dripps was charged with the rape and murder of the teenager. it was an emotional moment for a angie s mother carol, who is there at the press conference. he orchestrated the whole thing. for chris tapp, the break in the case was a new beginning. in july, 2019, a judge finally vacated his murder conviction. and this time he left the court, not only a free man, but a fully exonerated one. [applause] i m thankful that my mother will know but this last name is fully. that s the most important thing to me in this world. brian dripps on the other hand, who had lived to free all those years, atlas faced the consequences. he pleaded guilty to both the rape and murder of angie dodge. and was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years to life. as for carol dodge, the idaho
so, detectives insisted they were. right ben hobbs was the ringleader. chris tapp was involved in the attack. an unknown third man left the dna in the form of semen. three attackers. the identity of the third, still a secret. unrevealed by either of the other to all those years later. and about the fact that carol dodge now disagreed with their theory i was supporting chris tapp, the only man in prison for the murder? what s it like to know that carol is now actively campaigning for his release? believes he s an innocent man? i think it s part of the process. in some respects, her heart has been broken. and she s convinced you got the wrong guy? when i heard that i was genuinely surprised. it s been a rollercoaster ride for 16 years for her. she s looking for closure. tomorrow or the next day, chris could be guilty in her mind again. so, perhaps now, would be a good time to talk to the man in the middle of all of this.
hubs marriage and he did like that one bit. so detectives questioned him and denied all part of the murder. i don t know, that s why i m asking you. because if she was, my dna will prove my innocence right there. and lo and behold, he was right. that dna results came back, and the semen found on angie s body did not belong to hobbs or tapp. neither one of them. what went through your heads when the dna results came back and it showed that the attacker was not them? one word, frustration. but the detectives decided that didn t mean that christopher was lying or that their theory of the crime was wrong. it could only mean, they decided, that they needed to expand the theory. hobbs tapp and tapp the mystery dna must of come from a third man, a third
attacker. so they put tapp back into the interrogation room and asked him if a third man was involved in the crime. and sure enough tapp said that yes there was a third man. but no matter how many times detectives as, he wouldn t tell them who it was. so prosecutors made a decision, if tapp wasn t going to tell them the whole truth, he would get his deal. christopher tapp was charged with murder, but only christopher you. not enough evidence to go after hobbs or anyone else. the vertical carol dodge and surprise. but one look at christopher tapp she knew, she wanted him dead. i mean i was finally looking somebody in the eye i felt was the devil who had taken my daughter s life. was tapp found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for murder and 20 years for rape.
with the murder happened. they just kept focusing on, well if you were there. if you did do it. if you held a knife. it s okay. we will help you. so, like an idiot, i believed them. and then they charged with murder? yeah. by now, of course, chris tapp was fighting to clear his name. with the support not only of his own mother and the innocence project. but of carol dodge, the victims mother. carol dodge came around to your side. what was that like? it s an amazing feeling. and i appreciate her finally understanding that i m innocent. and, as we spoke, for the first time in years, chris tapp had reason to feel one spark of possibility. someone in a position to change his future was going to listen. coming up a new chance at freedom. could that controversial confession get thrown out of