Several witnesses didn’t think Binion was planning suicide

Kim Smith

Monday, April 10, 2000 | 11:21 a.m.

The mystery surrounding Ted Binion's death did not become any clearer Friday, but what became glaringly obvious is something changed drastically in the former casino owner's life the day before he died.

A string of witnesses took the stand Friday to describe their impressions of a man defense attorneys maintain killed himself and others contend died at the hands of his girlfriend and her lover.

Former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, Binion's nephew, a doctor and a close friend all spoke with Binion the day before he died and took the stand Friday, the fifth day of testimony in the murder trial of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish.

Prosecutors believe Murphy, 28, and Tabish, 35, forced Binion, 55, to drink a lethal concoction of heroin and the sedative Xanax on Sept. 17, 1998, and suffocated him in the hopes of getting his $50 million estate.

Defense attorneys maintain Binion either killed himself or died of an accidental overdose.

Jones said that when she saw Binion around 10 a.m. Sept. 16, he was in a good mood. He was nostalgic. He took her on a tour of his house, showing her letters from his father, Benny, and family photos.

When Binion spoke of Murphy, Jones said he spoke lovingly. She recalled how Binion said his "old lady" would be sorry she missed her visit. Murphy was out shopping.

As Murphy listened to Jones, she appeared to be trying to blink back tears.

Under cross-examination, Jones said Binion said nothing to her of the 12 doses of black tar heroin he was expecting later that day or of the prescription for 120 Xanax tablets he had just filled.

In other testimony, the wife of Binion's attorney, Laura Brown, said Binion called her less than two hours after Jones' visit, leaving a message for her husband to remove Murphy from his will.

"He said to tell Jimmy to take Sandy out of the will, that Bonnie gets it all," Brown said. "I said 'Is Sandy gone?' and he said 'No, but she might as well be.' "

Brown said she didn't ask him for any more details, and she told Binion her husband, Jim, would call him back as soon as he got in.

There was no indication that Binion was distraught or suicidal, Brown said. In fact, they spoke about his need for a horse ranch and spoke of getting together for dinner.

Brown told Murphy's defense attorney John Momot that the only person she told about her phone conversation with Binion was a private investigator hired by the Binion family. She didn't tell police.

Kay Fechser, Binion's nephew, testified he spoke with Binion sometime between noon and 4 p.m. on Sept. 16. Although Binion told him of his plans to write Murphy out of the will, Fechser said he appeared "upbeat."

In fact, Fechser said his uncle was looking forward to "causing trouble" for other family members who were squabbling over the estate of his parents.

His uncle may have become down at times because of problems with his gaming license, but he was never despondent to the point of suicide, Fechser said.

"He always joked with me that he'd like to leave me something (in his will), but he said he was going to live longer than me because I was fat," Fechser said.

Jay Kerr, a San Antonio, Texas, resident who has known the Binion family for 25 years, said he spoke with Binion twice on Sept. 16, once at 10 a.m. and later, at about 8 p.m.

During the first call, Kerr said Binion sounded drunk or sleepy, but he was his normal "upbeat" self later that evening, although he was angry with himself for picking up his heroin habit again.

"He said it was like the 'seafood' diet, he said 'I saw it, and I did it,' " Kerr said.

Kerr said Binion told him he was expecting a heroin delivery that day. He didn't talk about suicide, though, he talked about the stellar quality of the drug.

Kerr repeatedly insisted Binion was the "last person in the world" who would commit suicide.

Also testifying Friday was Dr. Enrique Lacayo, who specializes in internal medicine.

Lacayo, who also was Binion's neighbor, said he prescribed minimal doses of Librium and Xanax for Binion several times over the years because of Binion's problems with anxiety and sleeplessness.

On the day before he died, Lacayo said he prescribed 120 tablets of Xanax for Binion, who said he was going to try to kick his heroin habit again. Lacayo said he made Binion promise he would come to see him within a few days, and Binion agreed.

Momot and Palazzo grilled Lacayo during cross-examination, going over both Binion's medical records and Lacayo's treatment of him.

Lacayo also said he only has records of one office visit with Binion, in 1996. All of the other visits were made at either of their homes.