Tabish, Murphy face more prison time

By Matt Pordum

Monday, March 14, 2005 | 8:58 a.m.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure sentenced Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy to one to five years in prison each on Friday for stealing Ted Binion's silver immediately after the millionaire casino figure died.

Bonaventure also ordered each to pay a $1,000 fine and said Tabish can't start serving his one to five years until he has finished serving the roughly 16 months remaining from his kidnapping and extortion conviction. That conviction stemmed from the 1998 beating of a man at a sandpit in Jean.

In sentencing Murphy, the judge said he had considered the argument that she "shouldn't get time for a first felony, especially a nonviolent one" but made it clear she wasn't exactly convicted of shoplifting.

"It's not like you grabbed an armful of clothes at Wal-Mart and ran out the door or got popped stealing stereos out of cars," Bonaventure said.

As for Tabish, Bonaventure reminded everyone that he had called Tabish a con man when he sentenced him in 2000, after the duo's murder and theft convictions that were later overturned by the Nevada Supreme Court, prompting the more recent re-trial.

Tabish gave a statement of contrition prior to being sentenced, and Bonaventure said that while he found Tabish to be a "likable guy," Tabish had "to be likable to be a con man."

Tabish and Murphy could have been sentenced to anything from probation to 21 years in prison.

The Department of Parole and Probation had recommended Murphy get one to four years in prison for the silver counts. If Bonaventure had followed the department's recommendation, Murphy would have been eligible for parole in roughly two months due to credit for time served.

Murphy will remain out of custody pending an appeal, a motion Bonaventure granted.

When Murphy's attorney, Michael Cristalli, said Murphy posed no danger to society, Bonaventure said his clerk had said "perhaps to older men with money she's (Murphy) a danger."

Bonaventure gave Murphy credit for the 1,406 days she had spent in prison under the murder conviction that was overturned, but that doesn't automatically mean she won't serve any time under this new sentence.

Nevada's Department of Corrections will have the final say, after the Nevada Supreme Court rules on the appeal.

Cristalli said he believes the Corrections Department will grant her immediate parole if the Nevada Supreme Court affirms the conviction for the silver theft, but if it doesn't she could serve 14 months in prison prior to being paroled.

"We're not disappointed with the result because we could have possibly not have had her standing here with us," Cristalli said after the sentencing.

While out on bail, Murphy is living in California and is employed doing administrative work for William Fuller, the octogenarian mining executive who posted her bail and financed her defense at the re-trial.

"I feel relieved," Murphy said after the sentencing. "I'm ready to go home. I respect the sentence, but I'll be satisfied when the (Nevada) Supreme Court acquits me of all the charges."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli said although Murphy's criminal history "paled in comparison" to that of Tabish, he said prison time was required because of the sheer value that was taken from Binion's vault.

"I can't think of a case where more has been stolen," Lalli said. "This is the largest grand larceny in the history of the state of Nevada."

Lalli said Murphy gave in to greed and orchestrated the plan to steal Binion's silver, and her greed was shown again as she contacted lawyer's about life insurance policies.

The Department of Parole and Probation recommended a longer sentence -- 16 months to six years -- for Tabish.

"I'm not totally disappointed," Joe Caramagno, Tabish s attorney said.

"I think Judge Bonaventure took our arguments into consideration, and the fact he lowered the sentence (from what Tabish had received for the silver theft charge after the first trial) will change how the Parole Board considers Rick's (Tabish) case."

Tabish was sentenced to 48 to 120 months in prison by Bonaventure for the silver counts after the first trial, but that sentence was set aside when the convictions that came out of that trial were overturned.

Caramagno said he was confident the Nevada Supreme Court would overturn the convictions on the silver counts, and that "16 months from now he (Tabish) will be released."

Tabish's father, Frank Tabish, said his son's ordeal has been "like a war, like Iraq."

"You have to be strong and hang in there," Frank Tabish said. "We want to get him home so badly. I think we're getting closer, hopefully."

While Murphy did not address the court, Rick Tabish said: "If there was a charge of felony stupidity, that's what I should have been found guilty of. I was stupid. I was acting on passion, but I did what I did. It (the removal of Binion's silver from a vault in Pahrump) should have been handled by the estate."

Tabish said during his first year in prison that he was selfish, but he now understands how many people his actions have affected. He said he wanted to get out of prison so he could begin to repay his parents the $2 million they have spent on his case.

Tabish said he was "not asking for a free pass, I've already given six years of my life away." He said because of books written about him and some 1,875 hits one can receive by searching his name on the Internet, he will always be "the most notorious murderer in Las Vegas."

In arguing for Tabish's sentence to be longer, by running sentences for the various charges consecutive to one another, Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas said "the most offensive thing about Tabish's crimes is he has no excuses."

Daskas said while some criminals may come from a broken home, have alcohol or substance abuse problems or are impoverished, Tabish was "blessed with support as his parents gave him every opportunity in life."

The prosecutor said Tabish had twice been charged with assault in the 1980s and of stealing a $600,000 painting from the home of his attorney. He also said Tabish was arrested for trafficking cocaine. Daskas said he wasn't sure if Tabish "is simply too lazy or just unwilling to work to get a paycheck."

Caramagno countered that all of the crimes Daskas mentioned occurred when Tabish was 20 or 21 years old. Tabish, who turns 40 today, shouldn't be judged on what he did two decades ago.

Bonaventure said he always takes into account criminal history and a person's past when considering a sentence. Prior to issuing the sentences, Bonaventure denied a motion by Tabish's attorney to dismiss the case against Tabish.

In arguing for a new trial Caramagno said former Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke perjured himself on the stand in the retrial, and subsequently made Tabish appear to be lying when he testified about Binion's silver vault in Pahrump.

Caramagno said a sworn affidavit given by Nye County Sheriff Deputy Steve Huggins shows Lieseke lied when he said he knew nothing about Binion's silver vault in Pahrump.