Detective disputes secret testimony of Binion witness

Wednesday, April 21, 1999 | 10:06 a.m.

A private investigator says he has information that contradicts statements a California witness made after her secret testimony last week before a county grand jury probing Ted Binion's murder.

Linda Carroll last Thursday told reporters she didn't believe Binion's Sept. 17 death was suspicious.

But Tom Dillard, who's been investigating Binion's death for his $30 million estate, said Carroll told an acquaintance prior to Thursday's grand jury appearance that she believed Binion had met with foul play.

"She has flatly said that Ted Binion was murdered and that she feared she would be killed if she testified against those responsible for his death," Dillard told the Las Vegas Sun.

Dillard declined to identify the acquaintance because of the ongoing investigation.

"The truth will come out," he said. "We will continue to investigate, and all information will be turned over to the district attorney's office."

But Carroll's California attorney, Chet Bennett, said Tuesday he has "very serious questions" about Dillard's credibility.

Bennett also stood by his client's statements last week.

"I have no reason to believe that Linda has been anything but be consistent throughout this entire proceeding," he said.

Carroll, a 42-year-old former cocktail waitress at Cheetah's topless nightclub, testified for four hours before the grand jury.

After she completed her testimony, Carroll told reporters she had sympathy for Binion's live-in girlfriend, 27-year-old Sandy Murphy, who reportedly is one of the targets of the investigation into Binion's murder.

Carroll, who spent several hours with Murphy after Binion's death, said she believed Binion was "extremely addicted" to heroin and prescription drugs.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger, who grilled Carroll before the grand jury, did not appear happy after her testimony, and that has led to speculation Roger now may be looking for possible inconsistencies in her sworn remarks to the panel.

Both Dillard and Las Vegas attorney Richard Wright, who also represents Binion's estate, have said Carroll told them she was afraid of the targets of the probe.

But Bennett said last week that Carroll felt more threatened by the tactics of Dillard and homicide detectives who have disrupted her life.

"She has absolutely gone through hell," Bennett said, adding Carroll considered herself friends with both Murphy and Binion.

Carroll, who lives in Huntington Beach, had spent several weeks eluding homicide detectives who had obtained a warrant for her arrest as a material witness in the Binion probe.

She voluntarily came to Las Vegas last week to testify without being arrested.

Bennett, meanwhile, charged Tuesday that private detectives working for Binion's estate wrongly have made his client out to be a criminal and have turned her neighbors in California against her.