Murphy defense investigator to be cited by state board

Thursday, May 17, 2001 | 11:02 a.m.

The Nevada Private Investigators Board plans to cite a Sandy Murphy defense investigator for working without a state license.

The investigator, Ted Gunderson, was served with a letter this week instructing him to stop interviewing prosecution witnesses in the Ted Binion murder case until he obtains a license.

Several witnesses have complained that Gunderson, a former top FBI agent in Los Angeles, and other Murphy defense team members have been harassing them for interviews.

The citation, which comes with a $2,500 fine, is the result of a three-week investigation by the licensing board into Gunderson's activities on behalf of Murphy, who was convicted last May of killing the wealthy Binion.

Once served with the citation, Gunderson, who has not commented on his troubles with the licensing board, has 30 days to pay the fine or challenge it at a public hearing. If he wants to continue working in Las Vegas, he must file an application for a license.

Murphy's attorney, Herb Sachs, who has been overseeing Gunderson's activities, said this morning that he will recommend Gunderson fight the fine.

Sachs said it appears to him that the licensing board is "picking" on Gunderson, who has annoyed prosecutors in the Binion case with his persistence.

"He has been doing a fairly decent job for us," Sachs said.

Gunderson, he added, writes for a news publication and has a right to contact Binion witnesses without a license as an investigative reporter.

But in the licensing board's letter, William Bertram, a board investigator, said he was informed that Gunderson was performing investigative services for William Fuller, an 84-year-old multi-millionaire who has been paying Sachs and bank-rolling Murphy's defense.

Bertram listed a half-dozen witnesses that he was told Gunderson had contacted.

He said Gunderson confirmed that he had done the work as part of a campaign to help Murphy win a new trial.

Much of the work was disclosed in a series of Sun stories this month.

Murphy and Montana contractor Rick Tabish were convicted last May 19 of killing Binion at his 2408 Palomino Lane home on Sept. 17, 1998. Prosecutors alleged the 55-year-old gambling figure was pumped with heroin and Xanax and then suffocated.

Bertram cited in his letter the Nevada statutes that prohibit an investigator from working without a license.

"You are therefore being advised by this letter to cease and desist from any further unlicensed activity as a private investigator in this state until such time that you become properly licensed," Bertram said.

Bertram suggested that Gunderson detail in writing for the board his activities in Las Vegas.