The Snare, Episode 6: Second Chances

from 2020 and ABC Audio, The Snare.

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At a police station in Caldwell, Idaho, Idaho Falls, police captain John Marley gave Brian Drip's a quick pat down before sitting across from him to talk. Drip's had a long gray beard. He wore a black t-shirt and camo pants that matched his trucker hat. While the officers were suits, they were set up in a small room with green walls.

Captain Marley says everything about this meeting was meticulously planned, down to the furniture. We didn't want any distractions in the room. We wanted to table and we wanted three chairs. We didn't want for us to sit between him and the door and for him to feel like he was trapped. We didn't really want a barrier in between us either like a table.

We wanted to have that open dialogue. Drip's rested his arm on the table beside him. Investigators gave him a couple of water bottles and a Pepsi. I'm sure you got a lot of questions for us. There's a deal that's going on here.

The way I was doing the talk to you, but I wanted to tell you, I appreciate you coming in here. And talking to us, like I said, it has something to do with the case and to the place. Years ago, and we're going back and reinvestigating everybody from the beginning of that case. Investigators already knew that the DNA collected from Drip's discarded cigarette but matched the DNA found at the crime scene. But this match didn't mean Drip's was Angie's killer.

Detective Sage Albrey, who was also in the room, says they needed to rule out any innocent explanation for why Drip's DNA might have been an Angie's apartment.

“Did she have a personal relationship with Brian Drip's?”

Did she have a romantic relationship with Brian Drip's? Did Brian ever come over to her house? Is there any theoretically possible legal reason that his DNA would be at her residence and specifically at that crime scene? And if there wasn't one, then investigators wanted answers. Why Angie? Why how did this happen?

You know, why did it happen? What were some of the details that went on? Another question, police still needed to figure out if Chris Tap was involved in Angie's murder. But it all depended on if investigators could get Drip's to talk. And they felt like they might only have one chance to get it right. This is our only chance to get the truth. You may only get one shot to talk to them.

You'll only get one shot to get the answers to some of those details that have been nagging this case for years. From ABC Audio and 2020, I'm Maggie Raleigh. And this is the snare.

Episode 6, second chances.

Captain John Marley says they wanted to build a report with Drip's and establish a sense of trust, so he might feel comfortable speaking openly. Investigators had put their plan into action. The moment Drip's was in their car on the way to the police station. Captain Marley says he's been the 45-minute drive, making small talk with Drip's.

“The dialogue's important because if you can get people to answer the easier questions, it's easier to transition into some of the harder questions that will come later.”

Captain Marley says Drip's told him he moved from Idaho Falls to California. He learned Drip's liked Pepsi and peanut butter sandwiches. Captain Marley also learned he suffered from serious chronic pain.

"You're right, say back, go and go. Hard to get comfortable no matter where you are, don't you? Yeah, it's tough. I hardly do anything anymore because it's tough to be on my own body."

“All bright says they were concerned Drip's pain would distract him from answering their questions, or possibly end the entire interview.”

He would make any indication that he was in discomfort or that he was in pain. That seemed like an opportunity that he could eventually use to say, "I'm just on talking with you guys." So investigators say they try to make Drip's as comfortable as possible. They got him a better chair, an officer even went out to buy bread and peanut butter to make him a couple sandwiches. And they planned to take breaks whenever necessary, because detectives didn't want this interview to end before they got the information they needed.

Well, what questions did you have for us to begin with? Were you nervous? Yeah. What's the base of it going on? Don't think I can think of it. That part of the case. Don't think I can think of that happening when I was living down. That murder case. Drip's is the one who brings up the murder. Captain Marley says, up until that point, they still had it mentioned anything about Angie. To investigators, this signal that her murder was on his mind.

That tells us that now we're on the same page. She's never been questioned as a suspect in this.

And now two detectives are there to talk to him about this murder that took place across the street from your house 20 years ago. And we knew that he knew that we were going to get some information. But when the officers asked him, what he remembered about that murder case? Drip said, not much.

“From what I remember that night was we were drinking a lot of drinks on my buddies.”

