Prosecutors considered plea agreement

Friday, Aug. 10, 2001 | 11 a.m.

Editor's note: This is the sixth in a series of seven excerpts from the new book, "Murder in Sin City: The Death of a Las Vegas Casino Boss." The book, which takes the reader into the heart of the Ted Binion murder investigation, was written by Jeff German, the Sun's senior investigative reporter. The series, exclusive to the Sun, will conclude on Sunday.

Despite intense publicity, it took District Judge Joseph Bonaventure just two days to pick a 12-member jury in the Ted Binion murder case.

On March 29, 2000, after the jury had been selected, Bonaventure made a secret last-ditch effort to avoid what was expected to be a lengthy and sensational trial.

He held a brief closed-door hearing with prosecutors, the two defendants, Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, and their lawyers to determine whether a plea agreement could be reached.

The judge pointed out that he previously had inquired about a possible deal in chambers with the lawyers and that Chief Deputy District Attorney David Wall had said he would be willing to consider one.

"And you know me," Bonaventure said in a secret transcript of the hearing. "I always want to (ask), are there any possible negotiations in this case? Do you remember that?"

Wall told the judge he recalled saying: "We'd be in the position to listen to any reasonable offer, take it and assimilate it and determine what to do with it at that time if any was going to be forthcoming."

Bonaventure then asked defense lawyers John Momot and Louis Palazzo if they had conveyed Wall's comments to their clients. The lawyers said they had done that, but no one mentioned any interest in a plea arrangement. That ended any chance of averting the trial.

Bonaventure said he called the hearing so that Wall's previous comments could be placed on the record, and at Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger's request, the judge ordered the proceeding sealed.

"Nobody will know about this," the judge said.

Momot then interjected: "Sandy Murphy doesn't want it sealed."

"It's the order of the court," Bonaventure retorted. "It's going to be sealed."

Bonaventure later set a schedule for opening statements in two days.

Though confident and well prepared, prosecutors headed into the biggest criminal trial in Las Vegas history with some reservations.

They knew that their key forensic witnesses -- Chief Medical Examiner Lary Simms and famed New York pathologist Michael Baden -- had come up with dual theories of death and that the defense had come up with a third theory designed to create confusion in the minds of the jurors.

Simms concluded Binion died of a forced drug overdose, and Baden maintained that the wealthy gambling figure was suffocated.

"I wasn't concerned about the split between Baden and Simms because we had a pretty cohesive theory about how all of this had gone down," Roger said. "I knew that I could explain to the jury that Dr. Simms was a fine doctor, but didn't have the experience of Dr. Baden."

What bothered prosecutors more was that the defense was bringing in its own well-respected medical witnesses, like Baden's close friend, well-known Pittsburgh pathologist Cyril Wecht, to create doubt about the state's medical evidence.

Wecht had filed a 17-page report, concluding that Binion died of a "combined heroin and Xanax overdose" as part of a planned suicide.

"I do not find any evidence to support the contention that he was suffocated," Wecht wrote in his report. "I believe that Mr. Binion initially inhaled heroin smoke, as he had in the past, and this led to thoughts of suicide."

When it came time for opening statements, Roger was first up.

In the next three hours, he systematically laid out a case for murder, greed and betrayal.

He described how Murphy and Tabish had fallen in love with each other and plotted Binion's death, and how police found his body at his home in a "classic mortuary pose."

At the conclusion of his opening statement, Roger confidently told the jurors:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the evidence will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ted Binion was murdered. That he was murdered for lust, for greed. That he was murdered by someone who he trusted and her new companion. Ladies and gentlemen, the killers are Richard Tabish and Sandra Murphy."

Momot, in his relaxed New Jersey accent, addressed the jurors next.

"This case is not about homicide," he said. "This case is about heroin. This case is not murder. This case is about money. And I'm going to talk about the Binion Money Machine, as I said to you, from one of the most powerful families in the state of Nevada."

Momot said the Binion family hated Murphy and was bent on "grinding" her up.

"They took this case from a drug overdose and turned it around and made it a homicide. That's what this family has done ... Why did they do this? It's because Sandy is not a Binion. That's why."

Then Momot revealed the first big surprise of the trial -- an acknowledgement after months of denials that Murphy and Tabish indeed did have a romantic affair.

"What do you think, there's some secret about a relationship here?" he asked, as he pointed to the two defendants at the defense table. "There's no secret about it. It existed between Rick and Sandy. So what?"

Courthouse observers thought the confession was smart strategy on the part of the defense in the wake of the overwhelming evidence of the romantic relationship that prosecutors had been planning to present at the trial.

By acknowledging the sexual affair, Murphy and Tabish had overcome one big obstacle that threatened to harm their credibility with the jurors.

But Murphy apparently went along with the strategy reluctantly. "Sandy didn't want to go for it," one defense lawyer later said. "She kept saying it wasn't true. But we figured it would blow away the prosecution's case."

Roger and Wall weren't dismayed at all by the startling development.

To them, the defense actually bolstered their theory that Murphy and Tabish had wanted Binion out of the way so that they could share his wealth.

Momot acknowledged that the defense strategy had potential to pump up the prosecution's case.

"We felt the better course was to be direct and forthright," he said. "The decision was to be upfront about it and let the jury give it whatever weight it wishes."

Seven weeks after opening statements, in a trial that was carried live on local and national television, Murphy and Tabish were convicted of killing Binion. *

"Murder in Sin City by Jeff German is available fro $6.99 at all major bookstores in the greater Las Vegas area and around the country. It is published by Avon Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers in New York.

SUNDAY:

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure learns of a possible defense plot to dig up dirt on him.

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