Key witness nabbed on battery charge

Thursday, April 6, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

A key witness in the Ted Binion murder trial was arrested early this morning on a domestic battery charge just two days after his testimony in the high-profile case.

Steven Kurt Gratzer, 36, of Missoula, Mont., was booked into the Clark County Detention Center about 4:20 a.m. on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge, police said.

Gratzer, a childhood friend of Rick Tabish, one of Binion's accused killers, was being held on $3,000 bail. State law forces anyone arrested on a domestic battery charge to remain behind bars for at least 12 hours as part of a cooling-off period.

Metro Police gave out few details this morning on Gratzer's arrest.

Officer Tirso Dominguez of Metro's public information office said Gratzer was taken into custody after an early morning fight with a woman at the Sahara hotel-casino.

Dominguez said more details of the arrest would be made public following an afternoon meeting with the district attorney's office.

The Sun reported Wednesday that prosecutors had placed Gratzer's new girlfriend in the first row of the courtroom to help him stay focused during his testimony.

Gratzer, a former Army Ranger, was not a cooperative witness for the prosecution when he testified at an August preliminary hearing for Tabish and his co-defendant, Sandy Murphy.

On Tuesday, however, prosecutors were pleased with his testimony. Gratzer spent several hours on the witness stand discussing how Tabish sought his assistance in killing Binion prior to the wealthy gambling figure's Sept. 17, 1998, death.

But he also acknowledged under cross examination that he had several drunken-driving arrests and was taking medication to help him sleep.

The Sun has previously reported that Gratzer ran up a large long-distance phone bill at taxpayer expense last April while being housed at a local hotel during a grand jury appearance.

District Attorney Stewart Bell described the bill as a "few hundred dollars."

Bell said this morning Gratzer's arrest would have no effect on the Binion trial.