Drip's told investigators that back in 1996, he was interviewed by police and told them he had passed out at home the night of Angie's murder. He said, he woke up the next morning and saw a cop car on his street. And that's all he said, he really remembers. What about the house practically across the street? Angie's apartment. Investigators asked Drip's, if he knew who lived in the house where the murder happened.

Now I thought, you know, girl coming and going a couple times, you know, but that'd be about it. But I don't really remember a whole lot. Do you remember what her name was? No. The officers asked Drip's again, if he remembered anything about the murder or anybody talking about it. I remember hearing that I'm a native of the house and I don't really talk about it now because I didn't know her or nothing in the whole.

But you know, we don't want this kind of crazy that I've never done a straight but, you know, that was about it.

So you guys were neighbors then? Yeah, there's no together. No. How you out together now? Okay.

And you were never over at your house. Okay. Now.

Even though Drip said he never knew Angie and had never been to her apartment, investigators needed to be sure.

They asked him more questions about his former neighbor.

“Did you in that neighbor hang out in the same circles?”

Did you have mutual friends? Did she ever come over to your house? Drip said no. And, and so there would be no evidence that would put you at her place or for a year before. Correct.

That was never there. It's never up on place. All right. There it was. Drip's had eliminated any innocent reason for his DNA to be at Angie's house.

They weren't dating. They weren't friendly. According to Drip's, he never even been in her apartment. Investigators knew otherwise. We knew that in our pocket, we had his DNA.

And it was no longer a tip. It was absolutely 100% conclusively his DNA at the crime scene.

Instead, they asked him if he was willing to provide them with a DNA sample. Drip's seemed hesitant.

“He said he didn't like the idea of his DNA being in some kind of database.”

If I take one, he takes a whole man. Well, we still want something. We still have some questions to ask. Ask. Once the same old question, you've been asking.

I'm not going to change the story. I'm going to be the same old story. Eventually, Drip's agreed to give them a cheek swab. Investigators asked him what he thought the results would be. Drip's said negative.

Another officer came into the room to collect the DNA sample. I don't want to see if you're going to do it just open your mouth. I'm just going to sit inside your cheek a little bit. Captain Marley and Detective Albright stepped out of the room. I'm sure I'm going to check on that food where you're going to be right back.

Drip's was left alone in the room. Albright again. He now has to really process what information has just been given to him.

It never creates a lot of emotions and a lot of thoughts.

And he has to start coming to terms with what is his plan. What is he going to do? Am I going to continue to fight this?

“Or is now the time where I realize that the gig is up?”

And I'm going to come forward with as much information as I can. Officers were watching Drip's on the cameras in another room. He stayed seated in his chair with his hands on his knees. His back was hunched over as he stared at the ground. About 10 minutes in, he took a series of deep breaths before calling out to investigators.

Guys, what brings back it in here? Suddenly he swung around in his chair and started heaving. He stopped himself from throwing up in the corner of the room. I think the overall tension of the circumstance. I mean, I think he legitimately had some real serious physical ailments.

And then you couple that with the emotional and mental exhaustion. That was the moment where I felt like he knows things are really, really bad now. All right. It's over here. I'm going to make you feel better.

The officers were back in the room and Drip's asked them how much longer investigators told him not much. They still had some more questions. The tough question here is, as you know from the beginning, we were able to fucking a lot of DNA from that scene.

We're able to reprocess things that weren't processed good enough. We're able to do a lot more things we were able to do 20 plus years ago. So there we go. If your DNA comes back to being on scene, that means everything you told us is a lot.

Drip insisted that he'd been truthful the entire time.

He repeated that he'd never spoken to Angie and had never been to her apartment.

But police were about to ask their toughest question yet. If Drip said he had never been to Angie's apartment,

“then why was his DNA in the room where she was killed?”

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“You made it very clear throughout the entire time”

to talk that you don't know her.

You've never been to her house.

You've never been to yours. That I'm going to call for them. Investigators hadn't yet told Brian Drips that they found his DNA in Andrew's apartment. But they gave him a chance to explain why it could be there.

