Binion's daughter describes father

Bonnie Binion, the daughter and chief heir of Ted Binion, took the witness stand today in the trial of her father's accused killers.

The 19-year-old Binion described her father as "incredibly intelligent," with much knowledge about history and politics.

She said he always hid lots of cash, as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars, throughout his 2408 Palomino Lane home.

Money was hidden in bathroom drawers, suit pockets, an urn in his den and the cooler of his boat, she said.

The elder Binion's accused killers, Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, also are charged with stealing his valuables, including antique coin and currency collections.

Bonnie Binion, who stands to inherit her father's $50 million estate, broke into tears when Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger asked her if she loved her father. She replied yes, and started to cry.

She also recalled that she tried to patch up her sometimes rocky relationship with Binion in the months before his death, but that Murphy seemed to be thwarting her efforts.

Murphy, she said, once yelled and screamed at her and called her a "bitch" as she attempted to talk to her father.

On Wednesday, one of the late Binion's estate lawyers, Richard Wright, testified that Binion was in good spirits and not suicidal.

Wright, who also represented Binion during his epic battle with gaming regulators, said he never had concerns that the wealthy gambling figure planned to take his own life.

Wright said he found Binion to be in good spirits during a meeting at his home three days before his Sept. 17, 1998, death and in a telephone conversation the day before he died.

The veteran attorney's four hours of testimony came in the courtroom of District Judge Joseph Bonaventure as the prosecution stepped up its murder case against Murphy and Tabish.

Wright described Binion as a "perfect client who could turn any defeat into a victory within 24 hours."

The 55-year-old Binion, he said, was upbeat about his chances of getting back into the casino industry after his gaming licenses were revoked by regulars in March 1998, six months before his death.

Defense lawyers have contended at the trial that Binion was out of control on heroin and committed suicide in a drug overdose. But prosecutors allege Murphy and Tabish pumped him with heroin and Xanax and then suffocated him.

Wright joined a string of other prosecution witnesses, including former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who have testified that Binion did not appear prone to committing suicide during his last days alive.

Wright testified that he brought Binion $40,000 in crisp $100 bills he had been keeping at his office for him the evening of Sept. 14, 1998, so that he could give the cash to Jones for her race for governor.

During his Sept. 16, 1998, phone conversation, which occurred about noon, Binion told him he had made the contribution and then he asked him for the phone number of private detective Don Dibble.

Binion later called Dibble and asked him to keep Murphy under surveillance because he thought she was cheating on him.

That same afternoon he telephoned his other estate lawyer, James J. Brown, and told him to cut Murphy out of his will.

Brown was to take the witness stand today to describe that conversation in which Binion expressed concern Murphy was going to kill him.

Prosecutors today also hoped to show a video of Murphy touring Binion's Palomino Lane home the day after his death.

The tape, made by Murphy's civil lawyer, William Knudson, purports to show a radical change in her demeanor. In less than 24 hours, she reportedly goes from being a hysterical, grieving girlfriend to a foul-mouthed materialistic heir.

Prosecutors also believe the tape shows Murphy taking a wine glass that may have been used in Binion's death from a kitchen counter-top. The defense contends she merely had been drinking wine from the glass that afternoon and wanted to hide it from the camera.

Testimony surfaced this week that police during an Oct. 7, 1998, search found a wine bottle and a glass in Binion's living room that had not been there on Sept. 17. The defense contends the wine was opened by Murphy and her mother on Sept. 18 while they were touring the house.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, lost a bid for a mistrial Wednesday.

Attorney John Momot, who represents Murphy, moved for the mistrial following testimony from Wright that he had told private detective Tom Dillard that if it turned out Murphy and Tabish played a role in Binion's death he should prove it. The conversation occurred after the estate had hired Dillard to probe Binion's death.

Momot argued that Wright's testimony unfairly prejudiced his client because they implied the murder case was proven when Murphy and Tabish were charged in Binion's death.

But Bonaventure denied the motion.

Wright, meanwhile, testified that Murphy was sobbing uncontrollably the night of Binion's death.

He said she kept saying: "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I should never have left him."

Wright said Tabish, who showed up at Binion's home persuaded him to go to Valley Hospital where a hysterical Murphy had been transported by ambulance.

Tabish, he said, told him police were interrogating Murphy about Binion's death.

Wright said no officers were questioning Murphy when he arrived at the hospital.

In earlier testimony Wednesday, a seasoned Valley Hospital nurse testified that Murphy's hysterics appeared "almost theatrical."

Wright testified that he arranged for Murphy's hospital release on the condition she be taken to the home of Binion's neighbor, Janice Tanno.

But once she was released, Tabish wanted to take her to the Desert Inn hotel-casino, he said.

Upon his insistence Murphy was brought to Tanno's home, where she spent the night.

Tanno testified that before Murphy went to bed, she was visited by her friend, Linda Carroll, who had traveled from California to see her. Prosecutors arrested Carroll earlier this year on a material witness warrant in the trial. She reluctantly testified last year before a county grand jury probing Binion's death.

In the morning, Tanno testified, she returned from church to find Tabish and Murphy chatting in the cabana at her pool.

Tabish then asked her for permission to take Murphy for a ride, she said. The two returned about 15 minutes later.

Tanno recalled that Murphy telephoned Brown that morning wanting to know if Binion's $900,000 house was hers. Binion had willed her the home and its contents two months before his death.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702) 259-4067 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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