. Simply buy
1:01:54
five or more participating items and save a dollar
1:01:56
each with your card. Kroger. Fresh
1:01:59
for everyone.
1:02:05
In June
1:02:07
of 1996, 18-year-old Angie Dodge was found raped and murdered
1:02:09
in her Idaho Falls
1:02:12
apartment.
1:02:21
Seven months later, Idaho Falls homicide detectives
1:02:24
coerced a false murder confession
1:02:27
out of one of Angie's friends, 20-year-old
1:02:30
Christopher Tapp.
1:02:32
Based on that confession, a jury convicted
1:02:34
Chris of first-degree murder and rape.
1:02:37
He was sentenced to 36 years
1:02:39
to life with a chance at parole
1:02:42
in 2027.
1:02:44
As Chris sat in prison,
1:02:47
the Angie Dodge murder investigation
1:02:49
remained active and open, mainly
1:02:52
because the male DNA found on
1:02:54
Angie's body
1:02:55
had never been identified. Even
1:02:59
so, the Idaho Falls police did
1:03:01
put someone in prison for the murder,
1:03:04
so the pressure to solve the crime was
1:03:07
reduced considerably. All
1:03:10
efforts to find out whose DNA it was
1:03:13
moved at a snail's pace,
1:03:15
now that they already had their killer.
1:03:19
In fact, the Angie Dodge murder investigation
1:03:21
probably would have died off completely
1:03:23
had it not been for the efforts
1:03:26
of Angie's mom, Carol Dodge,
1:03:29
who was constantly hounding
1:03:31
the
1:03:32
Idaho Falls Police Department for
1:03:34
answers. For years,
1:03:37
Carol Dodge believed the same theory
1:03:39
that prosecutors presented at trial.
1:03:42
She was convinced that Chris Tapp, Ben
1:03:44
Hobbes, and an unknown third
1:03:47
man raped and murdered her
1:03:49
18-year-old daughter. Carol
1:03:52
was determined to find out who the third
1:03:54
man was, but in 2008,
1:03:57
she decided to sit down and watch
1:03:59
Chris
1:03:59
caps interrogation tapes in
1:04:02
their entirety.
1:04:04
As she did this,
1:04:06
Carol saw what
1:04:07
anyone could see, detectives
1:04:11
manipulating a young man into
1:04:14
giving a false confession.
1:04:17
After reviewing the tapes,
1:04:20
Carol wisely reached out to
1:04:22
a law professor at Northwestern
1:04:25
Pritzker School of Law,
1:04:27
who happened to be an expert on
1:04:29
false confessions. In
1:04:55
an effort to solve her
1:04:57
daughter's murder, Carol Dodge continued
1:05:00
asking third-party experts
1:05:09
for
1:05:12
help.
1:05:13
Several retired FBI agents
1:05:15
and law professors reviewed the police
1:05:18
and autopsy reports.
1:05:20
As this was done, it became pretty
1:05:22
clear that the original detectives
1:05:25
weren't only malicious when it
1:05:27
came to conducting interrogations,
1:05:31
they were also completely inept
1:05:33
when it came to evaluating evidence.
1:05:37
All of the evidence in this case points
1:05:39
to a lone offender. The
1:05:42
police misinterpreted this evidence,
1:05:44
thinking they were looking for multiple offenders. But
1:05:48
the evidence itself, when viewed
1:05:51
independently and objectively, supports
1:05:54
the conclusion that a single offender was
1:05:56
involved in this crime.
1:05:59
The Falls investigators operated under
1:06:02
the assumption
1:06:03
that multiple people were involved in
1:06:05
Angie's murder,
1:06:07
but all of the crime scene evidence
1:06:09
screamed lone offender.
1:06:13
In 2014, an extensive report
1:06:15
about the Angie Dodge murder
1:06:17
was released by Judges for
1:06:19
Justice,
1:06:21
a nonprofit organization that provides
1:06:23
independent and scientific analysis
1:06:25
for cases of alleged
1:06:28
innocence. While
1:06:30
their company name leaves a
1:06:32
lot to be desired,
1:06:34
Judges for Justice is a powerhouse
1:06:37
when it comes to crime scene analysis.
1:06:40
In their report about Angie Dodge, they
1:06:42
painstakingly point out everything
1:06:45
wrong with the way that Idaho Falls
1:06:47
police interpreted
1:06:50
the evidence and how the
1:06:52
crime was almost certainly committed by
1:06:55
just one person. From
1:06:57
blood spatter analysis to the way
1:07:00
Angie's body and clothes were positioned,
1:07:03
as well as the state of her bedroom, all
1:07:06
of it pointed
1:07:07
to a lone offender. In
1:07:10
their report, they wrote the following. The
1:07:14
IFPD investigation proceeded with
1:07:16
the predetermined conclusion that
1:07:18
Ben Hobbs had killed Angie Dodge.
