Murphy defense team looking for $300,000

Friday, July 9, 1999 | 11:42 a.m.

Sandy Murphy's defense team was rounding up cash today to post $300,000 in bail to free the accused murderer from the Clark County Detention Center.

Murphy and her reported lover, Montana contractor Rick Tabish, have been jailed since their arrests two weeks ago in the Sept. 17 slaying of former casino executive Ted Binion.

Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti Thursday gave Murphy a choice of putting up $300,000 in cash or a $3 million surety bond.

But Togliatti ordered the 34-year-old Tabish to remain behind bars without bail, calling him a flight risk and threat to the community.

Attorney Bill Terry, who represents Murphy, told the Sun Thursday he expected to have an easier time coming up with the cash rather than the bond.

Togliatti also imposed tight restrictions on Murphy's freedom if she posts bail.

Murphy, Binion's 27-year-old live-in girlfriend, will have to remain under house arrest with electronic monitoring and have no contact with other defendants and witnesses in the case.

Terry said his client had a "mixed reaction" to Togliatti's decision on bail. He said Murphy wasn't happy that she won't be able to talk to Tabish while planning her defense.

Tabish's lawyer, Steve Wolfson, told reporters Thursday he thought Togliatti gave his client a fair hearing.

But he added: "We're disappointed. We thought we presented a case to show he's not a flight risk or danger to the community."

Tabish's wealthy father, Frank Tabish, who lives in Missoula, Mont., was in court as Togliatti issued her ruling. The elder Tabish, who declined comment, had been prepared to post bail for his son.

Wolfson objected in court to Togliatti's decision to prohibit any contact between Murphy and Tabish, saying it will inhibit their ability to mount a defense on the murder, robbery and burglary charges in Binion's slaying.

Togliatti, at the request of Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger, agreed to hold a hearing as early as today on the source of Murphy's bail funds. Murphy and Tabish are charged with stealing valuables from Binion, including a $300,000 collection of rare currency and coins, after his murder.

Roger filed a brief at the last minute Thursday contending Murphy was not a good candidate for house arrest. He included a 1994 letter from her mother to a municipal judge in Orange County (Calif.), saying she was concerned her daughter would not make a court appearance in a case there. The mother asked the court to take Murphy back into custody because she no longer wanted to assume liability for the $10,000 bail put up to free her daughter.

Two years ago, the state Gaming Control Board, while seeking to revoke Binion's casino license, looked into allegations Murphy and Binion conspired to circumvent an Orange County court order putting Murphy under house arrest stemming from a driving under the influence conviction.

The allegations were contained in a five-count complaint against Binion in May 1997 that also accused the well-known gaming figure of palling around with slain mob associate Herbie Blitzstein.

The board charged that Binion did nothing to stop Murphy from committing a "fraud upon the courts of California."

Binion, the board alleged, persuaded the sheriff in Jordan, Mont., the site of Binion's ranch, to write a letter in 1995 saying Murphy had fulfilled her house arrest time there.

But Murphy, the board alleged, never fulfilled her house arrest obligations, and in November 1996, an Orange County warrant was issued for her arrest.

In March 1997, the complaint said, Murphy was found in violation of her probation and ordered to serve 90 days behind bars. But she was given credit for time served at a drug and alcohol abuse center and did not have to go to jail.

The Nevada Gaming Commission later revoked Binion's license in April 1998 over his ties to Blitzstein. Murphy had asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned during the commission hearings about Binion's ties to Blitzstein.

Togliatti, meanwhile, refused Thursday to take Roger's brief into consideration when issuing her bail decision because Terry did not have a chance to file a response.

The June 24 arrests of Murphy and Tabish capped a well-publicized, nine-month investigation into Binion's slaying that attracted national media attention.

On Wednesday, Togliatti scheduled an Aug. 16 preliminary hearing for Murphy and Tabish and the four defendants charged with lesser crimes related to Binion's murder.

Following that hearing, which is expected to last up to 10 days, Togliatti will decide whether there's enough evidence to order the six defendants to stand trial on the charges contained in an 11-count indictment filed June 24.

The four facing lesser charges -- David Lee Mattsen, Michael David Milot, Steven Lee Wadkins and John Bradford Joseph -- all are asking Togliatti for separate preliminary hearings and trials. Togliatti said she will hear those requests at 10 a.m. on July 23.

Mattsen and Milot are facing charges with Tabish and Murphy stemming from the attempted theft of $4 million in silver from Binion in Pahrump two days after his murder. Wadkins and Joseph are charged with Tabish in a plot to kidnap and torture a onetime business partner.

James "Bucky" Buchanan, an attorney for Mattsen, said Thursday he expected to file a motion in Justice Court today to dismiss the theft charge against his client.

Mattsen, a former Binion ranch manager in Pahrump, is charged with burglarly in the theft, but Buchanan contends the burglary statute doesn't apply to a theft from an underground vault.