Gardener says dogs and curtains made him suspicious

Robert Macy

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1999 | 3:20 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - A gardener says a pair of nervous dogs, closed curtains and locked doors seemed suspicious on Sept. 17, the day gambling figure Ted Binion was killed, but Thomas Loveday didn't call police.

Loveday, who had worked for Binion for more than 10 years, was called to the stand during the second day of a preliminary hearing for six people linked to the Binion case.

Binion's live-in girlfriend, Sandra Murphy, and her reputed lover, Rick Tabish, face murder charges in Binion's Sept. 17 death. He was found dead in his posh home of an overdose of heroin and the prescription drug Xanax.

Murphy notified police late in the afternoon that she had returned home and found Binion dead.

Authorities believe Binion died sometime in the morning.

Loveday testified he went to Binion's home about 9 a.m. on the 17th for his weekly yard maintenance, and left at 1:15 p.m.

He said Murphy's black Mercedes and Binion's pickup truck were both at the home when he arrived.

The gardener said he walked to the back of the home and greeted Binion's two dogs. He said the dogs normally trailed him around or sought out a shaded area of the yard.

That day, Loveday said, the dogs kept staring into the kitchen of the home and pawing at the door, as if distracted.

Loveday said curtains that were normally open at the home were closed.

"Since I've done the yard they have never been shut," Loveday testified.

He said the closed curtains "caught me by surprise."

Loveday said he tried six doors and they were all locked, despite the two vehicles being at the home.

Under cross-examination, Loveday said he did not knock on any doors or ring the doorbell.

The gardener said he thought the scene was suspicious but didn't go to police, even after learning of Binion's death later in the afternoon.

"I thought they would call me," Loveday said.

He said he was never contacted by police.

Wednesday's hearing was recessed in the afternoon when a transformer problem cut power to the downtown courthouse, forcing it to close to the public.

Binion's death was initially listed as suspicious, then later ruled a homicide. The Clark County Coroner's office said he ingested a fatal mixture of heroin and Xanax.

Murphy and Tabish were arrested on murder charges in June.

A manicurist testified Tuesday that Murphy, a former topless dancer, told her she stood to receive the Binion home that they shared and $3 million in cash upon his death, but would get nothing if they separated.

Tabish, a Missoula, Mont., contractor, has been linked romantically with Murphy.

The preliminary hearing is expected to last two weeks and will determine whether there is enough evidence to send the case to trial. Prosecutors have said they plan to call 33 witnesses.

Murphy, Tabish, David Mattsen and Michael Milot have been charged with the attempted theft of about $7 million worth of silver Binion had buried in a vault in Pahrump, Nev. Tabish, Mattsen and Milot were arrested two days after Binion's death while digging up the silver.

Mattsen and Milot are free on bond on attempted theft charges.

Murphy, Tabish, Steven Wadkins and John Joseph are charged with kidnapping, assault and extortion in the kidnapping of Leo Casey. Authorities contend Tabish was trying to take control of a sandpit owned by Casey.

Wadkins and Joseph are free on bond on those charges.

Only Murphy and Tabish are charged with murder. She is free on $300,000 cash bond while he is being held without bond.