1:07:22
This conclusion was in error,
1:07:24
and it was their reaction to this error
1:07:27
which doomed the case. All
1:07:30
evidence was evaluated through that
1:07:33
filter,
1:07:34
and all investigative actions reflected
1:07:36
that bias. Based
1:07:39
on all available evidence, it
1:07:41
is the conclusion of Judges for
1:07:43
Justice that neither Christopher Tapp
1:07:46
nor Benjamin Hobbs had
1:07:49
any involvement in the murder of
1:07:51
Angie Dodge, and that the crime
1:07:53
was committed by a male who lived
1:07:56
in proximity to Angie at
1:07:58
the time of her murder. murder.
1:08:01
That
1:08:01
killer likely still
1:08:03
walks the streets.
1:08:06
Another important detail that this
1:08:08
report points out is that Ben
1:08:10
Hobbs had no motive to kill
1:08:12
Angie Dodge. When Chris
1:08:15
Tapp gave his false confession, he claimed
1:08:18
that Ben was angry because Angie
1:08:20
told his wife that Ben was cheating on her.
1:08:23
Yet
1:08:24
detectives knew
1:08:26
this wasn't true. The
1:08:28
Judges for Justice report reads as
1:08:30
follows. On January 10,
1:08:34
1997, Ben Hobbs, then a strange wife, told
1:08:36
Detective Jared Fuhrman that
1:08:39
Angie had nothing to do with
1:08:41
their breakup. Still,
1:08:44
Fuhrman apparently disregarded this
1:08:46
first-hand information and
1:08:48
persisted in foisting that
1:08:51
false motive on Chris Tapp.
1:08:53
As all of this information was coming to
1:08:55
light, Chris Tapp's defense team was busy
1:08:58
trying to get Chris released from prison
1:09:01
on the basis of innocence.
1:09:05
Their attempts were denied several
1:09:07
times, but after years
1:09:09
of legal battles and
1:09:12
with the assistance of Angie's mom,
1:09:14
Chris finally caught a
1:09:16
small break. In March
1:09:19
of 2017, Chris Tapp entered into an
1:09:21
agreement
1:09:24
with Idaho State prosecutors. A new
1:09:27
generation of Idaho prosecutors were
1:09:39
willing
1:09:43
to vacate Chris Tapp's rape confession,
1:09:46
but they wanted to maintain the murder
1:09:48
conviction. Chris
1:09:52
Tapp had been released
1:09:54
from prison immediately on
1:09:56
the basis of time served. After
1:10:00
he accepted this agreement, he would still be considered
1:10:02
a convicted murderer. For
1:10:05
the state, perhaps the most important
1:10:07
part of this agreement was that Chris would not
1:10:09
be able to pursue any civil
1:10:12
action against Idaho or
1:10:14
the corrupt detectives that put him in
1:10:16
prison. Despite
1:10:19
all the wrong
1:10:20
they had done to him,
1:10:22
the state was unwilling
1:10:25
to admit fault or be held
1:10:28
accountable.
1:10:30
After all, accountability is something that the
1:10:32
state, in general,
1:10:34
doesn't quite care for.
1:10:37
Even so, the prospect
1:10:39
of being let out of prison was just
1:10:41
too good for Chris to pass up
1:10:44
and he accepted the terms of
1:10:46
the agreement.
1:10:48
To give you a sense of how stupid our justice
1:10:50
system can be sometimes, when
1:10:53
Chris Tapp went before a judge to be
1:10:55
resentenced, everyone in the courtroom
1:10:57
knew that he was innocent. That
1:11:01
judge, the prosecutors, the
1:11:03
media, everyone, everyone
1:11:05
knew. The victim's mom,
1:11:07
even. This is
1:11:09
why when Angie's mom was given
1:11:12
the chance to provide an impact statement,
1:11:14
she spoke plainly and
1:11:17
directed her comments
1:11:18
at Chris. For 13
1:11:20
years, I was
1:11:23
really angry at you and of course you were
1:11:25
angry at me because
1:11:27
for 13 years they programmed
1:11:30
my mind to believe
1:11:33
that you were part
1:11:35
of my daughter's killing. I
1:11:38
remember visiting you at Pocatella
1:11:41
at the jail, asking
1:11:44
you what my baby's last words were. Little
1:11:49
did I know that you just didn't know. It
1:11:54
took me 13 years, Chris. Two.
1:12:00
read over and over and over again and
1:12:02
watch the video tapes of your
1:12:04
interrogation. They're
1:12:07
long. You can
1:12:09
hardly hear them. You're agonizing.
1:12:12
They're disgusting.
1:12:14
Angie's mom is right.
1:12:16
The interrogation of Chris Tapp was and
1:12:19
is disgusting.
1:12:22
We watched all 30 plus
1:12:24
hours of it
1:12:26
along with Chris's polygraph
1:12:28
examinations.
