Tabish told Binion’s sister of strong alibi

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 11:15 a.m.

Rick Tabish told Ted Binion's sister he had a strong alibi months before his arrest in the gambling figure's murder, a new court document shows.

The claim was made in a face-to-face meeting Dec. 16, secretly monitored by the FBI, at the home of the sister, Horseshoe Club President Becky Behnen.

Behnen provided new details of the meeting, which was sought by Tabish, in an interview with Tom Dillard, a private detective hired by her brother's estate to investigate his Sept. 17 death.

The Sun, which first reported the meeting on Jan. 29, has obtained a 46-page transcript of Behnen's interview with Dillard, which took place four days after the story was printed.

The transcript recently was turned over to lawyers for Tabish and his co-defendant, Sandy Murphy. It sheds more light on the likely defense of the two defendants who police believe were lovers at the time of Binion's murder.

In the interview, Behnen said she had asked FBI agents to come to her home to eavesdrop on the conversation with Tabish because she didn't want to meet alone with the man who later would be charged with her brother's murder.

Tabish, a 34-year-old Montana contractor, had suggested that he was thinking about making a deal with the FBI, which at the time had nothing to do with the Binion homicide investigation.

Without giving specifics, Tabish told Behnen that he had derogatory information about Binion and his older brother, former longtime Horseshoe President Jack Binion, who had been at odds with Behnen. Tabish promised to go to the FBI with his information after the meeting, but he never did.

Last month, Tabish and Murphy, Binion's girlfriend, were arrested and charged with Binion's slaying.

Dillard asked Behnen during the interview what Tabish said about his whereabouts the day her brother was killed.

"He claimed that he was not afraid to be indicted in this murder because he had an excellent alibi, and the people were very credible people," Behnen said.

Tabish also attempted to provide an alibi for Murphy.

Though not specific, he claimed to have had lunch with Murphy about 12:30 p.m., Behnen said.

The day of Binion's death Murphy told one of his neighbors that she had gone to lunch with Tabish at a Z'Tejas Grill.

Police believe Binion most likely died between 5:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sept. 17. At 12:15 p.m., records show, Murphy answered a phone call at Binion's home from his real estate agent, Barbara Brown. In that conversation, a crying Murphy told Brown that Binion was sick and that she had a big mess to clean up in the bathroom.

Tabish, meanwhile, suggested someone else could have been involved in Binion's death.

He told Behnen that Murphy was summoned to Jack Binion's office after lunch, which he surmised could have been part of a plot to lure her away from the house.

But Cathy Rose, a Binion executive assistant, has told investigators she was surprised to see Murphy show up at the office about 3 p.m. Binion was out of town the day his brother died.

Tabish also acknowledged to Behnen that he had telephoned Murphy eight minutes before she reported discovering Binion's body at 3.55 p.m. The contractor said he merely was checking on Murphy's well-being.

When Behnen asked Tabish how heroin wound up in Binion's stomach, Tabish suggested that Binion would touch his tongue with a knife while using it to put heroin on aluminum foil.

An autopsy report obtained by the Sun has concluded that Binion was given a fatal cocktail of heroin and Xanax, a prescription sedative. Binion was known to smoke heroin, but none was found in his lungs. And nothing but a brown-gray fluid, identified as the heroin-Xanax mixture, was in his stomach.

Behnen said Tabish seemed to know a lot about the death scene at Binion's home.

Tabish told Behnen her brother's pants were rolled up in a wad and his body was on top of a bedroll on the floor in a position he had seen many times.

Behnen suggested to Dillard that her brother may have unknowingly told his killers how to bring about his demise.

Binion, she said, often talked about how to use a sleeping bag to subdue a person.

"He said if you ever wanted to do something to somebody and didn't want to show any trauma to the body, you put them in a sleeping bag and you zip them up, and you got total control over them," Behnen said.

Tabish, meanwhile, told Behnen that Binion had obtained a bottle of Xanax the day before his death to use it to get off of heroin.

Binion, Tabish said, planned to sleep for two days and wake up free of drugs.

When Behnen and her husband, Nick Behnen who was present during the conversation, asked Tabish what he thought they could do for him, Tabish asked them to get the media to lighten up on him.

At the time, the Sun had been raising questions about Binion's death in a series of stories.

On other matters in her interview with Dillard, Behnen said her brother was calling her a lot in the days before his death complaining about Murphy and wanting to throw her out of his house.

Behnen said she got the impression from her discussion with her brother that Murphy hated him.

"She despised Ted," Behnen said. "She said hurtful things to him. I don't think (he) shared these things with other people because he was walking around with a trophy."

Behnen said her brother loved his dog more than Murphy.

There were times, Behnen said, when even she heard Murphy say "hurtful" things to Binion.

Murphy would call her brother old and ugly and say she was only with him for his money, Behnen said.

During her conversation with Tabish, Behnen said, Tabish described her brother as being bad physical condition.

"I said to him if Ted looked so bad and if he was in such bad shape, why didn't you call me to come help him?" Behnen told Dillard.

Tabish said he felt bad for Murphy because he didn't think she'd get much of an inheritance other than the house and $300,000 in cash.

"That's all in the world she'll have," Behnen quoted Tabish as saying. "And she's just going to fade off into the sunset in California."