Judge denies girlfriend access to Binion home

ROBERT MACY

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 3:02 a.m.

The girlfriend of slain gambling figure Ted Binion will not be allowed to take possession of his home as long as she faces homicide charges in his death.

District Judge Michael Cherry on Friday again denied Sandra Murphy access to the home pending the outcome of murder charges against the former topless dancer.

Murphy and her reputed lover, Rick Tabish, are charged with murder in the Sept. 17 death of Binion, a member of a well-known casino clan.

Murphy, who is free on $300,000 cash bond, did not attend the probate hearing. Tabish is being held without bond. Their preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 16.

In December, Murphy was awarded Binion's $900,000 home, its contents and $300,000 in cash, over the objections of Binion's estate. The estate contended she was cut out of Binion's will the day before his death.

In Friday's hearing, Cherry noted he has ruled twice that Murphy not be allowed back in the home, but kept open the possibility of her eventually taking possession of the property. He extended his ban "as long as the homicide case is pending."

"I'm going to deny her access to the residence at this time," Cherry said. "I don't foreclose Ms. Murphy having possession of the house at some time."

Cherry also delayed for two weeks a decision on whether to release a controversial videotape taken by Murphy's lawyer during a tour of the Binion home a day after the murder.

The Las Vegas Sun had requested that the videotape be released.

The Sun reported Wednesday that Murphy is captured on the videotape appearing to take some items, including a glass.

Prosecutors have been studying the tape since it was obtained with 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, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

An autopsy report obtained by the newspaper 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, the newspaper reported.

Cherry said it was obvious Sun reporter Jeff German had witnessed the tapes.

The judge said he would delay a decision on whether to make them public until Murphy's criminal defense attorney, Bill Terry, returned from a trip.

On the videotape, the glass Murphy appeared to take what 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, has declined comment on the tape.

The Sun reported the 20-minute tape appears to show Murphy taking items on three separate occasions during the tour of the 6,000-square-foot house.

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 Binion's home.

At the time of the videotaping, Murphy, who had lived with Binion for four years, was not charged in his slaying. She was charged in the case last month.