Transcript of The Snare, Episode 6: Second Chances New

This is Deborah Roberts here with another weekly episode of our latest true crime series from 2020 and ABC Audio, The Snare. Remember, you can get new episodes early by following The Snare on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you're listening now. Now here's the next episode of The Snare.

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You mind if I, uh, do a quick pass search, make sure you don't have any weapons on you?

Uh-huh.

Have anything that you shouldn't have? Anything that scared me?

At a police station in Caldwell, Idaho, Idaho Falls Police Captain John Marley gave Brian Dripps a quick pat-down before sitting across from him to talk. Dripps had a long gray beard. He wore a black t-shirt and camo pants that matched his trucker hat, while the officers wore 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 a table and we wanted 3 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.

Drips. Rested his arm on the table beside him. Investigators gave him a couple water bottles and a Pepsi.

I'm sure you got a lot of questions for us and everything that's going on here. We obviously wanted to talk to you, but I wanted to tell you I appreciate you coming in here and talking to us. Like I said, it had something to do with the case that took place, you know, years ago, and we're going back and reinvestigating everybody from the beginning of that case.

Investigators already knew that the DNA collected from Drips' discarded cigarette butt matched the DNA found at the crime scene. But this match didn't mean Drips was Angie's killer. Detective Sage Albright, who was also in the room, says they needed to rule out any innocent explanation for why Drips' DNA might have been at Angie's apartment.

Did she have a personal relationship with Brian Dripps? Did she have a romantic relationship with Brian Dripps? 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?

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 Tapp was involved in Angie's murder. But it all depended on if investigators could get Drips 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 will 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 Rooley, and this is The Snare, Episode 6: Second Chances. Captain John Marley says they wanted to build a rapport with Drips and establish a sense of trust so he might feel comfortable speaking openly. Investigators had put their plan into action the moment Drips was in their car on the way to the police station. Captain Marley says He spent the 45-minute drive making small talk with Drips.

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

Captain Marley says Drips told him he moved from Idaho Falls to California. He learned Drips liked Pepsi and peanut butter sandwiches. Captain Marley also learned he suffered from serious chronic pain. When Drips walked into the interrogation room, he seemed uncomfortable.

You all right? Is that your back?

Oh yeah.

It's hard to get comfortable no matter where you are.

Oh yeah. Yeah, it sucks. I hardly do anything anymore because it just sucks to be in my own body.

Albright says they were concerned Drips' pain would distract him from answering their questions or possibly end the entire interview.

If 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 done talking with you guys." So investigators say they tried to make Drips 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 do you have for us to begin with?

Well—

Where to start?

Yeah. What's basically going on? The only thing I can think of is that murder case. It's the only thing I can think of that happened when I was living there.

That murder case. Drips is the one who brings up the murder. Captain Marley says up until that point, they still hadn't mentioned anything about Angie. To investigators, this signaled that her murder was on his mind.

That tells us that now we're on the same page. He'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, Dripps said not much.

From what I remember that night was we were drinking. I was drinking with my buddies.

Drips 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 Dripps if he knew who lived in the house where the murder happened.

No, I saw, you know, a 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 Dripps again if he remembered anything about the murder. Or anybody talking about it.

No, I remember hearing it on the news, but that was about it. Didn't really talk much about it, no, because I didn't know her or nothing, you know. But, you know, we thought, wow, that's kind of crazy that it happened right across the street. But okay, you know, that was just about it.

So you guys weren't neighbors that chatted or smoked together, hung out together?

No. Okay.

And you were never over at her house?

Okay. No.

Even though Drips 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 and that neighbor hang out in the same circles? Did you have mutual friends? Did she ever come over to your house? Drips said no.

And so there would be no evidence that would put you at her place or her at your place?

Correct. I was never there.

She was never at my place.

All right.

There it was. Dribbs had eliminated any innocent reason for his DNA to be at Angie's house. They weren't dating. They weren't friendly. According to Dripps, he'd 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.

But the officers held off from telling him what they knew. Instead, they asked him if he was willing to provide them with a DNA sample. Drips seemed hesitant. He said he didn't like the idea of his DNA being in some kind of database.

If I take one, will you take me home then?