1:12:30
I encourage you to do so yourself. It's
1:12:33
pretty obvious to see
1:12:35
detectives twist and manipulate
1:12:37
a young man into admitting to
1:12:39
something he clearly didn't do is revolting
1:12:43
in and of itself.
1:12:44
But it also completely dismantles
1:12:46
the purpose
1:12:48
of a justice system to begin
1:12:50
with.
1:12:51
Given how many people needed
1:12:53
to be involved, the fact that this case was
1:12:56
ever even presented to a jury should
1:12:59
scare the hell out of you.
1:13:01
Granted, in 1998, coerced
1:13:04
confessions weren't quite as well understood
1:13:06
as they are today. But
1:13:08
even so, this is not
1:13:10
a situation of hindsight being 20,
1:13:14
20. Anyone with even a basic level
1:13:16
of education
1:13:18
can watch the interrogation tapes and see
1:13:20
what's going on. It's
1:13:23
plain as day. For over
1:13:25
a decade, Angie's mom was basically
1:13:27
brainwashed into thinking Chris
1:13:30
Tapp raped and stabbed her daughter.
1:13:33
Yet she saw
1:13:36
it right away. But what
1:13:38
I wanted to know is how
1:13:41
a layperson, how a crime
1:13:43
victim could look at these
1:13:45
tapes and see all
1:13:48
the problems with these tapes. How
1:13:50
could she see that? And the
1:13:52
police officers not see
1:13:56
all of these problems. These
1:13:58
police officers were so.
1:13:59
stuck in the Chris Tapp
1:14:02
box and they couldn't
1:14:04
get out of it. Even though DNA
1:14:07
evidence excluded Chris Tapp
1:14:09
and excluded every single person
1:14:12
that he named, they were
1:14:14
stuck in that box. So
1:14:17
what I wanna see happen is in cases
1:14:19
like this, before trial,
1:14:22
when you have a confession and you
1:14:24
have DNA evidence that
1:14:26
excludes the person who confesses
1:14:29
police officers
1:14:29
need to stop and
1:14:32
not charge that person and
1:14:34
continue investigating, because
1:14:37
had they done so, perhaps
1:14:40
they might have found the person
1:14:42
who actually committed this crime.
1:14:45
Given how obviously coerced Chris's
1:14:47
confession was,
1:14:49
it's hard to believe that detectives
1:14:51
didn't know exactly
1:14:53
what they were doing.
1:14:55
But let's say we give them the benefit
1:14:58
of the doubt.
1:14:59
Let's say that they were so swept
1:15:01
up by the prospect that Ben
1:15:03
Hobbs and Chris Tapp were involved in
1:15:05
this crime
1:15:07
that they just couldn't see beyond
1:15:09
that theory. Let's say
1:15:12
that they were not trying to pin a murder
1:15:14
on someone
1:15:15
that they thought or even knew was innocent.
1:15:19
That's not exactly a glowing endorsement
1:15:22
of the caliber of people that work for the
1:15:24
Idaho Police Department.
1:15:26
They were either being completely malicious
1:15:28
and trying to put an innocent man in prison,
1:15:31
just to close out a high profile murder case
1:15:33
that was on their desk,
1:15:35
or they are mind-numbingly
1:15:38
incompetent when
1:15:40
it comes to investigating crime. But
1:15:43
hey, why pick one when
1:15:45
you can have both? They're
1:15:47
not mutually exclusive,
1:15:51
after all. The government
1:15:53
can be
1:15:54
both malicious and stupid,
1:15:57
in case you haven't noticed.
1:15:59
What seems to have happened here is that the Idaho
1:16:02
Falls detectives completely bungled
1:16:05
the Angie Dodge murder investigation.
1:16:08
At some point, they probably realized
1:16:10
that they screwed up. But
1:16:13
then they were already way too deep
1:16:15
and they felt they couldn't turn back and
1:16:18
still save face. Maybe
1:16:20
they had career aspirations they
1:16:23
didn't want to screw up.
1:16:24
Who knows? Maybe they didn't
1:16:26
want to admit they were wrong.
1:16:29
A lot of us don't.
1:16:31
In fact, for some, it's the
1:16:33
hardest possible thing
1:16:35
you can ask them to do.
1:16:37
Maybe they were just blinded by
1:16:39
the anger
1:16:41
at the idea that Chris Tapp had lied
1:16:43
to them.
1:16:44
Whatever the reason,
1:16:46
at some point these detectives likely
1:16:48
made a conscious decision to put
1:16:50
an innocent man on trial for
1:16:53
murder.
1:16:54
Speaking of those detectives, all of
1:16:56
them were conspicuous by their
1:16:58
absence at Chris Tapp's resentencing
1:17:01
hearing.
1:17:02
This was not only a slap in the face
1:17:04
to Chris, but also a clear
1:17:07
indication
1:17:08
that they had no interest in seeing that Angie
1:17:11
Dodge got justice or
1:17:13
that Angie's mom
1:17:14
got answers about the identity,
1:17:17
the true identity,
1:17:19
of her daughter's killer.
