Jurors rehear maid’s testimony

Wednesday, May 17, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure today received another letter from the jurors in the Ted Binion murder case as they entered their sixth day of deliberations.

Jurors asked to rehear portions of the April 14 testimony of Binion's housekeeper, Mary Montoya-Gascoigne.

Bonaventure played back about 25 minutes of the recorded testimony in court for the 12 jurors this morning.

The panel members wanted to hear portions of Gascoigne's direct examination that ended with her testimony that Sandy Murphy had asked her to leave Binion's home the day before the wealthy gambling figure died.

Gascoigne testified that Murphy told her she no longer trusted her during that conversation. The next day, Gascoigne testified, Murphy telephoned her about 9 a.m. and told her not to come to work that morning.

Murphy, Binion's 28-year-old live-in girlfriend, and her lover, 35-year-old Montana contractor Rick Tabish are standing trial on charges of killing the wealthy gambling figure on Sept. 17, 1998, and stealing his valuables.

The jurors, nine women and three men, have been deliberating the fate of Murphy and Tabish since May 10.

Both Murphy and Tabish were in court today as the tape was played, and both appeared to have worried looks on their faces. Much of the time they looked down at the defense table. But at times, they looked toward the jury.

On the tape, Chief Deputy District Attorney David Wall questioned Gascoigne about what she did at Binion's home on Sept. 16, 1998, and when she saw Murphy and Tabish there. Gascoigne told Wall that Murphy told her about 2:30 p.m. to go home early.

She testified that she said good night to Binion in the den before she left and that Binion asked her if she needed any money. Binion then said he'd see her the next day. Gascoigne said Binion was in a good mood at the time and wasn't depressed.

The jurors also asked Bonaventure in their letter to play back portions of Gascoigne's cross-examination by Tabish's lawyer, Louis Palazzo.

The note said the jurors wanted to hear Gascoigne's cross-examination from the point when she testified about going to the Horseshoe Club two weeks after Binion's death to when she described seeing Binion's sleeping mat on the floor of his den.

On the tape, Gascoigne testified that she worked at the Horseshoe for a couple of weeks after Binion's death, and later landed a job as a housekeeper at the Hard Rock hotel-casino. She said the Binion family did not help her get the hotel job.

She acknowledged that Binion's sister, Horseshoe Club President Becky Behnen gave her $200 last August so that she could attend her brother's funeral. She testified that she later paid back Behnen.

Gascoigne also testified that she once saw Binion give Murphy a massage on the sleeping mat. Binion's body was found on the mat.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, may have reason to smile about Tuesday's letter from the jurors giving Bonaventure a status check on their weeklong deliberations.

Legal observers who read the letter gleaned bits and pieces that suggest the jurors may be leaning toward convicting Murphy and Tabish.

But Murphy's lawyer, John Momot, said today he views the letter as nothing more than an effort by the jury to inform the judge that they have conflicting medical testimony and are taking their time poring over the evidence in the case.

"That's all it means to me," Momot said. "I can't make too much out of it other than they're troubled by the conflicting testimony, and they're trying to reconcile it."

Momot said the letter could mean the jurors have "reasonable doubt" about whether Murphy and Tabish killed Binion.

"That's what my case is all about," he said.

Chief Deputy District Attorneys David Roger and David Wall declined comment.

Legal observers following the case said the one-page letter, written by the jury's foreman, a retired aerospace engineer, suggests the panel is methodically reviewing the evidence and may be on a course of returning guilty verdicts.

The last line of the hand-written letter was particularly revealing to observers.

"We feel we're moving in the right direction, taking the time required to give the defendants a fair and just trial by this jury," the letter said.

Observers pointed out that the first note the jurors sent Bonaventure last Thursday suggested they were inclined to convict Tabish of extortion in the alleged kidnapping-torture plot against businessman Leo Casey.

The charges involving Casey are the first, and maybe the weakest, in the 11-count information against Murphy and Tabish. Murphy is not charged in that portion of the case.

Observers said the reference in the latest note to giving the "defendants a fair and just trial" may be another sign that the jurors are inclined to convict Murphy and Tabish. They appear to be sending the public a message that they are giving the defendants the benefit of the doubt as they go about weighing the massive circumstantial evidence against them.

Then there's another portion of the letter.

"This case, arguably unlike most, has a great deal of conflicting testimony, a good portion given by 'experts' in their field," the letter said.

By referring to experts in quotations, observers said, the jurors may be indicating they could discount some or all of the medical witnesses.

In their closing arguments, prosecutors stressed the vast amount of evidence suggesting Murphy and Tabish conspired to kill Binion. Some have suggested that if the jurors can't come to an agreement over the medical evidence, which was stressed by the defense, the conspiratorial evidence could weigh heavily in any verdict.

The jurors gave Bonaventure a strong sign in the letter that they expected to reach a verdict.

"This jury, after taking a few hours getting organized and setting a course, is a cohesive unit," the note said. "We have grasped the 70 instructions, verbalized and understood the 11 counts, are reviewing the hundreds of pieces of evidence and have extrapolated from all the jurors' notes the most credible information of the testimony given in the courtroom."

Bonaventure and other veteran members of the legal community have never seen such a letter before.

"They're taking their oath to deliberate very seriously," said District Judge Michael Cherry, a spokesman for Bonaventure in this case. "This is highly unusual."

Doug Bradford, Clark County's chief public information officer, said Bonaventure was "surprised," but not concerned about the letter.

"It's just something that's unprecedented," Bradford said.

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.