Grand jury quizzes pals of Murphy

Friends of Ted Binion's girlfriend were among the first summoned Thursday to a Clark County grand jury investigating the Sept. 17 death of the well-known gaming figure.

As the grand jury opened its probe, the girlfriend, 26-year-old Sandy Murphy, asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 200 times when called to testify at a related District Court hearing on Binion's estate.

Murphy, reported to be a target of the grand jury investigation, refused to answer questions about Binion's death and the whereabouts of hundreds of thousands of dollars in valuables taken from his home after he died.

Among those subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury Thursday was Tanya Cropp, a Murphy friend who had started working as Binion's personal secretary the day before he died.

Cropp, who lives in a house Binion owned, reportedly had a conversation with Binion on Sept. 16 in which he indicated he had been arguing with Murphy and had instructed his old bookkeeper to cancel Murphy's credit card and checking account.

Another Murphy friend who works as a bartender also was called Thursday to the grand jury.

The bartender said she had no idea why she was being asked to testify. But sources close to the case said she may have knowledge about a purported romantic relationship between Murphy and Rick Tabish, a 33-year-old Montana contractor who has been charged with trying to steal a fortune in silver from Binion after his death.

Tabish took the Fifth Amendment 98 times last week during an estate hearing when asked about the Sept. 19 Pahrump theft, his relationship with Murphy and the items missing from Binion's Las Vegas home.

Cropp reportedly overheard Tabish shortly before the silver was dug up from the underground vault in Pahrump saying he had to "take care of something" before a lawyer for Binion's multimillion-dollar estate got his hands on it.

District Attorney Stewart Bell today confirmed the grand jury was asked to assist homicide detectives in their investigation of Binion's death.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger, a member of the elite Major Violators Unit, is overseeing the grand jury proceedings.

"This is simply another investigative tool that we are using to aid the police in trying to sort out the circumstances surrounding the death of Ted. Binion," Bell said.

"We are not at all in a position to determine whether or not charges might be initiated. Ted Binion died as result of an overdose of narcotics. How he happened to overdose on narcotics remains a mystery."

Bell stressed investigators have not concluded Binion was murdered.

Murphy had reported discovering Binion's body at his 2408 Palomino Lane home next to an empty bottle of the prescription sedative, Xanax. Drug tests later found lethal levels of both heroin and Xanax in his system. Though Binion was a known heroin user, the coroner has officially left the manner in which he died as "undetermined."

Homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen, who assigned a team of detectives to the probe days after Binion died, said today that the investigation is progressing.

"We're still collecting new information all the time," he said.

Bell said investigators will "keep working and digging" until they can determine whether foul play contributed to his death.

Another Murphy friend expected to be hauled before the grand jury is Linda Susan Carroll, who spent hours with Murphy after Binion's body was found at his home on Sept. 17. Carroll, who also is being sought as a witness in Binion's estate case, lives in the Los Angeles area.

Murphy's lawyer, Oscar Goodman, disclosed in court Thursday that he had learned the grand jury was looking into Binion's death. It was the chief reason why he advised his client to take the Fifth Amendment.

Goodman also suggested police might have wiretaps in the case. He said the district attorney's office declined to confirm or deny the existence of electronic surveillance.

With Goodman at her side, Murphy, dressed in a cream-colored Versace outfit with matching gloves, refused to answer more than 200 questions posed to her by estate lawyers interested in getting back the missing valuables. Among the items missing is a $300,000 collection of rare currency.

Murphy has been awarded the house, its contents and $300,000 in cash, but the estate said it intends to seek a judgment against her if she continues to refuse to cooperate in their efforts to gather Binion's assets for the court. Most of Binion's millions are going to his daughter, Bonnie.

The estate also indicated it intends to file a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court over Binion's demise.

archive