Crime figure working on Binion movie

Thursday, Nov. 4, 1999 | 11:13 a.m.

A reputed associate of slain Chicago mob kingpin Anthony Spilotro is involved in a movie project on the Ted Binion murder case, the Sun has learned.

Joseph Cusumano, identified by law enforcement authorities as having ties to Chicago and New York mob families, has aligned himself with Rick Tabish, one of two defendants charged in Binion's September 1998 slaying, informed sources said.

Cusumano, listed in Nevada's Black Book of "undesirables" banned from casinos, declined comment Wednesday.

But he authorized a friend to confirm that he is working on the Binion movie project with a Los Angeles production company. Cusumano, the friend said, has been active in the movie business in recent months.

Cusumano denied that his longtime friend and business associate Rick Rizzolo, a politically connected topless nightclub owner, is involved in the project.

Rizzolo also denied any involvement. He insisted through a spokesman that he has not invested any money in the project.

But well-placed sources said the two men have been using their friendship with Tabish to put together the movie deal.

An agreement may have been struck with Tabish to help the 34-year-old Montana contractor with his legal fees in return for a piece of his movie rights, the sources said.

"We don't discuss our fees," said Robert Murdock, one of Tabish's lawyers. His other lawyer, Louis Palazzo, could not be reached for comment today or Wednesday.

Asked about the movie deal, Murdock said: "I don't know anything about that. I have more important things to do."

Tabish's father, Frank Tabish, a wealthy businessman in Missoula, Mont., reportedly has been paying part of his son's legal bills. Recently, however, he was quoted as saying he doesn't have as much money as people think.

Over the years law enforcement authorities have kept an eye on Cusumano's relationship with Rizzolo. The two men have been involved in several business ventures together, including a Las Vegas telecommunications company.

In October 1990 Rizzolo took Cusumano into his home after Cusumano survived an assassination attempt.

Two years ago, Cusumano attracted national attention when "60 Minutes" exposed his role in helping Rizzolo and Fred Doumani put together a deal to buy the government's troubled Bicycle Club casino in Southern California.

The $39 million deal, which became the subject of a Senate investigation, ultimately fell through.

This past February Metro homicide detectives probing Binion's murder uncovered a connection between Tabish and Rizzolo. Detectives found a $9,400 bill from Rizzolo's Crazy Horse Too nightclub in Las Vegas during a raid on Tabish's contracting business in Missoula.

Tabish was said to have had VIP privileges at the popular Crazy Horse Too prior to his June 24 arrest in Binion's slaying, sources said.

Cusumano, who turns 64 on Monday, has worked on at least one well-known movie in the past.

He served as a line producer for "The Cotton Club," a 1984 film about organized crime in the 1930s that was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and financed by Las Vegans Ed and Fred Doumani.

Cusumano has not been in trouble with the law since his 1987 conviction for trying to divert several hundred thousand dollars from the Culinary Union's insurance fund. The Chicago mob once wielded influence over the Culinary Union.

In the days when Spilotro controlled street rackets in Las Vegas, Cusumano was reported to be one of the underworld leader's top lieutenants. The Chicago crime family's hold on rackets here diminished after Spilotro's 1986 gangland slaying.

Documents gathered in the Binion murder investigation have suggested that Tabish may have ties to the Chicago mob.

But Murdock said that was "absolutely false."

Tabish's childhood friend, Steven Kurt Gratzer, nevertheless, made a reference to the Montana contractor's reported mob connections during a March 19 interview with homicide detectives.

And Linda Carroll, a friend of Tabish's co-defendant, Sandy Murphy, also was said to have brought up the alleged ties during conversations with Richard Wright, an attorney for Binion's $50 million estate.

Carroll, however, denied making any such statements when she testified under oath in April before a Clark County grand jury investigating Binion's death.

She also denied telling Wright that Murphy had told her about Tabish's "friends" in Chicago.

"Did Sandy Murphy ever have conversations with you about Richard Tabish having mob connections?" Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger asked.

Carroll replied, "No."

Investigators probing Binion's death, meanwhile, have learned that Tabish telephoned a Chicago area beeper number from his cell phone several times on the morning after Binion's Sept. 17, 1998, slaying.

The number has not yet been identified.

One day after the calls were made, Tabish and two other men were arrested in Pahrump after they had dug up an estimated $4 million to $5 million in silver Binion had buried in an underground vault.

Tabish and Murphy, who were reported to be lovers at the time of Binion's death, have been charged with pumping Binion with drugs at his Las Vegas home, suffocating him and stealing his valuables. They face a March 13 trial. Sun reporter

Steve Kanigher contributed to this story.