Well, we still want some— we still got some questions to ask. Ask ya.

What's the same old questions you've been asking? I'm not gonna change my story. It's gonna be the same old story.

Eventually, Drips agreed to give them a cheek swab. Investigators asked him what he thought the results would be. Drips said negative. Another officer came into the room to collect the DNA sample.

Hello.

I'm just gonna take your— when I do it, just open your mouth, and I'm just gonna— just in the inside of your cheek a little bit.

Captain Marley and Detective Albright stepped out of the room.

Thank you, sir.

I'm gonna go check on that food.

We're gonna be right back.

Drips was left alone. In the room. Albright again.

He now has to really process what information has just been given to him. Inevitably, it 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, you know, the gig is up and I'm going to come forward with as much information as I can?

Officers were watching Drips 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.

You guys might want to bring a bucket in there.

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. There's some food here. I'm gonna make you feel better. Okay.

The officers were back in the room, and Drips asks 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 obtain 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 than we were able to do 20-plus years ago.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

If your DNA comes back to being on scene, that means everything you've told us is a lie.

Drips 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 Drips 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 that we've talked that you don't know her, that you've never been to her house, she's never been to yours.

Yeah.

Investigators hadn't yet told Brian Dripps that they found his DNA in Angie'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 Angie's apartment, how might it have gotten there? He said, Maybe he'd been invited by some friends to get high at Angie's place, and he just didn't remember. If he did go over, he said the only DNA he could imagine he left behind was hair.

We'd given him plenty of opportunity to, you know, tell us why his DNA would be there. It was the buildup 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?

Blood, I guess. Skin. Semen, probably. That's the only thing I can think of.

Is there a reason your semen would be on scene?

I don't know.

And he was the one that brought up semen. And we knew then that we had him— we had him there.

Investigators had been talking to Dripps for hours. Slowly building to this moment. It was time to tell him what they knew.

I don't recall going over there. I don't know that.

So if it is you—

I don't know.

Well, listen, 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 is I was never over there. And you expect everyone to believe that DNA— the DNA evidence was wrong?

Yeah, I don't— like I said, I don't recall ever being there.

So you would just be completely shocked if we had your DNA at the scene?

Yep.

We have 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 when they explained to him what had 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 convict him without a confession, but we wanted the details. We wanted to know the why. We wanted to know the how. We wanted to know Drips' story of why he did this. And that was— 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.

I had told y'all that I don't remember any details. I was drunk, all messed up. Shit happened. I guess. Didn't mean to kill her.

I didn't mean to kill her. Brian Dripps had just confessed to killing Angie Dodge. For more than 2 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 Albright.

When he finally started to tell us what had happened, it was— I mean, it almost felt like a dream. It did just— it almost didn't feel real. We had been chasing this from all the research, all the prep that we had done coming into the interview. It was surreal. Like, it just, yeah, it didn't— 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. He told the officers that one of his friends walked him 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.

Dripps told investigators that this was a spur-of-the-moment decision, that nothing about his attack was planned.

Why was the need so strong at that time to rape her?

It wasn't particularly her. It's just the coke and the alcohol and some money.

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.

I just got on top of her and then started— And that's when she started wrestling around and fighting 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.

You said you didn't mean to kill her. No. How did it get to that point?

Purely accidental.

Drips said killing Angie was an accident, that he only had intentions to rape her. He told investigators that he didn't find out that Angie was dead until the next day when he saw it on the news. He said he then threw his knife into the river. Drips gave investigators answers. They'd been seeking for years. But there was one more thing they needed to know. Did Drips act alone?

Do you think there's any possibility that somebody else was there with you?

No, I don't. Uh, pretty sure it wasn't, but no.

Drips said he's pretty sure he acted alone. The police mentioned that there was another person convicted of Angie's murder, Chris Tapp. Dripps said he'd heard about Chris, how he'd been found guilty of the crime and was eventually released.

I feel bad for everybody else.

Why did you feel bad for them?

Mainly because they were doing time for something they didn't do.

The detectives asked Drips again if another person was with him that night, if anyone helped him attack Angie. Drips told them no, it was just him.

Right. Is there anything else that you think we should know or that you'd like to tell us?

