Nurse says Murphy appeared ‘theatrical’

Wednesday, April 12, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

An experienced male nurse who saw Sandy Murphy at Valley Hospital the night of Ted Binion's death testified today that she appeared "overdramatic" when brought in by paramedics.

Larry Krev, a 25-year nursing veteran, said Murphy appeared "hysterical, almost theatrical" to him, as he testified in the trial of Murphy and her co-defendant, Rick Tabish, who are charged with killing Binion on Sept. 17, 1998.

Krev said doctors prescribed the sedative Valium to calm her down, but she repeatedly refused to take it.

Another nurse, Kathleen Fox, testified that Murphy was very loud and "wailing" at the hospital and that it sounded "forced."

A paramedic also testified about Murphy's emotional state as she was taken to the hospital a couple of hours after she had reported discovering Binion's body at the couple's 2408 Palomino Lane home at 3:55 p.m.

Maria Monica Manig said Murphy complained in the ambulance on the way to the hospital that "they're going to try to take the property away from me."

Murphy appeared to be shedding tears in court this morning as the medical personnel testified.

Also on today's witness list were Binion's estate lawyers, James J. Brown and Richard Wright, as well as his daughter and chief heir, Bonnie Binion.

At last August's preliminary hearing, Brown testified that the wealthy gambling figure had telephoned him the day before he died and instructed him to take Murphy out of his will. He said Binion told him that he was worried Murphy would kill him.

Wright testified that Binion's accused killers looted the former casino executive's safe, leaving only a single dime.

A lone silver dollar also was found on the floor of an underground vault in Pahrump after Tabish and two other men were arrested for digging up Binion's $6 million silver fortune on Sept. 19, 1998.

Those developments led prosecutors to allege that Murphy and Tabish had committed signature crimes.

Wright testified last August that Tabish never sought his permission or anyone else's involved with Binion's estate to dig up the silver coins and bars. Tabish contended he notified Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke of his plans and that Binion had authorized him to take possession of the silver to protect it for his 19-year-old daughter and chief heir Bonnie.

On Tuesday, Michael Perkins, a Metro Police crime scene supervisor, described the evidence, including heroin paraphernalia, that was impounded from Binion's home on the day of his death and subsequent visits.

Among the items was a Halloween decoration that read "R.I.P." that Perkins found above the entrance to Binion's sprawling Palomino Lane home on the evening he died.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger has described the decoration, which had been posted six weeks before Halloween, as a cruel joke by his accused killers.

An identical Halloween sign was found inside Binion's home, Perkins testified.

Perkins said he noticed the wiring to Binion's burglar alarm inside the house had been removed and that there were several weapons inside the bedrooms of both Binion and Murphy. The 55-year-old Binion was known to keep numerous weapons in his house.

On Oct. 7, when police executed a search warrant at the home, Perkins said he removed a strip of stained carpeting from the kitchen to the middle of the den where Binion's body was found on top of a sleeping mat. He was not asked to reveal the results of testing on the carpeting.

Roger has suggested the stains were left by Murphy and Tabish as they forced Binion to drink a liquid mixture of drugs before suffocating him. Defense lawyers contend Binion, a known heroin user, died of a self-induced drug overdose.

Under cross examination from Murphy's attorney, John Momot, Perkins acknowledged the crime scene at Binion's home could have been compromised between those two visits. Officers also found a wine glass and a bottle of wine in the living room on Oct. 7, 1998, that wasn't there on Sept. 17.

The day after Binion's death his estate had taken control of the $900,000 house.

Prosecutors today planned to play a videotape of Murphy touring the home on Sept. 18, 1998, in the presence of one of her lawyers, William Knudson, and Brown who is representing Binion's estate.

The tape, prosecutors allege, shows a radical change in Murphy's demeanor in less than 24 hours after Binion's death. She appears to transform herself from a hysterical grieving girlfriend who had to be carted away from the home by paramedics to a foul-mouthed materialistic heir, grabbing what she can of Binion's possessions.

Two months before his death, Binion willed the 28-year-old Murphy his home, its contents and $300,000 in cash. But the $50 million estate has been fighting the inheritance in probate court.

Murphy asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination last year when asked under oath if she knew the whereabouts of several valuables, including an antique coin and currency collection, that were missing from Binion's home. She and Tabish later were charged criminally with stealing those items.

Prosecutors contend the tape, which was made by Murphy's own lawyer (Knudson), also shows her appearing to take a wine glass from a kitchen countertop. The glass is alleged to have been used somehow in Binion's death.

Defense attorneys maintain that Murphy did not steal anything and that the tape was made to help Murphy protect her inheritance. She is overheard several times on the tape accusing the estate and Binion's family of stealing items from the house.

Also on Tuesday, Tabish's travel agent in Missoula, Mont., and a Delta Air Lines executive from Atlanta testified that Tabish did not have a reservation to return to Montana the day Binion died. Tabish had told reporters that day that he was on his way to the airport when he heard about Binion's death.

The witnesses, however, also testified that Tabish did not have reservations to return to Missoula on Aug. 28, 1998, a day his friend, Steven Kurt Gratzer testified that a meeting took place their between the two men.

Gratzer testified last week that Tabish sought his help in killing Binion.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702) 259-4067 or by e-mail at german@lasvegassun.com.