Dutiful jurors ready to determine fate of Murphy, Tabish

Wednesday, May 10, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure has set long work hours for the jury that will decide the fate of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish.

The jury, made up of nine women and three men, will deliberate from 8:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. until it reaches a verdict.

It will not work this Saturday if its still deliberating because of the Mother's Day weekend, and as of this morning, it will not be sequestered.

The names of the panel members have been kept secret throughout the seven weeks of the well-publicized murder trial, the most sensational in Las Vegas history. The trial has been carried lived on Las Vegas ONE, a local cable news channel, and Court TV, a national legal network.

The jurors have lived in Las Vegas from as little as two years to 30 years.

Most of the women on the panel are middle aged or older and are married with children. Several are housewives or retirees. One woman manages a storage facility with her husband, another is a pharmacist and one is a school administrator.

All three men -- a wildlife biologist, a retired aerospace industry supervisor and a computer programmer -- are married.

Through much of the lengthy trial the jurors have been attentive, often taking notes. For the most part, they have kept straight faces as the massive amount of evidence has been presented to them, making it hard to gauge whether they have any leanings in the case.

Murphy often has been observed staring at the jurors as they left the courtroom during breaks in the trial.

Only one panel member, Juror No. 2, a white woman who worked for 11 years as a software engineer, has been embroiled in controversy.

Earlier this week Bonaventure considered removing the juror after he learned she had joked about wanting to become the jury's forewoman and then write a book after the trial.

Bonaventure questioned the woman in chambers and in court in the presence of attorneys from both sides and determined she still could render a fair and unbiased verdict.

The juror told Bonaventure in court she has no intentions of writing a book.

Bonaventure opted against sequestering the jury during the trial to save taxpayers thousands of dollars in hotel bills.

There was only one major incident involving the jury outside the courtroom. Panel members one day overheard a hotel bellman shout, "they're not guilty," as they walked into the Golden Nugget hotel-casino for lunch.

Bonaventure quickly summoned the bellman to court and scolded him. The bellman immediately was suspended by the hotel.

The jurors who heard the remark were questioned in court by Bonaventure, and each one said it would not affect their deliberations.