Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Defense: Power of Binion family influenced case

In his closing arguments Rick Tabish's attorney said the prosecution's case against his client and Sandy Murphy for the alleged murder of Ted Binion amounted to nothing more than "pure speculation" and was only being pursued because of the power of the Binion family.

J. Tony Serra equated the Binion family to "pharaohs" and "Caesar" during closing arguments, saying the family has so much influence in Las Vegas that "all submit (to them) or die by the sword."

He said the family that made its fortune in the gaming world wanted someone to be held responsible for Ted Binion's death, and in Las Vegas, "what casinos want, casinos get."

Serra said the Binion family was able to use its clout and cash to have private investigator Tom Dillard influence Dr. Michael Baden to supply the expert opinion needed to prosecute Murphy and Tabish.

"Baden is the only witness that creates a theory of criminal agency," Serra said, hissing elongated pronunciations of his syllables. "He (Baden) stands alone, isolated, rejected by his peers. We called the best experts in the country that could have been provided to you. We've had six, seven, eight, nine experts in a singular voice reject as absurd the Baden theory of burking."

Baden testified Binion's death was the result of "burking," which occurs when "the mouth and nose are obstructed and someone sits on the chest to prevent the diaphragm from moving up and down." He said it is usually done "to leave as little injury to the body as possible."

Based on Baden's conclusions, prosecutors allege Murphy and Tabish suffocated Binion and tried to make it look like an overdose. A day later Tabish went to steal Binion's silver in Pahrump, prosecutors said.

The defense lawyers contend that Binion died of an accidental overdose of heroin, Xanax and Valium, and that Tabish was simply following Binion's order to preserve the silver for Binion's daughter.

Tabish and Murphy had been having an affair at the time of Binion's death, though Murphy was living with Binion and Tabish had a wife in Montana. Four years ago Tabish and Murphy were convicted of murdering Binion and were sentenced to life in prison, but the Nevada Supreme Court later overturned the convictions.

This morning, Michael Cristalli, Murphy's lawyer, told the jurors that Murphy wasn't capable of killing "any living creature," never mind someone she had loved and taken care of.

Cristalli told the jurors that "Ted killed Ted, through his constant, long-term drug use."

Cristalli, like Serra before him, repeatedly told the juror that prosecutors had not met their burden of proof, that, in fact, the medical evidence was contrary to what prosecutors said happened. That's why prosecutors on Thursday morning suggested to jurors that they set all the conflicting medical evidence aside, Cristalli said.

On Thursday afternoon Serra had said there was only reason "we are here" -- because the prosecutors' chief medical witness, Baden, "betrayed his profession." Baden had no objective foundation for concluding Binion had been suffocated, Serra said.

"This never was a homicide. We are here because Baden was paid a lot of money," Serra said, his voice rising for dramatic effect. "Baden is in this trial for nothing other than his self glorification."

Serra told the jury his client's innocence should be magnified by his taking the witness stand, where he "looked at you eye-to-eye" and said with a "demeanor of honesty" he wasn't at Binion's home the day of his death and "had nothing to do with the death of Ted Binion."

Serra said his client's alibi was supported by three of his former employees who all said Tabish was working at All-Star Ready Mix, a North Las Vegas concrete company, from 6 a.m. until the afternoon on the day Binion died. Lary Simms, the county medical examiner, and Baden have testified that Binion died between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m on that day.

Serra asked the jury to "take your time, go over the evidence and dignify the (legal) process, dignify yourselves in the process." He said if they look at the "shadows of real evidence" the prosecution has used in attempt to meet the burden of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt the jury would find returning a not guilty verdict would be "easy as pie."

Prior to Serra's animated argument -- which included everything from jumping and waving his arms around to sing-song and character voices -- Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli calmly told the jury they didn't have to be "unanimous" about the cause of Binion's death. He said if they determined the manner of Binion's death was a homicide they could differ on whether they believe the cause of death was a drug overdose, forced suffocation or a combination of the two.

The prosecutor said the physical evidence on Binion's body helped prove it was a homicide.

Lalli said although the defense experts claimed the redness found around Binion's mouth and nose was a dermatitis or a rash from shaving, that rash would have been there for at least a few days and at most a few weeks; no one who saw Binion the day before his death testified to seeing the redness.

Prosecutors allege the red marks around Binion's nose and mouth were the result of someone trying to asphyxiate him.

Lalli said Baden and Simms both concluded the marks found on Binion's chest were caused by pressure being placed on the buttons of Binion's shirt.

He said the defense had brought forth a "new cast of characters" to say the marks were "anything under the sun, but a button mark."

Several different defense expert witnesses have said the chest marks could be the result of dermatitis, skin cancer, herpes, or burns.

Lalli took time to remind the jury that Baden "specialized in heroin deaths" and that no one who testified had better credentials then Baden.

Baden is co-director of the forensics unit for the New York State Police Department and has performed more than 20,000 autopsies in his 38 years in the field. He is also the host of HBO's long-running show, "Autopsy," and assisted in the in investigations of both President John F. Kennedy's and martin Luther King's assassinations.

Lalli quoted Galileo to begin his closing argument on Wednesday morning, saying "all truths are easy to understand once they are discovered." If jurors believe Binion was murdered, he said, the answer to "who did it is an easy one."

Lalli said Murphy and Tabish each shared a common motive of financial security and lust as they allegedly conspired and carried out the Sept. 17, 1998, murder of the 55-year-old millionaire casino figure.

"When you look at all of the evidence you'll see a pair of people engulfed by greed and blinded by the shallow lust they have for each other," Lalli said.

Lalli said Tabish was facing more than $1.29 million in tax liens and had $563,742 in total loans at the time of Binion's death. He said "the IRS was aggressively pursuing him; Tabish was hanging on by a very thin thread."

Serra disagreed with Lalli's representation that Tabish was experiencing financial hardship saying his client was "financially great" and "wasn't belly-up" as Lalli had portrayed.

Serra said Tabish was in negotiations with the IRS to resolve his problems and was poised to enter a deal which would have seen an infusion of $600,000 into his trucking company and give him $2.5 million worth of shares in that same company. He said his client had no motive to kill Binion.

He said Murphy was "clearly on the outs" with Binion, but she had become "addicted" to an expensive lifestyle during her three-plus years living with Binion so she saw Tabish as "the new rich guy" to support her.

Lalli said a conspiracy between Tabish and Murphy was evident from the testimony of several people who, although they didn't know each other, still came forward with similar stories regarding the co-defendants predicting Binion's death and discussing the looting of his silver in Pahrump.

Tabish and two others were arrested by Nye County sheriff's deputies for burglary after they were found unearthing Binion's $7 million silver collection from his underground vault in Pahrump.

Tabish contends he was not stealing the silver, but instead was following Binion's wishes to have the silver preserved for his daughter Bonnie Binion in the event of his passing.

After Murphy's attorney, Cristalli, finishes his closing arguments today, Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas is to give the prosecution's rebuttal, and the jury is expected to begin deliberating on Saturday morning.

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