Judge won’t release copies of Murphy’s Sept. 18 videotape

Friday, Aug. 13, 1999 | 11:31 a.m.

District Judge Michael Cherry today refused to release a copy of a videotape of the inside of Ted Binion's home now being viewed as key evidence in his Sept. 17 murder.

The Sun, which has viewed the videotape, reported July 28 that the tape appears to show Binion's girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, pocketing several items, including a glass, during a tour of Binion's home the day after his slaying.

Prosecutors are expected to play the tape, which was made by her own lawyer, William Knudson, during next week's preliminary hearing in Justice Court for Murphy and her co-defendant, Montana contractor Rick Tabish.

Cherry said he wanted to see if the tape is made public at the hearing before deciding whether to give the media copies.

He rescheduled the hearing on the tape's release for Sept. 3.

Murphy, sporting a new, fuller hair style, appeared in court for the hearing. Murphy, charged June 24 in Binion's slaying, is under house arrest.

Cherry today also ordered Binion's estate to pay $7,500 in attorneys fees for turning over the tape to the district attorney's office without the judge's permission.

Homicide detectives have been studying the tape since it was obtained with a subpoena last month from Binion's $30 million estate, and there are suspicions the glass may have had something to do with the former casino executive's slaying.

An autopsy report obtained by the Sun shows Binion had 40 milliliters of a gray-brown fluid, identified has a mixture of heroin and the prescription sedative Xanax, in his stomach. Police have theorized that Binion was forced to drink a fatal cocktail of the two drugs.

On the videotape, Murphy seems to take the glass, which looked like a long-stemmed goblet, from a counter top in the kitchen. She also appears to pocket a computer disk from a drawer in her bathroom.

The tape was made at Knudson's request the afternoon of Sept. 18 in anticipation of a court battle over the 2408 Palomino Lane home.

At the time of the videotaping, Murphy, who had lived with Binion for three years, was not charged in his slaying.

In December, she was awarded the $900,000 Palomino Lane home, its contents and $300,000 in cash above the objections of Binion's estate, which contended she was cut out of the gambling figure's will the day before his death. The estate is appealing the court decision.