So they asked him hypothetically. If his DNA was found in Andrew's apartment, how might it have gotten there? He said maybe he'd been invited by some friends to get high at Andrew's place.

And he just didn't remember. If he didn't go over, he said the only DNA he could imagine he left behind was hair. We'd given him plenty of opportunity

to tell us why his DNA would be there. It was the build up to the DNA evidence. Captain John Marley. It was the point when we asked him what are some of the other ways that somebody

a man can leave DNA on a scene? He was the one that brought up the scene. And he was the one that brought up the scene. And we knew then that we had him there. Investigators had been talking to Drips for hours

slowly building to this moment. It was time to tell him what they knew. I don't want to over there. I don't want to just listen to me. If it is you, and you go in front of a jury,

that's the story that you're going to give

because I was never over there.

And you had just that every one of the beliefs that DNA that DNA evidence was wrong. Yeah, I don't, I guess I don't remember. So you just completely shocked if we had your DNA at the scene.

We had your DNA at the scene. That's why we're here. The officers finally revealed their biggest piece of information that despite what Drips had told them, they had evidence that connected him to Angie's murder.

Drips seemed confused. He asked investigators about the cheek swab he just took.

“And that's what they explained to him what it happened.”

The officers told Drips that they identified him as a person of interest in their investigation. They said they retrieved his DNA without him knowing. Tested it against the crime scene evidence, and it came back a match.

Drips told them again. He didn't know Angie, and didn't recall ever being at her apartment. The officers told him that DNA doesn't lie and that they had a warrant for his arrest.

But they weren't just there to arrest him. We had sufficient evidence to to convict him without a confession. But we wanted the details. We wanted to know the how.

We wanted to know the how. We wanted to know Drips a story of why he did this. And that was the big reason to keep continuing on with the interrogation. They told Drips that he's the only person

who can tell them what happened the night Angie was killed. Drips had his head in his hands. For a moment, he and the detectives were silent. Before Drips asked the officers for one last smoke break, the officers obliged.

When they all returned to the room, Drips started talking. But I told him out there, I don't remember.

I don't know. All messed up. [bleep] That went down. I guess.

It didn't mean to kill her. I didn't mean to kill her.

“Brian Drips had just confessed to killing.”

Angie Dodge. For more than two decades, police have been looking for the man who raped and killed her. And now he was sitting in front of them.

The moment wasn't lost on all bright.

When he finally started to tell us what had happened,

it was, I mean, almost felt like a dream. It did just, I almost didn't feel real. We had been chasing this from all the research. All they had, like, prep that we had done coming into the interview. It was surreal.

It just, yeah, didn't, I almost didn't feel like it was actually happening. This is what Drips told investigators happened on the night he killed Angie. He said he'd been out drinking with friends. Told the officers that one of his friends

came back to his apartment and then left shortly after they got to his home. And he's left at his apartment by himself. He says at that time he was drunk and he was high on cocaine. And he had known that Angie lived across the street and he ultimately decided that he was going to rape her.

Drips told investigators that this was a spur of the moment decision that nothing about his attack was planned. Why was it needs so strong at that time for rape her?

It wasn't particularly urgent.

It took him about the moment of running out. He said he walked across the street with a pair of gloves and a knife. Drips told them he entered Angie's home, found Angie in her bedroom, and attacked her. And just got on the other hand and started.

“And that's what he started to run from around and tighten me back.”

Drips said that's when he thinks he used his knife to cut Angie. He told the officers that he eventually left the apartment. Thinking Angie was still alive. He said he didn't mean to kill her. He said he didn't mean to kill her.

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Well, Brian, at this point, it's our obligation to tell you that you are under arrest for the charges of rape and murder.

Now, police had him in handcuffs. When Drip's gave his confession, Brian says he thought about Carol Dodge. There's so many emotions that are going on.

“Like, I honestly felt terrible for Angie.”

I felt terrible for her family.

I know that their family will never completely overcome what this is done to them.

But you want to bring resolution for people. Police called Carol that night to tell her they'd arrested the man who killed her daughter. News, she'd been waiting years to hear. In May, 2019, one day after Drip's confessed to raping and killing Angie, the police invited Carol and her loved ones to the Idaho Falls police station for a private meeting.

