Jury’s decision shatters families of defendants

Greg Tuttle

Monday, May 22, 2000 | 10:08 a.m.

Kenneth Murphy stood alone on the curb in front of the Clark County Courthouse, his face still as blank as it was when, minutes before, guilty verdicts were read against his daughter.

"My wife is on her way in a cab," he said, looking down the street. "She's going to be devastated."

She was.

Sandy Murphy's stepmother, Sandra Murphy, pulled up in a cab a few minutes later and saw the empty look on her husband's face. Without a word he pulled her from the cab and led her past the throng of media, hardly noticed, into the courthouse.

Ten minutes later the couple emerged, less than an hour after their daughter and her lover, Rick Tabish, were found guilty of killing Las Vegas casino heir Ted Binion.

This time the press saw them and surrounded the couple as they tried to cross the street.

"How do you feel about the verdict?" asked one television reporter.

Neither answered or even acknowledged the question.

But their faces said it all. Devastated.

"They're a close family," John Momot, Sandy Murphy's attorney, had noted the day before the verdict was reached.

The families of both Tabish and Murphy were supportive throughout the trial, but only Sandy Murphy's parents testified at the most-watched murder trial in Las Vegas history.

Sandra Murphy, who shares her stepdaughter's name, told jurors Binion beat Sandy Murphy on several occasions. She once flew from her home in Bellflower, Calif., to confront Binion about the abuse, she said.

She was rebuffed by her stepdaughter, she said, when she asked her to leave the volatile relationship.

Sandra Murphy also said she received a threatening telephone message while staying with her daughter in a Las Vegas hotel the day after Binion's death. Sandy Murphy said the caller sounded like Binion's brother-in-law, Nick Behnen, the elder Murphy testified.

Behnen later told a Sun reporter he called and left a message for Sandy Murphy at the hotel, but denied threatening the woman.

Sandra Murphy also told jurors she did not see her stepdaughter put a wine glass in her purse the day after Binion's body was found. Prosecutors said a videotape taken during a tour of Binion's home showed Murphy taking the glass, possibly to remove evidence.

The glass, prosecutors said, was used to poison Binion. During its deliberations, the jury asked to review the wine glass video.

But Sandra Murphy also testified she did not tell police, a private investigator or Binion's attorney about a box of silver coins her stepdaughter removed from the home on the same day.

Sandy Murphy's father, Kenneth Murphy, took the witness stand next, winking at his daughter during a brief break.

The owner of a repossession business in California, Kenneth Murphy told jurors of a series of strange phone conversations he had with Binion five days before his death. During two of the calls, Binion described how his dogs had been killed and desperately asked to talk to his daughter, he said.

He said he learned later the dogs were not dead.

Sandy Murphy's brother, Mike Murphy, was listed as a defense witness but did not testify. Her mother lives in Las Vegas and has been "closely watching" the trial, Momot said.

Tabish's parents, Frank and Lani Tabish, also did not testify at the trial. But Frank Tabish was a constant presence in the courtroom seated in a reserved section near his 35-year-old son. Lani Tabish attended most of the five-week trial.

Frank Tabish shook his head angrily as the guilty verdicts were read Friday.

A well-known figure in his community, Frank Tabish made a small fortune from a petroleum distribution business he owned in Missoula, Mont. Rick Tabish grew up the second of three sons in a privileged home.

Neither Frank Tabish nor his wife have spoken to the media since their son's arrest in connection with Binion's death.

Rick Tabish's wife, Mary Jo Tabish, was listed as a defense witness, but she was not called to testify and did not attend the trial. She lives in Missoula with the couple's two children and has shunned the media.

But Mary Jo Tabish was supportive of her husband last fall despite his affair with Murphy, a former topless dancer.

At an Oct. 13, 1999, court hearing, Mary Jo Tabish described her husband as a faithful provider and blamed the media for the sensational allegations against him.

"I know him better than anyone, and at this time his main concerns are to clear his name, repay his debts and take care of his family," Mary Jo Tabish wrote to a judge. "Unfortunately, people don't realize that the press is putting a spin on reality to influence their thinking and creating a mini-drama to keep them coming back for more. For the press, the ultimate end to this story would be 'guilty.' Rick doesn't deserve to be part of this media charade."

Rick Tabish's younger brother, Greg Tabish, also defended the accused killer and offered his home as collateral for bail. At the time, Rick Tabish was being held in jail without bail and the hearing was to determine whether he could be released on bail while awaiting trial.

Greg Tabish told a judge his brother would be vindicated and the charges were "orchestrated by the district attorney's office, an overzealous private investigator and the media."

Greg Tabish did not testify at the trial.

Frank Tabish also weighed in for his son at the bail hearing six months ago.

"Your honor, we have not frequented a courtroom much in our lives. But at the pretrial hearing, we could not believe that witnesses who lied, perjured themselves and were self-admitted drug dealers (who) supplied heroin to Ted Binion, testified and left the courtroom without any negative consequences."

The judge declined to set bail and Tabish remained behind bars throughout the trial.