Trio charged in theft of Binion silver

Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett filed criminal charges as expected Tuesday against three men accused of stealing a fortune in silver which the late Ted Binion had buried in Pahrump.

The three men -- Richard Bennett Tabish, Michael David Milot and David Lee Mattsen -- were charged with burglary, grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, attempted embezzlement and conspiracy to commit grand larceny.

All three, expected to be arraigned next week before Pahrump Justice of the Peace Margaret Tsafos, are facing more than 20 years in prison if convicted.

Binion's sister, Horseshoe Club hotel-casino owner Becky Behnen, told the Sun today that she was encouraged by the decision to file the charges.

"I hope this leads to more information that will shed light on my brother's death," said Behnen, who suspects foul play led to his demise.

The three men were arrested by Nye County sheriff's deputies about 3 a.m. Sept. 19, less than 36 hours after Binion's death, after they allegedly had transferred the silver coins and bars from an underground vault to a large dump truck.

All of the silver, estimated to be worth as much as $4 million, was recovered by deputies.

Tabish, a two-time convicted felon who befriended the 55-year-old Binion a year ago, had built the vault on property Binion owned in the heart of downtown Pahrump. The treasure was hauled there from the Horseshoe Club about three months ago after Binion lost his gaming license because of drug use and ties to organized crime figures.

The charges in Pahrump come amid word that Clark County Coroner Ron Flud was to receive a toxicology report today that will determine whether any drugs were found in Binion's body.

Flud has been waiting for the report before ruling on Binion's cause of death.

Metro homicide detectives, who suspect Binion died of an accidental overdose Sept. 17, also are waiting for the test results before deciding whether to close out the investigation.

Binion's girlfriend, ex-topless dancer Sandy Murphy, reported his death to police about 3:55 p.m. Sept. 17. An empty bottle of the prescription sedative Xanax was found next to his body at his Las Vegas home.

Police at the scene and an autopsy conducted by Flud found no evidence of foul play.

But Behnen has urged police to treat her brother's death as a homicide until it can be proven he died of a drug overdose.

Though Binion had a history of heroin use, his friends, lawyers and former employees all believe foul play could have played a role in his death.

During the course of the theft investigation, Pahrump detectives uncovered evidence of a possible romantic relationship between Tabish and Murphy.

Both Murphy and Tabish were at Binion's Las Vegas home the day before he died.

Friends and employees of Binion interviewed by the Sun have pointed out several suspicious occurrences at the Palomino Lane home before his death.

His housekeeper said Murphy, who had a stormy relationship with Binion, told her not to come to work the morning of Sept. 17 because Binion was sick.

Realtor Barbara Brown said she spoke to a distressed Murphy on the telephone several hours before Binion's death was reported to police.

And surveillance expert Brad Parry said a video recorder linked to four cameras outside the front of Binion's home mysteriously was damaged two days before his death. The recorder was not in operation on the day Binion died, which means there was no way to keep track of people coming in and out of his home.

This week, Binion attorney Richard Wright confirmed that a valuable collection of old coins and currency Binion kept at his home was missing.

And a longtime Binion friend said Binion told him the day before he died that he had been keeping $500,000 in cash at his home.

Wright said no cash was found at Binion's home the day of his death.

Tabish, meanwhile, has contended that he dug up the silver at Binion's request.

His lawyer, Louis Palazzo, said Binion wanted the silver transferred to his nearby ranch in Pahrump if he ever died.

"Nothing's changed just because they decided to file charges," Palazzo said late Wednesday.

He said Tabish planned to plead innocent to the charges.

Wright has called Tabish's story "ludicrous," saying Tabish never bothered to inform the Binion family of his plans to remove the silver.

Tabish, who comes from a prominent family in Missoula, Mont., previously has been convicted of cocaine trafficking.

He also once pleaded guilty to stealing a valuable painting from his own lawyer in Missoula.