Updates on the Ted Binion case

[Makoto_4]

Sorry this is late but last week on February 2, Court TV's program "The System" profiled the Ted Binion murder case. He was the casino owner of Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas until he was murdered in 1998. His girlfriend Sandy Murphy and friend Rick Tabish were found to be responsible for Binion's death.

In the special I watched, Murphy's lawyer John Mamot defended her, saying the crime scene was botched and she was not hiding evidence. However, when Murphy made a videotape of herself showing the items in Ted's house (I think), she was seen taking and hiding a wine glass, possibly key evidence in Binion's murder. Of course, despite these claims, she was found guilty.

The segment closed with a text update. This is what it said word-for-word:

"In 2003, the convictions of Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy were overturned. Sandy Murphy was released on bail December 2003. A new trial has been ordered."

-Makoto_4

[Awsi Dooger]

This was the Las Vegas version of the O.J. case a few years ago -- on TV every day, dominating the news and local gossip, with incredible twists and turns. It was a controversial verdict, with most locals expecting an acquital. Last July the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the convictions, after famed Harvard lawyer Alan Dershowitz joined the defense and filed for appeal. The new trial is set for October 11.

I watched the case with great interest since I used to work at the Horseshoe sportsbook as a supervisor. There is tons of circumstantial evidence of Murphy and Tabish's guilt, but the case hinged on conflicting forensic opinion. The original autopsy concluded death by heroine overdose, until the state brought in New York expert Michael Baden, who reviewed photos and concluded Ted Binion was suffocated, after the heroine and xanaz doses failed to kill him. Cyril Wecht testified for the defense, insisting the original overdose finding was correct. Baden and Wecht, of course, have appeared on several episodes of Unsolved Mysteries.

Murphy (Ted Binion's girlfriend) and Tabish were having a secret affair, with Tabish heavily in debt due to a struggling business. The prosecution used phone records to demonstrate how frequently they called each other, with the notable exception of the secret rendevues. On the morning of the death, there were zero phone calls between the two, presumably because they were together in Binion's house, killing him.

Other circumstantial evidence:

* They called the housekeeper and asked her not to show up for work that day

* They forgot to call off the gardener. He reported every curtain closed, completely unlike any other time he had been there

* Binion told his lawyer to remove Sandy Murphy from the will just one night earlier

* Pressure points on Binion's body indicated someone had kneeled on his chest, possibly while he was struggling to fend off suffocation. The defense claimed the marks were made by emergency personnel postmortum, during efforts to revive Binion.

* Sandy Murphy accepted a call from Binion's financial advisor on the morning of the death. The friend asked to speak to Ted or to come over, but Murphy frantically rejected both requests.

* One night after the death, Rick Tabish and several others were caught digging up Binion's silver, $millions worth, from a vault Tabish had built. Tabish originally lied about the contents of the load, when the officer approached.

* One friend of Tabish from Montana testified that Tabish had approached him about killing a wealthy casino owner from Las Vegas. The friend mentioned it to several others before Binion's death. After Binion's death, according to the friend, Tabish showed up in Montana and laughed when confronted. "Xanax!," he reportedly exclaimed, when asked how he had done it.

* Prior to conviction, Tabish reportedly tried to bribe several people to furnish an alibi for the day of the death. The prosecution put forth a note in Tabish's handwriting, basically saying, "when someone comes through for me, the payoffs are huge!"

One intriguing aspect of Murphy's defense is it has been funded by William Fuller, an elderly Irish man in his 80s. There are reports he has spent upwards of $2 million on the trial and appeal. Amazing, since Fuller did not meet Sandy Murphy until after Binion's death, apparently taking an instant like to her due to the shared Irish heritage. However, latest indications are Fuller's funds may be low, and Dershowitz may not try the appeal unless he is guaranteed a substantial sum.

[Awsi Dooger]

In my lengthy reply I forgot to mention the Nevada Supreme Court's reasoning in ordering a new trial. The ruling was 4-3 to set aside the guilty verdicts, based on two supposed errors by Judge Bonaventure. He is the huge, white-haired judge who became quite popular in Las Vegas during the Binion trial.

The upper court ruled that Judge Bonaventure erred in including battery and bribery charges against defendant Rick Tabish as part of the Binion murder trial. Those charges stemmed from an incident in which Tabish supposedly threatened and assaulted a former business partner. That man claimed Tabish beat him with a phone book at a sand pit, threatening to bury him in a pit if he did not surrender the business and assets to Tabish. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled the prosecution did not satisfactorily link that assault to the Binion murder, it prejudiced jurors against the defendant, and the cases should have been tried separately. Curiously, the upper court let the guilty verdicts against Tabish stand, regarding the sand pit assault.

Also, the Nevada Supreme Court concluded that Judge Bonaventure failed to properly instruct the jury regarding a statement from Binion's lawyer. It went something like, "take her (Sandy Murphy) out of my will. If I die tonight, you'll know what happened." The upper court ruled Judge Bonaventure should have emphasized that statement was only relevant to Binion's state of mind, not as evidence of Murphy's guilt in Binion's death.

[Brent88]

This story was on Unsolved Mysteries yesterday.