DA says Mattsen’s account false

Friday, May 26, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

Prosecutors don't believe David Mattsen's claim that Ted Binion's killers took him hostage the night before the Sept. 17, 1998, slaying.

"After hearing that David Mattsen told people that Binion was restrained with handcuffs on Sept. 16, 1998, I knew that Mattsen was providing false information," Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger told the Sun this morning.

"Numerous witnesses saw Ted Binion on the evening of Sept. 16, 1998, and in the early morning hours of Sept. 17, 1998."

Roger and fellow Chief Deputy District Attorney David Wall obtained convictions in Binion's slaying last week against Binion's girlfriend Sandy Murphy and her lover, Rick Tabish.

The jury that found Murphy and Tabish guilty of first-degree murder sentenced them to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.

Mattsen, 54, has told a Sun reporter and several others, including private detective Tom Dillard and Nick and Becky Behnen that Murphy and Tabish restrained Binion with rhinestone-studded handcuffs following a heated argument at his 2408 Palomino Lane home on the evening of Sept 16.

But Roger said that couldn't have happened.

"Common sense suggests that Binion's killers would not release Binion to allow him to go to the grocery store and then recapture him for the purpose of killing him," Roger said.

Binion was seen by a convenience store clerk in the early morning of Sept. 17 buying cigarettes. His neighbor's housekeeper also saw him at 5:30 a.m. that day. Both testified during the seven-week murder trial in the courtroom of District Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

Roger said the medical evidence presented at the trial suggested Binion died between 9 a.m. and noon on Sept. 17.

Murphy reported discovering the wealthy gambling figure's body on the floor of his den next to a pack of cigarettes and an empty bottle of the prescription sedative Xanax. Prosecutors alleged during the trial Murphy and Tabish pumped Binion with drugs and suffocated him.

Roger said he planned to take statements from those who talked to Mattsen, but that it wasn't a priority.

Mattsen, still facing charges of trying to steal Binion's $6 million silver fortune in Pahrump, was interviewed by the Sun in the presence of Nick Behnen, Binion's brother-in-law, at a suite at the Horseshoe Club a couple of weeks before the March 27 murder trial.

Mattsen said he saw Tabish knock Binion down in during the argument and later saw Binion restrained by Tabish and Murphy.

The convicted killers threatened to harm Mattsen's wife, Thressa, unless he left the house, he said.

Mattsen, who once managed Binion's ranch in Pahrump, said he met with Tabish the next morning at the pass at Mountain Springs, where Tabish told him it was "over." He said William Knudson, the civil lawyer for Tabish and Murphy, was in a car out of earshot when Tabish made that statement.

Knudson could not be reach for comment. He has previously accused investigators of unfairly trying to drag him into the murder probe.

Mattsen said Tabish also told him the day after Binion's slaying that he and Murphy had sex in front of Binion while he was restrained.

Murphy and Tabish, who are planning to appeal their convictions, maintained during the trial that the 55-year-old Binion, a known heroin user, killed himself with a drug overdose.

Police obtained cell phone records that show Mattsen and Tabish were in constant contact with each other in the immediate hours before and after Binion's death.

The Sun reported Thursday that Dillard was continuing to probe Binion's death for his $55 million estate despite the convictions of Tabish and Murphy.

Mattsen was one of the people Dillard said he was eying.

Dillard said Mattsen told him Tabish intended to move Binion's silver to Chicago.

"The inference was that individuals involved in organized crime were going to be the recipient fo the silver," he said.

Tabish was linked to at least two reputed associates of the Chicago mob during the murder investigation.

The silver, however, never made it out of Pahrump. Tabish, Mattsen and Michael Milot were arrested after they had dug up the silver on Sept. 19, 1998. Tabish was convicted of stealing the silver last week, and Mattsen and Milot are scheduled to appear in court Thursday to set their trial date.

Dillard, meanwhile, said there may be some credence to Mattsen's claim that rhinestone handcuffs were used to restrain Binion.

He said he learned during his investigation that such handcuffs, which were manufactured in Los Angeles, were sold in Las Vegas only at an exclusive women's clothing shop at Caesars Palace.

The handcuffs, which cost about $700, were marketed as a novelty sex item, he said. They were attached to a black leather belt.

Several days before the murder trial, Dillard took a recorded statement from Susan Cetrano, a sales clerk at the store, which no longer is located at Caesars.

Cetrano, according to 11-page transcript obtained by the Sun, said she recalled Binion and Murphy making a $5,000 purchase at the store in the summer of 1995.

But Cetrano told Dillard she couldn't remember if they had purchased any handcuffs.

She said she saw Binion going into the fitting room with Murphy as she was trying on clothes and that both of them appeared happy.

Dillard said he bought several different pairs of those types of handcuffs from the manufacturer in Los Angeles and turned them over to police to see whether any of them would match marks found on Binion's wrists.

But no matches were found, he said.

Roger confirmed that some tests were done on the handcuffs Dillard had purchased in preparation for any testimony prosecutors might receive from Mattsen.

At the time, Mattsen was seeking to cooperate in the murder investigation against Murphy and Tabish.

No deal was reached because prosecutors did not believe Mattsen would be a credible witness at the trial.

His own lawyer told reporters he believed Mattsen had gone "off the deep end" just prior to standing trial on firearms charges.

Mattsen ultimately was acquitted of the charges.

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.

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