Bonaventure sides with DA on bail request

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001 | 10:38 a.m.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure today refused to release Sandy Murphy from prison on bail while she appeals her murder conviction in the 1998 death of Ted Binion.

Bonaventure issued his ruling following a televised hearing in which Murphy's lawyer, Herb Sachs, accused the prosecution and Binion's wealthy estate of setting up his client on murder charges.

"There was not one witness who was wasn't paid by the district attorney's office or the Binion estate," said Sachs, who boasted that he and Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz would win Murphy's appeal at the Nevada Supreme Court.

Sachs also attacked Binion, calling him an "abuser" and a "philanderer."

"He had money and power, and he used it," Sachs said. "And now the family has money and power, and they used it."

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger, the lead prosecutor in the well-publicized Binion murder trial, told Bonaventure that Murphy was a flight risk and danger to the community and didn't deserve to be free on appeal.

"This isn't a sweet young thing," Roger said. "She's a murderess."

Bonaventure sided with Roger, saying Murphy's own "cavalier attitude" and disregard for house arrest rules led him to jail her prior to the trial.

In an eight-page motion on Monday, Sachs said the 29-year-old Murphy was entitled to bail under the Nevada Constitution while the Nevada Supreme Court considers her case.

But Roger disputed that claim in his written response.

Murphy, a one-time topless dancer, and her lover, Montana contractor Rick Tabish, were convicted May 19, 2000, of killing Binion at his Las Vegas home. Following the guilty jury verdicts, Bonaventure sentenced Murphy to a minimum of 22 years in prison and Tabish to at least 25 years behind bars.

"Defendant's violent tendencies are well-documented," Roger wrote, while referring to several past Murphy threats.

Roger said testimony during the penalty phase of the murder trial showed that Murphy once went after the 55-year-old Binion with a large knife during an argument when they were living together.

Murphy also threatened to kill Binion's former girlfriend, Janice Mahoney and his brother-in-law, Nick Behnen, the husband of Horseshoe Club President Becky Behnen, Roger wrote.

And Roger told Bonaventure that Murphy has demonstrated a "constant disregard" for the judge's orders in the past.

Bonaventure had ordered Murphy in custody after she went shopping while on house arrest after telling jail officials she was meeting with her lawyers.