Binion probe turns to Murphy glass

Wednesday, July 28, 1999 | 11:13 a.m.

Sandy Murphy is captured on videotape by her own lawyer appearing to pocket items, including a glass, during a tour of Ted Binion's home the day after his Sept. 17 murder.

Prosecutors have been studying the tape since it was obtained through a subpoena last week from Binion's $30 million estate.

There are suspicions the glass -- which was on an eating counter in the middle of Binion's kitchen -- may have had something to do with the former casino executive's slaying.

An autopsy report obtained by the Sun shows Binion had 40 milliliters of a gray-brown fluid, identified has a mixture of heroin and the prescription sedative Xanax, in his stomach. Police have theorized that Binion was forced to drink a fatal cocktail of the two drugs.

Investigators received information several weeks ago from someone who may have overheard the 27-year-old Murphy talking about a glass that police never seized as evidence from Binion's home. Police confiscated numerous glasses from the home and tested them for fingerprints.

On the videotape, the glass Murphy appeared to take looked like a long-stemmed goblet. It was sitting on the countertop with seven other similar glasses.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger, the lead prosecutor in the case, declined comment today.

The Sun has viewed the 20-minute tape, which appears to show Murphy taking items on three separate occasions during the tour of the 6,000-square-foot house. The tape also apparently shows her removing a computer disk from a drawer in her bathroom.

The tape was made at the request of Murphy's civil lawyer, William Knudson, the afternoon of Sept. 18 in anticipation of a court battle over the 2408 Palomino Lane home. The video camera reportedly was provided by Murphy's murder co-defendant, Montana contractor Rick Tabish, who left the house prior to the taping.

Present with Murphy during the taping, which was done by Knudson, were James J. Brown, a Binion estate lawyer, Murphy's mother and two of Murphy's friends.

"I never saw her take anything until I looked at the tape," Brown said Tuesday.

Brown said he also noticed on the tape that Murphy seemed to take items three different times.

At the beginning of the tape, Murphy appears to pocket what looked like a piece of paper from a black desk in Binion's bedroom while directing Knudson to shoot all of Binion's belongings.

As the taping moves to the kitchen, Murphy, with her back to the camera, is seen picking up the glass with her left hand from the countertop and transferring it her right hand as she walks toward a light switch.

She then turns on the switch, and with her back still to the camera, she appears to put the glass in a large black purse on her right shoulder and walks backward toward the countertop while pointing out things for Knudson to videotape.

As she approaches the countertop, she picks up something else, a flat coaster-like object, with her left hand while continuing to talk.

She tells Knudson to make sure that he tapes everything in the kitchen.

"This is all very important," she says. "And don't worry, they (Binion's estate and family) will steal anything they can get their hands on."

Towards the end of the tape, Murphy and Knudson return to her bedroom, where she is seen taking something out of a top drawer in the bathroom.

Investigators believe the item is a computer disk, and they now are examining the hard drive of Binion's computer to determine what may be on the disk.

Earlier this year, homicide detectives recovered a different disk during a court-authorized search of Murphy's Green Valley apartment, where she now resides under house arrest.

Murphy's criminal lawyers contended that disk was part of their confidential discussions with their client and asked that it be returned. It currently is in the hands of District Judge Gene Porter, who authorized the Green Valley search.

Knudson and Murphy's new criminal attorney, Bill Terry, did not return phone calls. Terry previously has refused to talk about evidence police may be considering in the case.

At the time of the videotaping, Murphy, who had lived with Binion for four years, was not charged in his slaying. In December, she was awarded the $900,000 Palomino Lane home, its contents and $300,000 in cash above the objections of Binion's estate, which contended she was cut out of the gambling figure's will the day before his death. The estate is appealing the court decision.

The videotape could be brought up in court by prosecutors as early as next month's preliminary hearing for Murphy and Tabish.

Knudson now faces the possibility of being called as a prosecution witness at the Aug. 16 hearing, which has been set to determine whether Murphy and Tabish should stand trial on charges of killing Binion and stealing his valuables.

Before Murphy's actions on the tape were scrutinized, the tape had been considered important to her bid to move back into the Palomino Lane home amid her inheritance battle with his estate.

District Judge Michael Cherry has scheduled a status check in court Friday in the estate case, but he is not expected to allow Murphy to return to the house amid the criminal charges.

Murphy and Tabish, were arrested June 24 following a well-publicized, nine-month homicide investigation.

Police believe Murphy and Tabish stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold and silver coins, antique currency, diamonds and cash before police arrived at the sprawling home in the late afternoon of Sept. 17 to tend to Binion's body.

But Murphy went out of her way on the tape to point a finger at Binion's estate.

At one point, she instructs Knudson to aim the camera at a baby grand piano in her bedroom.

Walking toward the bench she says: "I've got another pistol in there. I bet they forgot about that one because they weren't smart enough to f..ing look."

Then she opens the bench, displays the gun and says, "Here you go."

Murphy showed the camera several guns throughout the house.