Captain Bill Squires greeted her with a hug. He escorted her into a conference room, packed with family and friends of the Dodge family and law enforcement. The many people who've had some hand in Angie's case. Captain Squires took the floor.

We've charged a 53-year-old man named Ryan L. Drip's with the murder and rape of your daughter. And he is in the county county jail right now. And he will be transported here back to Bonneville County to face those charges. He gave a play-by-play of how it all happened.

From genetic genealogy identifying Drip's as the person of interest to his eventual confession.

Police had finally caught Angie's killer.

Carol, tearfully, addressed the room. I would just like to take everybody for a moment. I'm supporting me. Just 23 years ago we were in this same building. Hearing this sadness as she was gone. But thank you for being on the journey with me.

It's been harded, thank you for having me. Did all my grandchildren the life. It failed to be a part of her performance. That crazyness. But it took crazy to stick it where we are today.

In 2021, Brian Drip's pleaded guilty and was convicted of first-degree murder and rape.

He was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years and up to life in prison for the murder of Angie Dodge.

“With Drip's in prison, what did this all mean for Chris Tap?”

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Chris Tab said once he was released from prison, he wanted to move forward and put this case behind him. Then two years after his release, he heard about Brian drips his arrest from a friend. He started making a bunch of calls and one of the first people he spoke to was Carol.

When I was ecstatic for her,

I didn't think of me. I was ecstatic for her and her family. That they can go to bed. He's here now in wrestling.

“Because it's to actually have the true killer.”

The Idaho Falls Police Department hosted a press conference to announce drips his arrest. Chris was in the audience. There to show his support for Carol and her family. Thank you for being here today.

We're here to announce that we've arrested Brian Lee drips

for the murder and rape of Angie Doge.

Drips his 53 years ago. Chris said being there was overwhelming. But he couldn't help but feel vindicated. After all these years of proclaiming his innocence, the moment seemed to confirm he was right.

But Chris was still a convicted murderer. A reporter asked police about the elephant in the room. What was next for Chris Tap? Did anybody feel a need on the part of the police department to maybe apologize to Chris?

I recognize it was another generation of officers. But at this point, this Christopher tapped in apology and/or reparation or something? So what we're there today for was Angie. Talked about Angie. Talked about what's happened.

“Chris Tap is another very important part of this case.”

The deserves it's day in the sunlight and we will do that. That day is not today. In July 2019, about two months after drips was charged, Chris's defense team filed another petition for post-conviction relief. Chris's sixth petition over the course of 22 years.

But this filing was different because it said there was new evidence that proved Chris's innocence. It argued that the discovery of Brian Drips's DNA matching the crime scene evidence along with his admission that he attacked Angie and acted alone

or grounds to overturn Chris Tap's murder conviction. The court granted Chris an exoneration hearing that same month. The courtroom was packed with Chris's supporters. A few of them in the audience wore white t-shirts with the word "innocent" in bright red letters.

Bonneville County Prosecutor Daniel Clark was there.

“Remember, his office had ordered the independent investigation”

into Chris's conviction and then he issued his own report that determined there was no new credible and material evidence that Tap was innocent. However, because of concerns about Chris's confession and sentence, Clark extended Chris a deal that released him from prison,

dropped the rape conviction and left the murder conviction in place. When Clark stood to address the courtroom, he said given Brian Drips's confession and the DNA match, there was clear and convincing evidence that Chris was convicted of a crime he did not commit.

He moved to vacate the jury verdict and dismiss his conviction. The judge agreed and delivered his ruling. After years of trying to prove his innocence,

Chris finally heard the words he'd been fighting for.

"I am going to grant the state's motion to dismiss both the pain conviction and the murder conviction on basis of actual innocence." [applause] The room erupted. Chris felt back tears.

He got up and gave his lawyer John Thomas a tight hug. He then turned around to embrace his mom, Vera. Chris was officially exonerated. Carol Dodge was just a couple of robes behind Chris, applauding alongside his supporters.

