Goodman to Murphy: Take the Fifth

For a moment Thursday, as high drama unfolded in Ted Binion's estate case in District Court, it appeared that his girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, was willing to help the estate gather missing assets.

Her lawyer, Oscar Goodman, told District Judge Michael Cherry that he might have to withdraw as her legal counsel because she was refusing to take his advice to assert her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on the witness stand.

Cherry gave Goodman and Murphy until 9 a.m. next Thursday to resolve what Goodman called a "mild disagreement." At that time, Murphy will be summoned to testify about the whereabouts of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gems, jewelry and rare coins taken from Binion's home after his Sept. 17 death.

The estate believes that Murphy and Rick Tabish, a Montana contractor charged with trying to steal a fortune in silver Sept. 19 from a vault that Binion had buried in Pahrump, either took the items or know their whereabouts.

After the hour-long hearing, in which Tabish took the Fifth Amendment 98 times, Goodman told reporters he won't represent the 26-year-old Murphy if she can't follow his advice to do the same thing.

Goodman insisted he was trying to protect his client, whom he believes has come under suspicion by police and the estate in Binion's death.

"She's a wounded caribou being chased by an angry pack of wolves," Goodman charged.

But one of the estate's lawyers, Richard Wright, wasn't impressed with Goodman's words.

Wright accused Goodman of pulling off an "old legal ploy" in court Thursday to create a perception that his client wants to cooperate.

"I'd be happy to have her testimony next week," Wright said. "But I fully expect her to take the Fifth Amendment. I don't believe she can testify truthfully without providing answers that will incriminate her."

Wright said he anticipates Goodman will inform Cherry next week that his client has reluctantly agreed to assert her right against self-incrimination.

"If she testifies fully, completely and truthfully to help us resolve this mystery, that thump you hear in the courtroom will be me falling off my chair," Wright said.

Goodman's partner, David Chesnoff, lashed back at Wright.

"Mr Wright should confine these arguments to the courtroom, not the newspapers," Chesnoff said. "When did he figure out this alleged ploy, an hour later? Why didn't he raise it with the judge?

Chesnoff added: "Mr. Wright presumes that the Fifth Amendment is only used by the guilty. It's to protect the innocent from being persecuted."

And so the drama carries over into another week.

On Thursday, the 33-year-old Tabish, a convicted felon who has been linked romantically to Murphy, was the star of the court proceedings.

Tabish, who also has come under suspicion in Binion's death, cited the Fifth Amendment in refusing to answer 98 questions about the missing valuables and his relationship with Murphy.

Two other men arrested with Tabish in Pahrump Sept. 19 in the silver theft, Michael Milot and David Mattsen, also took the Fifth Amendment when asked questions about their activities before and after Binion's death. All three suspects are free on bail and face a preliminary hearing in Pahrump next month.

The questions, asked by estate lawyer Bruce Judd, left little doubt that the multimillion-dollar estate and homicide detectives have similar interests. An investigator for the estate and a homicide detective were in court to hear Tabish duck the questions. Both Tabish and Murphy have refused to allow police to question them about Binion's death.

Tabish on Thursday declined to answer questions about his relationship with Murphy and his contact with her before and after Binion's death.

Judd asked Tabish directly if he ever had a sexual affair with Murphy and whether he talked to her about taking the $4 million worth of silver bars and coins that Binion had buried in an underground vault in downtown Pahrump.

The suspects, who were arrested before they could haul away the fortune, had left one silver dollar directly in the middle of the vault. At Binion's safe in Las Vegas, everything of value, including a $300,000 collection of rare currency, was missing except for one dime left in the middle of the safe.

Binion's death, meanwhile, remains a mystery to homicide detectives. There were no signs of trauma on his body, yet he had lethal amounts of both heroin and the prescription sedative, Xanax, in his system. The coroner has officially declared the manner in which he died as "undetermined" pending further investigation.

One of the questions Tabish refused to answer was whether he took a pair of thumb-cuffs missing from Binion's home. The estate has a theory that Binion might have been subdued with the thumb-cuffs at the time of his death and that the drugs were poured down his throat.

Murphy, dressed in a stylish blue pants suit, listened intently from the back of the courtroom as Tabish deflected question after question with his lawyer, Louis Palazzo, at his side.

She faces the same questions next Thursday when the drama resumes in court. But for her, the stakes are higher.

Murphy has been awarded Binion's Las Vegas house, which has been valued as high as $750,000, and its contents. She also is to receive $300,000 in cash.

But she risks losing all or part of that if she refuses to cooperate with the estate as it tries to gather up Binion's assets and give an accounting to the court.

Wright has indicated the estate intends to pursue a monetary judgment against Murphy if she continues to stonewall its efforts.

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