1:17:20
I don't know who he is. I
1:17:22
don't know that I'll ever know who he is. I
1:17:26
don't know that he's alive. I
1:17:28
don't know where he's at. I
1:17:31
can tell you that it's been one hell of a journey.
1:17:35
And I have turned to
1:17:37
every pebble there is. And
1:17:40
I'm saddened that
1:17:42
I don't see any of
1:17:44
the Idaho Falls Police Department here
1:17:47
representing my daughter saying
1:17:50
that they'll help me find justice. I
1:17:53
was so sad.
1:17:55
For Angie's mom, the agonizing pursuit
1:17:58
to find her daughter's real killer.
1:17:59
Dragged on, can
1:18:02
you imagine the pain,
1:18:04
the frustration in dealing
1:18:06
with this inefficient,
1:18:09
inadequate system, how
1:18:11
small you would feel against it as
1:18:15
a victim's mother,
1:18:17
and how much of your entire
1:18:19
psyche becomes consumed with
1:18:22
finding justice for the death of this person
1:18:26
that you truly love? Despite
1:18:29
this sad reality,
1:18:31
Chris Tapp's resentencing hearing
1:18:34
did have somewhat of a
1:18:36
happy ending.
1:18:37
On March 22, 2017, after spending 20 years in prison for
1:18:40
a crime he did not commit, a judge
1:18:47
released Chris Tapp.
1:18:50
Even though he was still considered a convicted
1:18:52
killer,
1:18:53
Chris became a free man.
1:18:56
After Chris was released, he gave an
1:18:58
interview to East Idaho News, which helped shed some
1:19:26
light
1:19:27
on why someone might confess to a
1:19:29
crime
1:19:30
they did not commit.
1:19:59
police. They're not going to lie to you. They're not going to screw you. So
1:20:02
I went with that. But
1:20:05
you spent hours upon hours inside of the interrogation
1:20:07
room and you just start wanting to get away
1:20:10
from the police because you want to go
1:20:12
home. When the
1:20:14
DNA came back and it cleared me and then
1:20:16
back then
1:20:17
they had a chance to stop it, but they didn't. They just
1:20:19
pushed
1:20:20
me in a different direction to implicate somebody else.
1:20:24
At this point, everyone familiar with the
1:20:26
Angie Dodge case knew that
1:20:28
Chris Tapp was innocent, which
1:20:31
is why the reporter asked Chris if
1:20:33
he had anything to say to
1:20:36
Angie's real killer. And
1:20:38
if that murderer is still alive, what
1:20:41
would you say to them?
1:20:42
I think when John said it best the day they released
1:20:44
me, there's a bounty on his head.
1:20:46
There will come a time if an
1:20:48
individual is alive that
1:20:51
he will be brought to justice. While
1:20:53
Chris's long and hard fought legal
1:20:55
battles to get out of prison had
1:20:58
finally come to an end,
1:21:00
the search for Angie's real killer
1:21:03
continued. And in May of 2019,
1:21:05
23 years after
1:21:09
Angie was murdered, that
1:21:11
search came to an end.
1:21:15
Thanks to advancements in DNA testing,
1:21:18
a new generation of Idaho homicide
1:21:20
detectives were finally able
1:21:23
to identify the man that
1:21:25
killed Angie Dodge.
1:21:44
Unbelievable,
1:21:47
isn't it?
1:21:48
In 1996, when Angie Dodge
1:21:51
was killed,
1:21:52
the murderer lived right
1:21:54
across the street from her,
1:21:56
and he had no alibi for
1:21:58
the night of the crime.
1:22:01
Yet, the original investigators
1:22:03
didn't think to question him further
1:22:06
or take a DNA sample from him.
1:22:09
I guess it's kind of hard to properly
1:22:11
investigate a murder
1:22:13
when you're too busy putting an
1:22:15
innocent man
1:22:16
in prison.
1:22:18
In 2019, genealogical DNA
1:22:21
testing
1:22:22
was used to identify distant relatives
1:22:24
of Angie's killer.
1:22:27
This process led investigators
1:22:29
to a suspect. That
1:22:31
suspect was 53-year-old
1:22:34
Brian Lee Drips,
1:22:37
who again lived
1:22:39
right across the fucking street from
1:22:41
Angie when she was killed.
1:22:44
After Brian became a suspect,
1:22:47
Idaho investigators surveilled him for
1:22:49
about a week before snatching
1:22:51
up a cigarette butt that he tossed onto
1:22:54
some pavement. When the cigarette
1:22:56
was tested for DNA,
1:22:58
it came back as a match.
1:23:02
The semen found on Angie's dead body
1:23:04
belonged to Brian Drips.
