Binion case prosecutor upset by release of Murphy’s friend

Monday, Jan. 10, 2000 | 11:06 a.m.

The chief prosecutor in the Ted Binion murder case said he's not happy that a California judge released a close friend of Sandy Murphy arrested on a material witness warrant without requiring her to post bail.

The friend, Linda Carroll, who last spring testified reluctantly before a Clark County Grand Jury investigating Binion's slaying, was set free Friday following her Thursday afternoon arrest in Temecula, Calif.

"I'm obviously disappointed that the court decided to release her on her own recognizance," Chief Deputy District David Roger said Sunday. "The purpose of the material witness warrant was to require her to post bail to ensure her presence at trial."

But Roger said he believes Carroll's arrest will serve as a "wake-up call" for her to appear at the March 13 trial.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure, who is presiding over the slaying case, had suggested a $50,000 bail when he signed the arrest warrant last month.

But a Superior Court judge in Riverside County, Calif., did not go along with Bonaventure's recommendation.

Carroll, however, now is under subpoena to testify at the trial.

Carroll's California lawyer, Chet Bennett, said he was "outraged" by the arrest, which took place at the sheriff's department in Temecula while he and Carroll were there on an unrelated matter.

"This is nothing less than witness intimidation," Bennett told the Sun last week. "Where the hell are we now, Nazi Germany?"

Roger said the warrant was issued because of the trouble investigators have had getting Carroll to testify before the grand jury.

Earlier this year investigators spent weeks trying to find Carroll in Southern California to serve her with a subpoena to testify before the Las Vegas panel. The FBI's Criminal Apprehension Team and the syndicated television show "America's Most Wanted," were asked to assist in the search.

But Carroll, who spent time with Murphy in the hours immediately after Binion's Sept. 17, 1998, slaying, ended up coming to Las Vegas on her own to testify.

Once before the grand jury, however, she appeared evasive to investigators.

She once reportedly told attorney Richard Wright and private detective Tom Dillard, who work for Binion's $50 million estate, that she was afraid for her life. But she denied saying that when questioned under oath at the grand jury.

Carroll and Murphy, who had become friends when they lived in Orange County, Calif., both once worked at Cheetah's adult nightclub in Las Vegas. Carroll sold costumes to dancers, and Murphy danced topless for a short time until she met Binion there.

Bennett, meanwhile, said he was upset that authorities never notified him about the arrest warrant for his client.

"I would have worked something out," he said. "She showed up voluntarily last time."

Bennett said Carroll was taken into custody by sheriff's deputies after a routine search of computer records turned up the arrest warrant.