DA plans ‘leaner’ Binion strategy

Friday, March 10, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

Prosecutors plan to streamline their case against Ted Binion's accused killers, making for a much shorter trial than anticipated.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger filed papers this week listing 276 potential witnesses.

But Roger told the Sun Thursday he expected to cut the list in half by the time the trial of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish gets under way on March 27.

Roger said he planned to call about 130 witnesses during his case, which he expected would take about six weeks.

The long-awaited trial, Roger said, shouldn't last any longer than two months. Prosecutors had been predicting a three-month trial.

"It will be a leaner case," Roger said. "We want to present a relatively simple case to the jury."

Roger said he hopes the defense will allow him to introduce thousands of pages of records by stipulation so that more than 40 custodial witnesses won't have to take the stand.

Among those listed as possible prosecution witnesses are Binion's ex-wife, Doris Binion, his daughter, Bonnie Binion, the heir to his $50 million estate, and his sister, Becky Behnen, one of the first to publicly raise the specter of foul play in his 1998 death.

Doris Binion, whose estrangement from her husband paved the way for Murphy to befriend the wealthy gambling figure, has provided private detective Tom Dillard with a statement indicating the ex-casino executive often kept large sums of money at home.

Murphy, 28, who met Binion at a topless nightclub in 1995, and Tabish, a 34-year-old Montana contractor, are charged with stealing Binion's cash and valuables after killing him at his 2408 Palomino Lane home on Sept. 17, 1998.

Bonnie Binion, 19, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Murphy and Tabish, alleging they engaged in a "secret sexual relationship" while plotting her father's slaying. She has told Dillard that she had a stormy relationship with Murphy.

Behnen, who now runs the Binion family's Horseshoe Club, also has told Dillard that she didn't get along with Murphy. Behnen was the first to publicly urge Metro Police to treat her brother's death as a homicide.

Dillard, who has been investigating Binion's death for his estate, also is on the list of potential witnesses. Last week District Judge Joseph Bonaventure, who is presiding over the trial, refused to toss out evidence Dillard gathered for police during the well-publicized probe.

Dillard expects to be pursuing leads in the investigation up to the time of the trial and during it. He was in Chicago this week looking to substantiate ties between Tabish and reputed Chicago mob figure Salvatore "Sammy" Galioto.

Other key witnesses on the prosecution list include Binion's housekeeper Mary Montoya-Gascoigne, gardener Tom Loveday, surveillance expert Brad Parry and former secretary Kathy Rose. All four can testify about the activities of Murphy and Tabish immediately before and after Binion's death.

Former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who received a campaign contribution from Binion the day before he was killed, also is listed as a possible witness.

Binion's neighbor, Dr. Enrique Lacayo, who prescribed a bottle of the sedative Xanax for Binion the day before his death and Peter Sheridan, who supplied Binion with 12 balloons of tar heroin that evening, also are slated to testify.

So are several of Binion's lawyers, James J. Brown, Richard Wright, Harry Claiborne and Bruce Judd.

Prosecutors plan to call a host of medical experts, including famed New York pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who has previously testified that Binion did not die of a drug overdose, but rather was suffocated. His testimony contradicts Clark County Chief Medical Examiner Lary Simms, who has testified he believed Binion died after being given a fatal cocktail of heroin and Xanax. Simms also is on the witness list.

Two Tabish friends from Montana, Kurt Gratzer and Jason Frazer, have been granted immunity to testify at the trial. Gratzer is being called upon to explain how Tabish allegedly sought his help in killing Binion. And Frazer, who recently surfaced, will talk about the reported plot to pay off alibi witnesses.

Also on the witness list are two Murphy friends, Tanya Cropp and Linda Carroll.

At the preliminary hearing, Cropp testified that Murphy gave her a hand-written list of rare coins allegedly stolen from Binion's home after his death. Carroll, who spent time with Murphy in the hours before and after Binion's death, has been a reluctant witness. Prosecutors intend to show that she has been afraid to testify about her knowledge of Binion's death.

Prosecutors also may call Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke when they present evidence against Tabish and Murphy in the theft of Binion's silver fortune in Pahrump less than 36 hours after his death.

Tabish has contended that he informed Lieseke ahead of time that he was coming to Pahrump to take the silver on Binion's behalf. Lieseke has denied any involvement with Tabish.