1:23:07
Soon after this realization
1:23:09
was made, Brian was
1:23:11
taken into police custody and
1:23:14
questioned. This was something
1:23:17
that took place years and years ago. When
1:23:19
you were living in Idaho Falls, the Idaho Falls area,
1:23:22
it was a pretty
1:23:24
major case on that. The only thing I
1:23:26
can think of is the death
1:23:29
murder case. The only
1:23:31
thing I can think of that happened when I was living there.
1:23:34
Tell us what you remember about that. Well,
1:23:37
that's what I knew about it back then. I
1:23:40
don't remember much. From
1:23:43
what I remember that night, we were drinking
1:23:46
with my buddies. Until
1:23:48
the top of that night, we called
1:23:51
the cab for my buddy. The
1:23:55
cab came to my buddy up because I
1:23:57
was passing out.
1:24:00
At the end of this interrogation,
1:24:02
the cops didn't reveal that they had already
1:24:05
matched Brian's DNA to Angie's
1:24:07
murder,
1:24:08
and Brian maintained the same story
1:24:11
that he had given the
1:24:13
police over 20 years before
1:24:15
this interview.
1:24:17
As expected, when the investigators
1:24:19
asked Brian for a DNA sample, he
1:24:21
was reluctant to
1:24:23
give it up. We would like
1:24:25
to get a sample from you, a buccal
1:24:28
swab or a DNA sample. Is
1:24:30
that something you'd be willing to do?
1:24:32
It's really un-intrusive. Is it the swab that you'd be willing
1:24:35
to do? No, I don't get it. I just don't like the stuff
1:24:37
that my DNA will be in
1:24:39
some database.
1:24:41
Is there a reason your semen would be on the scene? How?
1:24:45
Is there a reason your semen would be on the scene?
1:24:48
No. So you would just be
1:24:50
completely shocked if
1:24:52
we had your DNA at the scene? Yep.
1:24:57
We'd have your DNA at the scene.
1:24:59
After Brian was made aware that the cops
1:25:01
had him dead to rights, it
1:25:04
didn't take long for him to come clean
1:25:06
and confess to raping and murdering 18-year-old
1:25:10
Angie Dodge
1:25:11
in June of 1996. I don't remember.
1:25:14
I need details. I don't remember.
1:25:17
All messed up. Shit
1:25:20
happened. You mean my
1:25:24
shit had it? Because
1:25:26
I was almost on co-control.
1:25:29
But you said
1:25:33
you just went there? Where was your plan? Didn't
1:25:36
have one. How'd
1:25:40
you get in? taxpayer
1:25:43
dollars opening to the door and
1:25:46
the layout of the house I
1:25:49
couldn't tell you. I remember it. upstairs
1:25:52
you remember what? I had to walk up some
1:25:54
stairs. Yeah, walk up some stairs.
1:25:57
And there it is. Corroboration.
1:26:01
Brian knew that Angie's apartment had
1:26:03
stairs and nobody needed
1:26:05
to tell him beforehand.
1:26:08
At the time of Angie's murder, Brian
1:26:10
Dripps was 30 years old and
1:26:13
was in the middle of a divorce.
1:26:15
He claimed that he was drunk and high on
1:26:18
cocaine
1:26:19
when he went to Angie's apartment
1:26:21
and that he never intended to kill her.
1:26:24
His only goal was to rape her.
1:26:28
What did you use? My
1:26:30
knife. Describe that
1:26:32
to me. Just
1:26:35
a knife. A buck knife? Did you have
1:26:37
the knife out? Also,
1:26:41
the... Yep. You're
1:26:44
hoping that what? That when
1:26:46
it would keep her calm so she went, I...
1:26:49
I could just do my thing with me. How
1:26:52
did you take off her clothes? I just
1:26:54
pulled my hands down. Where
1:26:59
did you ejaculate? In
1:27:02
or outside of her. Oh,
1:27:04
that's hot.
1:27:06
I think that's when it ended up. Good.
1:27:11
According to Brian, as he
1:27:13
was raping Angie, she
1:27:15
fought back,
1:27:17
which led Brian to stabbing her
1:27:19
several times and
1:27:21
slitting her throat.
1:27:23
This account was consistent
1:27:25
with the crime scene and
1:27:27
quite different than the original theory
1:27:29
that three men had raped and
1:27:31
murdered Angie. What are your thoughts
1:27:34
and regards to that? To what? The
1:27:36
other conviction that we have in this case.
1:27:39
Oh.
1:27:41
I'm not sorry for the guy. What
1:27:44
did you think Brian's confession? I
1:27:47
don't know. I really
1:27:49
don't know. I
1:27:52
guess I can almost start into it.
1:27:55
Apparently, Brian was pretty indifferent
1:27:57
about Chris Tapp's confession.
1:28:00
And he didn't really care that
1:28:02
an innocent person went to prison for a crime
1:28:05
he committed.