She had become one of his biggest advocates and Chris said one of the biggest reasons he was free. She thought I was a devil for years and then her opinion changed and it made things so much better for me.

You know, her fighting for me to help get released

and to helping to get something better for me. But as part of the reason why I'm home today, then I'm greatly indebted to that woman. She has no idea. Carol's family was also there.

Even Jeremy Sarges was in the gallery supporting his old friend.

“Remember, Chris had falsely implicated him in the crime.”

Jeremy was charged with being an accessory to a felony. Jeremy denied all allegations of any involvement. His DNA didn't match and he had an alibi for the night of Angie's murder. The charge was dropped and he was cleared as a suspect. Now, Jeremy was in the courtroom,

wearing a white and red innocence shirt in support of Chris. Three months later in October 2020, Chris taps team filed a civil lawsuit for wrongful conviction against the city of Idaho Falls and seven former officers who worked on the case.

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit but the judge denied the motion. While the former officers denied any wrongdoing,

“Chris and the city of Idaho Falls ultimately reached a settlement.”

The city agreed to pay Chris $11.7 million in damages

and issue a formal apology to him and his family. When ABC News interviewed Idaho Falls police chief Bryce Johnson, he acknowledged that some people made honest mistakes. Look, we put the wrong guy in prison to people making mistakes. Yes, people made mistakes.

But they were honest mistakes. They had what they thought was a confession. And, you know, we know it's different now. We paid a price for that a pretty big price for it. But they were doing the best that they knew how to do at the time.

In the city's official apology to Chris, it's at in addition to the settlement, the city pledged to review its policies, procedures, and training and revise them as needed to prevent what happened in Chris's case. Prison life, you know, for most people,

“it changes who you are. You have to adapt.”

You have to become sometimes something you're not to survive. Chris spent 20 years of his life behind bars. Serving time for a crime, he had repeatedly maintained he did not commit. After his release, Chris worked closely with the Innocence Project and became an advocate for post-conviction reform.

He met with lawmakers and traveled the world sharing his story. In 2021, Idaho signed into law a wrongful conviction act, which mandated victims of wrongful convictions can get up to $75,000 for each year they spent in prison. Even after all Chris had been through,

he said he didn't say the need to be resentful. Anger left a long time ago for me, and I've just accepted it, and moved on and pushed forward. If you hold on to anger, then it will just tear you up inside. Everybody got to see me break once.

You know, when the jury found me guilty, and the guilty verdict came,

and I vowed that I promised myself I would never break again.

There was so much more Chris wanted to accomplish that he would never get to. According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, In October 2023, four years after his exoneration, Chris had gotten into an altercation

and was later taken to the hospital. On November 5th, 2023, Chris Tapp was declared dead. He was only 47 years old. The Clark County Corner's office ruled his death a homicide.

They determined he had died from blunt force trauma to the head. A suspect has since been arrested and charged with Chris's murder. The man pleaded not guilty, and a trial is expected to start in early 2027. Chris's funeral was held about three weeks after his death

at a local Idaho Falls mortuary.

Friends and family filled the pues.

“Chris's black casket sat at the front of the room,”

adorned with a pink and purple flower arrangement. His mother Vera was seated in the front row. Carol Dodge was there.

Two mothers now bound together by the loss of their children.

Chris Tapp and Angie Dodge.

“Chris and Angie's journeys will forever be intertwined.”

Two young lives forever changed by the same brutal crime. And over the course of two decades,

the case left multiple victims in its wake.

But even amid the tragedy, their stories are also marked by love and forgiveness. A mother's love for her daughter.

“And a wronged man's willingness to forgive and move forward.”

The snare is a production of ABC audio in 2020, hosted by me, Maggie Rooley, produced by Camille Peterson and Sabrina Fang with help from Emily Sylinder and Emily Schutz. Edited by Tracy Samelson,

our supervising producer is Susie Lou, music by Evan Viola, mixing by Bob Mallory, special thanks to Katie Dendos, Janis Johnston, Nancy Rosenbaum,

Sasha Aslaniin, Suzanne DeCunto, and Michelle Margallis. Josh Cohen is our director of podcast programming. Amy McMiff is our executive producer.