Murphy’s mom reveals ‘threat’

Friday, April 28, 2000 | 11:35 a.m.

Sandy Murphy's mother testified today that she received a threatening phone call in Las Vegas from a man who identified himself as "Nick" the day after Ted Binion's death.

The elder Murphy, who also goes by the name of Sandy, said the call, which was meant for her daughter, was received in her room at the Desert Inn late in the evening.

She testified that the caller said: "Sandy, this is Nick. I'm going to see to it that you fry, you f ... bitch."

Her daughter, who was sleeping in a bed next to her, said the caller sounded like Nick Behnen, Binion's brother-in-law.

"That's a lie," Behnen told the Sun this morning. "I never made that statement. I called there and left a message saying I'd be in the lobby if she wanted to speak to me."

Behnen also said Murphy's co-defendant in the murder trial, Rick Tabish, told him that Murphy was stalking his house with a shotgun several weeks after Binion's Sept. 17, 1998, death.

And Behnen's wife, Horseshoe Club President Becky Behnen, said Murphy made "taunting" phone calls to her in the weeks following her brother's death.

"Sandy was calling the house harassing us from the time Ted died," Behnen said. "She was taunting me."

Murphy, Binion's 28-year-old girlfriend, and Tabish, her 35-year-old lover, are standing trial in the courtroom of District Judge Joseph Bonaventure on charges of killing Binion and stealing his valuables.

The defense has alleged that the "Binion money machine" pressured prosecutors into filing charges against Murphy and Tabish.

Today's startling testimony came on the second day of the defense's case. The prosecution rested late Wednesday after presenting 90 witnesses.

Murphy's mother also testified today that she never saw her daughter put a wine glass in her purse during a videotaped tour of Binion's home on Sept. 18, 1998. Prosecutors contend the videotape shows Murphy taking a wine glass they believe was used in Binion's death. Prosecutors believe Binion was pumped with drugs and suffocated at his home.

The defense, meanwhile, wasted little time Thursday setting up an alibi for Tabish during the morning of Sept. 17, 1998, when prosecutors say Binion was killed.

Three men who once worked with Tabish testified he was at All Star Ready Mix, a North Las Vegas concrete company, from as early as 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 17. Prosecutors contend Binion died between 9 a.m. and noon.

Murphy's mother was first called to the witness stand late Thursday to describe the volatile relationship between Murphy and the 55-year-old Binion.

There was high drama when Murphy stood up from the defense table as if to take the stand herself. But then she smiled and sat down, saying "just kidding." Her mother then was sworn in as a witness.

Earlier this morning, Bonaventure led the jury on a field trip to view the 48,000 pounds of silver that Tabish and Murphy are charged with trying to steal from Binion after his death. The silver, valued by the gambling figure's estate at $6 million, was dug up from an underground vault on land Binion owned in the heart of downtown Pahrump. It is being stored at a secure undisclosed location.

Jurors spent about 10 minutes viewing the massive amount of silver bars and coins in the presence of the judge and lawyers for both sides. They were allowed to ask questions and touch the silver.

Among the alibi witnesses who testified for Tabish Thursday was former employee Jim Mitchell, whose name surfaced in an alleged plot by Tabish to pay off witnesses.

On Wednesday, Jason Frazer, a 29-year-old Tabish friend and business associate, testified under a grant of immunity that Tabish asked him to get Mitchell to corroborate other witnesses who would testify he was at All Star Ready Mix on the morning of Binion's death.

Prosecutors introduced a hand-written note from Tabish to Frazer saying he was willing to pay for an attorney to help Mitchell with his legal troubles at the time if Mitchell provided an affidavit saying he saw Tabish at the North Las Vegas company.

Tabish wrote Frazer: "My life is on the line, and we need to fight fire with fire ..."

Mitchell testified Thursday that he saw Tabish "all over the place" at All Star.

He said he only met Frazer once and never got any money from him.

Mitchell acknowledged that he didn't come forward until a year after Binion's death. And though he had no trouble remembering the Sept. 17 date, he could not recall the date when police questioned him a year later. He said police tried to intimidate him during the interview.

Two other men, Rocky Teeters and Dave Wilcox, also testified that they saw Tabish at All Star that morning. Both men acknowledged under cross-examination that they never went to police and didn't come forward until months after Binion's death when they gave statements to a defense investigator.

Teeters, who appeared nervous on the witness stand, said he didn't talk to the defense investigator, Jim Thomas, until February. Frazer testified Wednesday that he brought two other men Tabish wanted as alibi witnesses to Thomas to give statements. The two men, Roger Davis and Martin Frye, are not being asked to testify by the defense at the trial.

Murphy's mother, meanwhile, testified Thursday that Binion had physically abused Murphy several times during their stormy three-year relationship.

One time, she said, she flew to Las Vegas from her home in Bellflower, Calif., to confront Binion about a beating he had given her daughter.

"I asked him why he did it and told him never to do it again," she said.

At the time, she said, Murphy had a black eye, a "big fat lip" and bruises on her body.

The elder Murphy said she asked her daughter to leave Binion, but she refused, saying she loved the former casino executive.

Murphy's mother said she saw her sobbing daughter on the evening news the night of Binion's and recalled that she had reacted in a similar fashion when her grandparents had died.

Nurses who observed Murphy after she was transported by ambulance to the hospital testified earlier in the trial that her hysteria appeared "almost theatrical." She was overheard blurting out, "boo-hoo, boo-hoo" at the hospital.

State Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, testified Thursday that his review of autopsy photos found no evidence that Binion was suffocated, as claimed by well-known forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden.

Rawson, a dentist, said there were no injuries inside Binion's mouth that would indicate he was suffocated, and he said the redness around his mouth and nose could have been the result of attempts to resuscitate Binion.

Baden, a veteran of some 25,000 autopsies, testified earlier that the discoloration, as well as marks on Binion's chest and ruptured blood vessels in his eyes were the result of being suffocated by the method known as "Burkeing" in which someone sits on the victim's chest.

Under cross-examination, Rawson acknowledged that he was not as qualified as Baden to make his conclusions and has never physically examined anyone who was suffocated.

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.