1:28:06
To do so would have meant that he had a conscience,
1:28:10
which
1:28:11
not a lot of rapists slash murderers
1:28:13
do.
1:28:14
At the same time,
1:28:16
he obviously didn't care that Angie's mom
1:28:18
and the rest of her family were
1:28:20
painfully and desperately searching
1:28:23
for
1:28:23
answers. Mr. Drips
1:28:26
is the definition of evil. He
1:28:29
never wanted to confess his crimes to this
1:28:31
court or take responsibility
1:28:33
for the atrocity against us
1:28:36
and this community. He was completely
1:28:38
happy to sit back, retire,
1:28:42
watch another man do time for a crime that
1:28:46
only Mr. Drips committed.
1:28:49
He lived his life and kept silent about
1:28:52
Angie's murder for those 23 years. He
1:28:55
went on vacation with his family, got
1:28:58
to enjoy time with his children,
1:29:00
his mother, his stepfather,
1:29:03
his other family members and friends.
1:29:05
So what does that tell us? That
1:29:08
every day for 23 years, he
1:29:10
got to enjoy that time, enjoy
1:29:13
those special events, knowing
1:29:16
that
1:29:16
there was a family, suffering,
1:29:19
that there was a family, the Dodge family, who
1:29:23
did not have the truth because
1:29:25
the truth remained
1:29:28
hidden and silent in Mr.
1:29:30
Drips. To avoid a potential
1:29:33
death sentence,
1:29:34
Brian Drips pled guilty
1:29:37
to Angie's rape and murder
1:29:39
in February of 2021. Later
1:29:42
that year, he was sentenced to 20
1:29:45
years to life and
1:29:47
he will almost certainly die behind
1:29:50
bars.
1:29:51
With Brian Drips locked up,
1:29:54
the search to find Angie's real killer
1:29:56
had finally reached an end.
1:29:59
story of Chris Tapp
1:30:02
continued. After Brian
1:30:04
was arrested, the Idaho Falls Police
1:30:06
Department threw themselves a little
1:30:08
celebratory press release,
1:30:11
and it just so happened that Chris Tapp was
1:30:13
in attendance. Contentiously,
1:30:17
one of the news reporters put the police
1:30:19
department
1:30:20
on the spot and asked
1:30:23
just the right question.
1:30:24
Naturally,
1:30:28
the police wanted to focus
1:30:30
on their accomplishments.
1:30:50
There's
1:30:55
no doubt there are failings in our
1:30:57
criminal justice system. In my view, there's
1:31:11
no
1:31:18
doubt that the defendant was convicted of a
1:31:20
crime for which he had not been hit.
1:31:43
Chris Tapp is the 367th
1:31:47
person in America to
1:31:49
be exonerated through the use
1:31:52
of DNA. Of those 367
1:31:54
people, 102 of them gave the police a
1:31:59
a false confession.
1:32:03
Almost 1 in 3 to 1 in 4 people
1:32:06
would lie about being involved
1:32:09
in a crime. As
1:32:12
hard as it is to wrap your mind around
1:32:14
someone admitting to a crime they didn't commit,
1:32:17
it does happen. In fact, it seems
1:32:20
to happen quite a lot. It's
1:32:23
not exactly uncommon.
1:32:25
At Chris's exoneration hearing, one
1:32:28
of his defense attorneys pointed out how
1:32:30
easy it is for something like this to happen.
1:32:33
You know, the tactics that police use during
1:32:35
interrogations are psychologically coercive.
1:32:39
Police are allowed to lie to people
1:32:42
they're interrogating and say, we have
1:32:44
your fingerprints, you know, we have
1:32:46
DNA at the scene and innocent
1:32:48
people think great, as soon as they do testing,
1:32:51
they're going to see that I didn't do it. This interrogation
1:32:54
is so stressful. If I tell them what they want to hear
1:32:56
now, then I can put an end to it and
1:32:58
then I'll be cleared when they do further investigation.
1:33:01
But once you make an admission, that
1:33:03
further investigation never comes. After
1:33:06
being exonerated,
1:33:08
Chris Tapp stood on the steps of
1:33:10
the same courthouse where he was wrongfully
1:33:12
convicted of murder
1:33:15
and gave a brief statement. I
1:33:18
hope that things get learned from
1:33:20
this mistake. And I hope
1:33:22
things get changed and things get better.
1:33:25
But there's never another mistake like this ever happens
1:33:27
again in this community or in this
1:33:30
state.
1:33:31
Chris Tapp has hope that what
1:33:33
happened to him will never happen
1:33:36
to anyone else.
1:33:37
But the truth is,
1:33:39
it has already happened.
1:33:42
Angie Dodge was murdered in 1996.
1:33:45
The tactics that police use to coerce
1:33:47
Chris into giving a false confession
1:33:50
have been used for decades and
1:33:53
are still commonly used throughout
1:33:55
the country.
1:33:57
If Chris's wrongful conviction tells us
1:33:59
nothing.
