Guilty: Binion’s sister delivers verdict on ‘20/20’

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999 | 11:31 a.m.

Horseshoe Club President Becky Behnen has told ABC's "20/20" news magazine that she believes Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish killed her brother, former casino executive Ted Binion.

At the end of a 13-minute segment on Binion's death, set to air on Channel 13 at 10 p.m. Thursday, correspondent John Miller asks Behnen: "Based on what you know now, do you think Sandy Murphy killed your brother?"

Behnen responds: "Based on what I know now, I think Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish murdered my brother."

"For the Money?" Miller asks.

"For his money," she said.

Murphy, Binion's 27-year-old girlfriend, and Tabish, her 34-year-old reported lover, have denied killing Binion. On June 24, both were arrested and charged with his slaying. They face a March 13 trial in the courtroom of District Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

Miller also questions Murphy during the segment, which is expected to be the lead story during the hour-long broadcast.

Asked if she killed Binion, Murphy replies, "No."

Then, after Miller asks Murphy whether she loved the 55-year-old Binion, Murphy responds with a teardrop falling down her cheek: "Of course, I did. He was my man."

But Behnen tells 20/20 that Murphy, a onetime topless dancer, made it clear she was with Binion solely for his wealth.

"She said, 'I wouldn't be with any old man that didn't have money.' And Ted wasn't young in her eyes, Behnen said.

The segment also discusses how the homicide investigation got off to a slow start. Police originally believed Binion, a known heroin user, had died of a drug overdose.

Others interviewed include, Metro Homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen, who spearheaded the police probe, Tom Dillard, a private detective hired to investigate Binion's death for his $50 million estate, and Jeff German, the Sun's senior investigative reporter who first wrote about the suspicions surrounding the gambling figure's death.

Murphy's lawyer, John Momot, describes Binion as a "favorite son" in Las Vegas and says Murphy has had a difficult time with the "Binion money machine rolling against her."