Prosecutors want Murphy’s bail pulled, Tabish’s denied

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 1999 | 11:24 a.m.

Prosecutors filed papers Monday as expected seeking to revoke the $300,000 bail of Sandy Murphy, who faces murder charges in Ted Binion's death.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger also asked District Judge Joseph Bonaventure to keep Murphy's co-defendant, Rick Tabish, behind bars.

Last week Murphy's attorney, Bill Terry, asked Bonaventure to release Murphy from house arrest and reduce her bail to $100,000. Tabish's lawyer, Louis Palazzo, requested that bail be set for his client, who has remained behind bars on no bond since his June 24 arrest with Murphy.

In his responses Monday Roger said both defendants should be in jail because they are flight risks now that they've been ordered to stand trial for murder in Binion's Sept. 17, 1998, slaying and know the massive amount of evidence prosecutors have compiled against them.

Murphy, 27, and Tabish, her 34-year-old reported lover, are accused of pumping Binion with drugs, suffocating him and then stealing his valuables in Las Vegas and Pahrump.

Roger said Murphy deserves to be behind bars because of a scam she pulled with Binion in 1995 to circumvent a California court order sentencing her to 75 days of house arrest for a driving under the influence conviction. The scheme was investigated in 1996 by state gaming agents looking to revoke Binion's license at the Horseshoe Club hotel-casino.

According to a seven-page report by Agent Stan White attached to Roger's response, Sheriff Charles Phipps in Jordan, Mont., was persuaded to write a letter to the California court saying Murphy was fulfilling her house arrest obligation at Binion's ranch there.

But White obtained Horseshoe Club records that showed Murphy was being escorted around Las Vegas in Horseshoe limousines during the time she was supposed to be under house arrest in Jordan.

Phipps acknowledged to gaming agents that he never bothered to determine whether Murphy indeed served any house arrest time at Binion's ranch.

Roger also provided Bonaventure with a four-page report from Thomas Stewart, an investigator with the Orange County district attorney's office, who found that Murphy violated her house arrest conditions.

"After reviewing all available documents ... evidence shows Murphy did not complete her entire home confinement in Montana, as she had reported to the court," Stewart wrote. "At best Murphy spent only 2-3 weeks in Montana."

The Nevada Gaming Commission ultimately revoked Binion's license in March 1998 because of his ties to murdered Chicago underworld figure Herbie Blitzstein.

In his papers Roger said Murphy also has displayed a "cavalier attitude toward authority" while in jail after her arrest for Binion's murder in July.

He cited a report from a Clark County Detention Center officer who had informed Murphy she was going to be placed in a lockdown cell for 24 hours for violating rules.

Murphy, the officer wrote, responded in a "sarcastic manner" that she wasn't concerned about being placed under lockdown because she was going to "go home in the morning."

"My lawyer asked me if I wanted to go home today, but I told him no because I have to win this $5,000 bet with my roommate," the officer quoted Murphy as saying.

The encounter with the officer occurred two days before Murphy was released on bail.

Roger, meanwhile, disputed Murphy's contention that she was committed to remaining in Las Vegas to participate in the battle over Binion's $50 million estate. She is fighting for her inheritance.

"... the state suggests that it is more probable that Murphy will flee the jurisdiction to assure her future liberty," Roger said.