1:33:59
else,
1:34:01
the one thing it makes perfectly clear
1:34:03
is that we desperately need reform
1:34:06
when it comes to the way that the police
1:34:09
conduct interrogations.
1:34:12
As listeners of Sword and Scale,
1:34:15
you already knew that cops
1:34:17
are allowed to lie to you,
1:34:19
and that it's illegal for you
1:34:22
to lie to them. But
1:34:24
why is that? Why is
1:34:26
the citizen held to a higher standard
1:34:29
than the cop who is policing them? That's
1:34:32
a good question. For authorities,
1:34:36
lies are a means to manipulate,
1:34:39
which should probably not
1:34:41
be allowed, especially
1:34:44
in a murder investigation. I don't
1:34:47
know, what do you think?
1:34:49
Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
1:34:51
We've got to eliminate deception in the
1:34:53
interrogation room and other psychologically
1:34:56
coercive techniques using false
1:34:59
evidence, threats of consequences.
1:35:02
And there are alternative investigative
1:35:05
techniques that can be used. And
1:35:07
so we hope that Chris's
1:35:09
case is not in vain, and it's a moment
1:35:11
that we can learn from and enact
1:35:13
reforms to really make sure that
1:35:15
this doesn't happen to somebody else, and
1:35:18
we don't have to wait two decades for the next technology
1:35:20
to come out.
1:35:22
Granted, putting restrictions on
1:35:24
or making reforms to police interrogations
1:35:27
could make it harder for police to
1:35:29
solve crimes.
1:35:31
It could make an important and difficult
1:35:33
job
1:35:34
even more difficult.
1:35:37
If you oppose the idea of police
1:35:39
interrogation reform, that's fine.
1:35:42
As a true crime podcaster and someone
1:35:44
that covers hundreds of stories
1:35:47
of murder, I can certainly
1:35:49
understand why someone
1:35:51
would take that position.
1:35:54
But if you do take
1:35:56
that position,
1:35:58
then you also have to admit that.
1:36:00
that you think putting guilty
1:36:02
people in prison is more
1:36:04
important than keeping innocent people
1:36:08
out of prison. And
1:36:10
that's, using a word I
1:36:12
hate, problematic for
1:36:14
a number of reasons. With
1:36:17
regard to wrongful convictions, there
1:36:20
is another question worth asking.
1:36:23
Where is the accountability?
1:36:27
As a result of Chris Tapp's case,
1:36:29
Idaho Falls has agreed to pay Chris $11.7
1:36:32
million. Chris
1:36:36
undoubtedly deserves every penny
1:36:39
of that money.
1:36:40
But here's the thing. That money
1:36:43
isn't coming from the cops or prosecutors
1:36:45
that put them in prison. It's not
1:36:47
coming from their pensions or their retirement
1:36:50
funds. It's coming
1:36:52
from you, the taxpayer.
1:36:54
Specifically the Idaho taxpayer.
1:36:58
You are funding these people's
1:37:00
incompetence. Congratulations.
1:37:04
Don't forget to vote.
1:37:06
In America, we have
1:37:08
laws on our books that make it illegal
1:37:10
for a person to accidentally kill
1:37:13
someone. It's called manslaughter.
1:37:16
Shouldn't there also be criminal laws
1:37:19
against quote unquote accidentally
1:37:22
sending an innocent person to prison? Robbing
1:37:25
them of their freedoms? And
1:37:27
ruining their life?
1:37:29
I'm not
1:37:29
saying we should burn cops and
1:37:32
prosecutors at the stake. I
1:37:34
mean,
1:37:35
some of you may think that, but
1:37:37
that's not what I'm saying.
1:37:39
But it's not unreasonable to
1:37:41
suggest that when they make mistakes,
1:37:43
they should
1:37:44
be held accountable.
1:37:47
Isn't being held accountable what they
1:37:49
do to us?
1:37:51
Let their punishment be
1:37:54
proportionate to the damage that
1:37:56
they caused? Speaking
1:37:58
of. Chris Tapp currently
1:38:00
has pending civil litigation against
1:38:03
all of the detectives that were involved
1:38:05
in his interrogations and polygraph
1:38:07
exams.
1:38:09
As for Detective Jared Fuhrman,
1:38:12
he will never be held accountable. After
1:38:15
Chris Tapp was sent to prison, Fuhrman
1:38:18
rose to the rank of lieutenant, and
1:38:21
in 2006 he was elected
1:38:24
as the mayor
1:38:25
of Idaho Falls.
1:38:28
He served two terms before
1:38:30
being diagnosed with Alzheimer's,
1:38:33
and in May of 2022, the disease
1:38:37
killed him. He was 60.
1:38:40
Jared Fuhrman
1:38:42
was a father to eight children and
1:38:44
a grandfather to 17 children, and I'm sure
1:38:48
that throughout his life as a parent, a
1:38:50
cop, a mayor, he
1:38:52
did some noble things. Some
1:38:55
good things for
1:38:57
the people of Idaho Falls.
