Two accused in silver theft also suspects in murder plot

Monday, July 19, 1999 | 10:50 a.m.

Homicide detectives consider two men accused of trying to steal Ted Binion's silver fortune in Pahrump suspects in the plot to murder the gambling figure, police records show.

Suspicions about David Lee Mattsen and Michael David Milot are revealed in copies of Feb. 3 police requests to match fingerprints found on evidence impounded from Binion's home following his Sept. 17 murder. The requests, which were obtained by the Sun, were sent to the Metro Police crime lab.

Along with Mattsen and Milot, the fingerprint requests list Binion's girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, and her reported lover, Montana contractor Rick Tabish, who were charged in Binion's murder June 24.

Fingerprints of Murphy, who lived with Binion, were found on some items. But records show prints of Tabish, Mattsen and Milot so far have not been discovered.

More tests, however, are being conducted.

On March 28 Metro fingerprint specialist Edward Guenther wrote a memo to homicide detectives saying he needed more comprehensive fingerprint samples of all three men before making a final determination.

"Additional inked standards of Milot, Tabish and Mattsen are needed for conclusive comparisons with all the remaining latent prints," Guenther wrote.

Mattsen, a former Binion ranch manager in Pahrump, and Milot, an employee of Tabish, have not been charged in Binion's slaying. But both are facing charges of helping Tabish and Murphy try to steal $4 million in silver from Binion two days after his death.

Lawyers for Mattsen and Milot have told reporters they believe detectives have been pressuring their clients to cooperate in the murder investigation.

In an 109-page affidavit made public last month, homicide detective James Buczek said cellular phone records revealed numerous calls between Mattsen, Milot, Tabish and Murphy in the hours before and after Binion's murder.

Meanwhile, most of the evidence that detectives removed from Binion's 2408 Palomino Lane home after his drug overdose was tested for the fingerprints of the four suspects, records show.

That includes the empty bottle of the prescription sedative, Xanax, disposable lighters and pack of Vantage cigarettes found near Binion's body the day of his slaying. Also tested was the pair of black jeans found near Binion's body as well as the navy blue sleeping mat underneath his body.

Evidence seized in a Jan. 14 sweep of Binion's home also was tested, records show. Those items included an empty bottle of red wine, several wine glasses, an empty bottle of imported beer, a San Francisco 49ers plastic cup, and other "drinking tumblers."

On Oct. 7 detectives hauled away numerous items, including drug paraphernalia, several disposal cameras, several dead insects found underneath a sink in a bathroom, an address book and a hand-written note on an index card with the name of Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke.

Also seized on Oct. 7 was Murphy's black leather purse with her passport and credit cards, records show. The purse, which was found in the back yard, also contained an "astrology readout."

Word that detectives consider Mattsen and Tabish suspects in the murder plot comes as an autopsy report obtained by the Sun shows Binion may have been given a fatal cocktail of Xanax and heroin.

The autopsy found that Binion had "40 milliliters of gray-brown fluid," later identified as a mixture of heroin and Xanax, in his stomach.

Drug tests have concluded that Binion, a known heroin smoker, died of lethal levels of both heroin and Xanax.

No heroine was found in his lungs, and there was nothing but the brown-gray fluid in his stomach, the autopsy report said.

Detectives are believed to be considering at least two theories of how the fatal cocktail wound up in Binion's stomach. One has it being forced down his throat and the other forced through his nose.

The autopsy report said Binion had "multiple skin and soft tissue injuries" on his body, a conclusion that led homicide detectives to believe that the death scene at his home was staged and that his body was moved after his death.

Murphy, Mattsen and Milot all are free on bail. Tabish remains behind bars on no bond.