Murphy returns to house arrest

Thursday, Oct. 28, 1999 | 11:26 a.m.

Sandy Murphy was released from the Clark County Detention Center today, while another defendant in the Ted Binion murder-robbery case was facing possible jail time on federal charges.

Murphy, charged in the Sept. 17, 1998, Binion slaying, returned to house arrest at her Henderson apartment about 10 a.m. She was taken into custody a week ago after violating her house arrest terms.

"I'm happy to go home. My kitty misses me, I'm sure," Murphy said, as she left the Detention Center before a crowd of reporters.

Her lawyer, John Momot, said he intended to make sure Murphy would not wind up in jail again.

"We're going to abide by all the rules and regulations," Momot said. "There has been an attitude adjustment."

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure had ordered the 27-year-old Murphy to remain behind bars for a week as punishment for going AWOL. Prosecutors had wanted her bail revoked, but the judge decided to give her one more chance at partial freedom after her week in jail.

Meanwhile, David Mattsen, charged with Murphy in the theft of Binion's silver fortune in Pahrump, was ordered to post a $10,000 bond by 4 p.m. Monday or be jailed on federal firearms charges.

U.S. Magistrate Lawrence Leavitt this morning ordered Mattsen to post bail after reviewing his lengthy criminal record that dates back to 1963.

Leavitt said Mattsen has a variety of convictions including armed robbery and having sexual intercourse with a child.

The magistrate also ordered Mattsen to register as an ex-felon and sexual offender within 24 hours.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom O'Connell had asked Leavitt to jail Mattsen because of his criminal record and refusal to provide authorities with information about Binion's murder.

Mattsen's lawyer, James "Bucky" Buchanan, today repeated his contention that prosecutors want his client jailed to pressure him to cooperate in the murder case.

After his court appearance Mattsen expressed displeasure at the judge's ruling.

"It doesn't pay to change your life in the state of Nevada because they don't let you change," Mattsen said.

Buchanan said he believed prosecutors were "tightening the noose" around his client. He added that he believed Mattsen would be able to post the $10,000 bail.

Earlier this month, Mattsen was indicted on 11 firearms and ammunitions charges stemming from a March 9 raid at his Pahrump home. He has been free on his own recognizance.

Buchanan said prosecutors have begun to "play hardball" with his client because he has refused to provide testimony against Murphy and her reported lover, Rick Tabish, who also is charged in Binion's slaying.

Prosecutors, Buchanan said, tried to persuade Mattsen to cooperate several weeks before he was indicted.

Mattsen faces a Dec. 13 trial on the gun charges, which accuse him of illegally possessing weapons as an ex-felon. His case in the silver theft will follow the March 13 murder trial of Murphy and Tabish in District Court.

In another development, private investigator Tom Dillard, who has been investigating Binion's death for his estate, filed a defamation lawsuit in District Court Wednesday against the Las Vegas Tribune newspaper for falsely maligning him in print.

The complaint, field by attorney Brent Bryson, alleges the newspaper, a free publication distributed around town, suggested in one column that Dillard might try to poison Murphy.

"It's the kind of news reporting that needs to be curtailed, and I'll do everything I can do to put this paper out of business on behalf of Dillard," Bryson said.

The editor of the paper has denied that he suggested the private investigator wanted to poison Murphy.