1:39:00
But his legacy will always
1:39:02
and should always be
1:39:05
tainted by the fact that he sent
1:39:07
an innocent man to prison for 20 years.
1:39:13
As of March 2023,
1:39:16
there are about 2.3 million
1:39:18
people in prison in
1:39:21
America,
1:39:22
and if you take a conservative estimate
1:39:25
and see that we only get it wrong 1% of the
1:39:27
time, that means that
1:39:31
23,000 people
1:39:34
are in prison right now for
1:39:36
crimes they did not
1:39:38
commit. In other
1:39:40
words, we know that
1:39:43
there are many more Chris Tapp's
1:39:45
out there,
1:39:46
and we know
1:39:48
that our justice system is rife
1:39:50
with injustice.
1:39:52
It's important for us to look at Chris's
1:39:54
case and others like it.
1:39:58
It's important to learn.
1:39:59
from them
1:40:01
and use them to make changes.
1:40:04
It's important that we demand
1:40:07
a better system of justice because
1:40:09
if we don't,
1:40:11
it's not out of the realm of possibility
1:40:15
that injustice could someday
1:40:17
find us or someone
1:40:21
that we love.
1:40:42
That's going to do it for another episode. Thank
1:40:45
you for joining us. If you're a plus member,
1:40:48
well, if you're not, first of all, go be a plus member,
1:40:51
go to swordandscale.com slash plus. But if you are
1:40:53
a plus member and you're in one of the higher tiers, $25
1:40:55
and up, we may have
1:40:58
something coming your way pretty soon.
1:41:00
So make sure you log in to
1:41:02
swordandscale.com slash plus
1:41:06
and that you make sure that you update your
1:41:08
address so we can send you your stuff. See
1:41:11
ya. Hey
1:41:30
Mike, I'm a 911 dispatcher and
1:41:33
I just want
1:41:35
to say, go fuck yourself.
1:41:43
Just
1:41:50
kidding. Actually, I am a 911
1:41:52
dispatcher. I love your
1:41:55
show. I love that
1:41:57
you call out shitty
1:41:59
videos.
1:41:59
Dispatchers on their bullshit. I
1:42:02
actually reference your show all the time
1:42:04
when I'm training new hires on everything
1:42:08
not to do when they are handling
1:42:10
a Emergency call
1:42:12
keep up the great work keep playing the audio
1:42:15
keep calling us out on our shit when we don't
1:42:17
do our job Thanks for everything you do
1:42:31
Hey You
1:42:56
Hey you have sex right I mean
1:42:59
I'm assuming you do because there's a population Around
1:43:02
us and they came from somewhere
1:43:04
all of us have sex unless you're you know one
1:43:07
of those weirdos But most couples
1:43:09
fall into a rut after a while.
1:43:11
Well. Here's your chance
1:43:13
to fix that
1:43:14
Adam and Eve is offering 50% off
1:43:17
just about any one item plus free
1:43:20
shipping and Rush processing
1:43:23
all you got to do is use the promo code
1:43:26
sword More than that Adam
1:43:28
and Eve wants to make your life easy
1:43:30
They offer discrete shipping as your privacy
1:43:33
is a priority doesn't matter
1:43:35
how much you buy how much you spend Everything
1:43:38
will be packaged and sent discreetly
1:43:40
with fast and free shipping
1:43:43
So don't wait
1:43:44
better sex is just a click
1:43:46
away Bring
1:43:48
more pleasure and satisfaction into
1:43:50
your bedroom into your love life into
1:43:52
your marriage or relationship
1:43:55
Just go to Adam and Eve comm and select
1:43:57
just about any one item.
1:43:59
It could be another
1:43:59
adventurous new toy or
1:44:02
just about anything you desire.
1:44:04
Just enter offer code sword at checkout
1:44:07
and get your 50% off plus
1:44:09
free shipping and rush priority processing.
1:44:12
That's sword at Adam and Eve
1:44:14
dot com. This is an exclusive
1:44:17
offer specific to this podcast. So
1:44:19
be sure to use the code sword
1:44:21
to get your discount. 100%
1:44:23
free shipping and
1:44:25
get it fast with rush processing
1:44:27
code sword at
1:44:29
Adam and Eve
1:44:30
dot com.
1:44:32
Ever notice what happens when your home is beautifully
1:44:35
organized. You have more space more
1:44:37
room to breathe at California closets.
1:44:39
Our designers know just what questions to ask
1:44:42
to create exactly what you want. Your
1:44:44
personalized experience includes custom
1:44:46
design and installation to deliver
1:44:48
a result that truly reflects your style
1:44:50
and needs. That's the California closets
1:44:53
difference. We call it practical
1:44:55
magic. Book your free design consultation
1:44:58
today at California closets dot com.
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More