Binion family feels sentences were fair

Jace Radke and Kim Smith

Thursday, May 25, 2000 | 11:02 a.m.

Ted Binion's nephew wasn't disappointed that his uncle's convicted killers will have a chance to get out of prison after 20 years.

"I don't disapprove of the sentence, because they still have to face the judge on the other counts they were convicted of," Bobby Fechser said Wednesday. "Twenty years in prison is a long time."

Fechser said he felt bad for Rick Tabish's wife, Mary Jo Tabish, but not for her husband or Sandy Murphy.

"I have three kids at home, and I feel sorry for his wife and children," Fechser said. "It's too bad he can't be free for the next 10 or 14 years to raise his kids and then go to prison for life without parole. I don't think he can handle 20 years in prison.

"I have nothing to say about her (Murphy). She was at the center of the entire scheme, and she was the greed and lust that killed my uncle."

Binion's sister, Becky Behnen, the first to publicly suspect foul play in her brother's death, stayed away from the courtroom this week. She wept in court Friday when the jurors convicted Murphy and Tabish.

She told the Sun today that she accepts the sentence handed out by the jurors, whom she described as "spectacular."

"I feel fine with the sentence," she said. "I think these people gave their all. Nothing will bring Ted back. Inflicting more pain on their families doesn't make me feel better. So I'm satisfied with the sentence. Twenty years is a long time."

Behnen added: "I'm just glad it's over. We here in the state of Nevada should be very proud of our judicial system."

Binion's brother Jack also was in District Judge Joseph Bonaventure's courtroom as the penalty verdict was read by the jury foreman.

"There's really nothing to say," Jack Binion said outside the courthouse. "I don't have anything to say."

After the penalty verdict was announced, the Tabish and Murphy families avoided the media by slipping out a side door of the courthouse.

They were visibly shaken by the emotional court proceeding.

Mary Jo Tabish simply nodded her head and let out a deep breath when she heard the foreman announce that her husband would have a chance at parole after 20 years in prison.

Murphy's stepmother, Sandra Murphy, broke down and cried after the penalty was read and then leaned her head on her husband Kenneth Murphy's shoulder as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

Outside the courthouse, Tabish's attorney, Louis Palazzo, said he felt numb after meeting with the Montana man's family.

"It's weighing very heavily on the family, and as you might expect, they are heartbroken," Palazzo said. "It is really a bittersweet feeling at this point, because I believe it should have never gotten to the penalty phase, and they should have been found not guilty across the board.

"I'm glad it came out the way it did today, but I don't feel elated. I feel a little numb."

Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell said he, too, was satisfied with the sentence.

"They needed to be held accountable for what they did, and when they come up for parole in 20 years, we'll be there to argue against it," Bell said. "I think justice was served and quite frankly, I think the community owes a debt of gratitude to those 12 people who served on the jury."

Bell said he hopes to see letters to newspaper editors thanking the jurors for helping to "preserve the judicial system." The jurors themselves did not speak after delivering the penalty, except to meet with District Judge Michael Cherry at the request of Bonaventure. Sun senior investigative reporter

Jeff German contributed to this story.