Preliminary hearing in Binion case could last two weeks

Prosecutors are expected to weave a tale of love, betrayal and greed when they lay out their case in Justice Court this week at the preliminary hearing for Ted Binion's accused killers.

Charged in Binion's Sept. 17 slaying are his 27-year-old live-in girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, who had met the wealthy gambling figure at an adult nightclub, and Rick Tabish, a 34-year-old Montana contractor and two-time convicted felon who had befriended Binion several months before his death.

Both are accused of carrying on a romantic relationship while plotting to kill the 55-year-old former casino executive and steal a good portion of his fortune. The weekend before Binion's murder, Murphy, who had a $5,000-a-month credit card habit, and Tabish stayed together at a posh Beverly Hills hotel.

Much of the interest in Binion's death, which has attracted national media attention, stems from the multimillionaire himself and his colorful family, the longtime owners of the Horseshoe Club, a popular downtown hotel-casino.

Binion, who was buried with his cowboy hat and boots, was the outgoing son of the late Benny Binion, a legendary Las Vegas gaming pioneer and Horseshoe Club founder.

In May 1998, four months before his slaying, state gaming regulators had revoked Ted's gaming license because of his heroin use and ties to underworld figure Herbie Blitzstein, who was murdered a year earlier.

Then in July 1998 Binion was forced to remove his belongings, including an estimated $4 million in silver, from the Horseshoe Club when his sister, Becky Behnen, took over the casino following a bitter fight with both of her brothers. The silver was buried in Pahrump in an underground vault Tabish had built.

On Sept. 17 Binion's body was discovered at his 2408 Palomino Lane home next to an empty bottle of the prescription sedative Xanax.

At first police believed his death was a suicide or accident. But two weeks later, drug tests found lethal levels of heroin and Xanax in his body, prompting homicide detectives to enter the case.

Following a nine-month investigation, Murphy and Tabish were arrested June 24 along with four others charged with crimes related to his death. Murphy now is under house arrest, and Tabish remains in jail.

Two men, David Mattsen and Michael Milot, are charged with Tabish and Murphy in the Sept. 19 attempted theft of Binion's silver fortune from the underground vault in Pahrump. Two others, Steven Wadkins and John B. Joseph, face kidnapping, extortion and assault charges with Tabish in the torture of a Jean sand pit operator two months before Binion's slaying.

Prosecutors plan to present about 30 witnesses when the preliminary hearing gets under way at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the courtroom of Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti. The hearing may last two weeks.

A month before Murphy and Tabish were arrested, District Attorney Stewart Bell described the murder investigation as a "complex jigsaw puzzle," one of the most complicated his office has ever put together. Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger has been assigned the case.

"It's still complex, and it's going to remain complex," Bell said last week. "It's our job to put those pieces together so that it makes sense to a jury of lay people."

But first, prosecutors will have to persuade Togliatti that there's enough evidence to force the defendants to stand trial.

Bell and others acknowledge the case, which has accumulated more than 21,000 pages of documents, is built totally on circumstantial evidence. And that leaves openings for defense attorneys representing Murphy and Tabish, who so far have refused to comment on the evidence gathered by prosecutors.

Both Murphy and Tabish deny killing Binion and claim to have alibis for the day he died.

Investigators, however, believe the evidence is compelling.

For the past five weeks, the Sun has reported much of the evidence likely to surface at this week's hearing. A large portion was gathered by private detective Tom Dillard, who was hired by Binion's $30 million estate to investigate his death.

The prosecution's star witnesses:

Others, such as Binion's gardener Thomas Loveday, who saw Murphy's black Mercedes parked at Binion's home the morning of Sept. 17, and local beauty salon employees who heard Murphy predicting Binion's death a week before his murder, also are likely to be called to the preliminary hearing.

So are Binion's longtime secretary, Cathy Rose, and two of his other lawyers, Richard Wright and Harry Claiborne, who were among the first to suspect foul play.

Binion's heroin dealer may even make a surprise trip to the witness stand.

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