Lawyer says he’ll deliver witness in Binion case

Thursday, March 25, 1999 | 11:26 a.m.

The Californian lawyer for Linda Susan Carroll, a reluctant witness in the Ted Binion murder investigation, said today he hopes to bring his client to Las Vegas to meet with authorities before she's arrested.

"I'm going to produce my client," Huntington Beach attorney Chet Bennett told the Sun. "I'm trying to get it resolved. I don't want to see her handcuffed, and I don't want to see her in jail."

This comes as Metro homicide detectives intensified their search Wednesday for the 42-year-old Carroll, who spent several hours with Binion's girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, after Binion's Sept. 17 murder.

Police have issued a warrant for Carroll's arrest as a material witness in a Clark County grand jury probe into Binion's death.

The FBI's Criminal Apprehension Team, a 10-member fugitive task force of FBI agents and police officers, joined the hunt Wednesday for Carroll, who lives in Orange County, Calif.

And homicide detectives released a photo of Carroll that was taken in 1995 when she applied for a work card here as a cocktail waitress at Cheetah's adult nightclub, the same place Murphy once worked.

The syndicated television show "America's Most Wanted" also said it was coming to Las Vegas on Monday to film a segment on the Binion probe and the stepped-up efforts to find Carroll.

Las Vegas private detective Tom Dillard, meanwhile, attempted to shed light on why Carroll might be reluctant to testify.

Dillard, hired by Binion's $30 million estate to investigate the colorful gaming executive's death, said Carroll told him she was threatened and feared for her life.

Attorney Richard Wight, who represents the estate, echoed those words.

Wright said both Carroll and Bennett told him about six weeks ago that Carroll was afraid to step forward.

"She seemed genuinely fearful to me," Wright said.

Police have not formally disclosed the identities of targets of the murder probe, but they have been focusing on the activities of Murphy and her suspected lover, Montana contractor Rick Tabish. Tabish was charged with trying to steal a fortune in silver from Binion in Pahrump after his murder.

Dillard, said he has spoken several times to Carroll and believes that she has "pertinent information" to the murder investigation.

"She has told us things that certainly suggest she has more information," Dillard said, adding everything Carroll told him has been conveyed to authorities.

Homicide detectives, frustrated over their inability to persuade Carroll to voluntarily testify before the grand jury, now are going all out to arrest her as a material witness and bring her to Las Vegas.

"She has been elusive and uncooperative," Homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said. "At this point, we don't want to resort to the use of a warrant, but it appears it's the only way we can gain her cooperation."

Petersen said Carroll and Bennett failed to show up for a pre-arranged meeting in Las Vegas last Friday with Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger, who is spearheading the grand jury probe.

"This is not the first appointment they've missed," Petersen said.

Bennett today said he notified Roger in advance that he and Carroll would not be able to make the Friday meeting.

"Some problems came up," he said. "I told them it wasn't going to happen."

Bennett, who would not comment on the reported fears of his client, said the increased pressure to locate Carroll is complicating his efforts to bring her to authorities.

"I want everybody to understand that this warrant does not indicate she's done anything wrong," Bennett said.

The investigation into Binion's death attracted headlines and interest from the national media last week after Clark County Coroner Ron Flud held a news conference to announce that he now believes Binion was murdered.

Binion's body was found at his Las Vegas home next to an empty bottle of the prescription sedative, Xanax. Drug tests later disclosed that Binion had lethal levels of both Xanax and heroin in his system.