I'm the one who did this.

I've already told you. At this point, it seemed to detectives that they got what they came for, a confession. Now they were ready to make an arrest.

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

And murder.

Officers had pressed Brian Dripps to answer questions that had haunted Idaho Falls for decades. Now police had him in handcuffs. When Dripps gave his confession, Albright says he thought about Carol Dodge.

There's so many emotions that are going on, like, I honestly, I felt terrible for Angie. I felt terrible for her family. I know that their family will never completely overcome what this has 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 Drips 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.

Hey, lady.

You want to say hi to Bill? It's good to see you. Oh, it's so good to see you.

You okay?

We made it.

Sure as hell did.

Yep.

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 Brian L. Dripps with the murder and rape of your daughter. And he is in the Canyon 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 Dripps 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 thank everybody for coming and supporting me. Just 23 years ago, we were in this same building hearing the sad news that she was gone. But thank you for being on the journey with me. It's been hard. And thank you, Brandon, and all my grandchildren that I've failed to be a part of because of my craziness. But it took craziness to get where we are at today.

Brian Dripps 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 Dripps in prison, what did this all mean for Chris Tapp? Said once he was released from prison, he wanted to move forward and put this case behind him. Then 2 years after his release, he heard about Brian Dripps' arrest from a friend. He started making a bunch of calls. And one of the first people he spoke to was Carol.

She says, they got him, Chris. And I was ecstatic for her. I didn't even think of me. I was just ecstatic for her and her family that they can go to bed easier now and rest because they actually have the true killer.

The Idaho Falls Police Department hosted a press conference to announce Drips's arrest. Chris was in the audience there to show his support for Carol and her family.

Thank you for being here, uh, today. We're here to announce that we have arrested Brian Lay Dripps for the murder and rape of Angie Dodge. Dripps is 53 years old.

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 Tapp?

Did anybody feel a need on the part of the police department to maybe apologize to Christopher? I recognize it was another generation of officers, but at this point, does Christopher Tapp get an apology and/or reparation or something?

So what we're here today for is Angie, uh, talk about Angie, talk about what's happened. Chris Tapp is another very important part of this case that deserves its day in the sunlight, and we will do that. That day is not today.

In July 2019, about 2 months after Drips was charged, Chris's defense team filed another petition for post-conviction relief. Chris's 6th 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 Dripps's DNA matching the crime scene evidence, along with his admission that he attacked Angie and acted alone, were grounds to overturn Chris Tapp'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 Tapp 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 Dripps'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 rape conviction and the murder conviction on the basis of actual innocence.

The room erupted. Chris He fought 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 rows 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 the devil for years, and then, then her opinion changed, and it made things so much better for me. You know, part of the reason why I'm home today is because of Carol. You know, her fighting for me to help get released and helping to get something better for me. It's part of the reason why I'm home today, and I'm greatly indebted to that woman. She has no idea.

Carol's family was also there. Even Jeremy Sargis was in the gallery supporting his old friend. Remember, Kris had falsely implicated him in the crime. And 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 innocent shirt in support of Chris. 3 months later, in October 2020, Chris Tapp's team filed a civil lawsuit for wrongful conviction against the city of Idaho Falls and 7 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. Do people make mistakes? Yes, people made mistakes. But they were honest mistakes. They had what they thought was a confession. And 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 said, 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.

Kris spent 20 years of his life behind bars, serving time for a crime he had repeatedly maintained he did not commit. After his release, Kris 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 the 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 see 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 and 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, 4 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 Coroner'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 3 weeks after his death in November 2023 at a local Idaho Falls mortuary. Friends and family filled the pews. 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 and 20/20, hosted by me, Maggie Rouly. Produced by Camille Peterson and Sabrina Fang, with help from Annalisa Linder and Emily Schutz. Edited by Tracy Samuelson. Our supervising producer is Suzie Lu. Music by Evan Viola. Mixing by Bob Mallory. Special thanks to Katie Dendas, Janice Johnston, Nancy Rosenbaum, Sasha Aslanian, Suzanne de Cunto, and Michelle Margolis. Josh Cohen is our director of podcast programming. Amy McNiff is our executive producer.