Columnist Jeff German: Islanders’ lips sealed on silver’s whereabouts

Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

If you think justice sometimes moves slowly in Las Vegas, you don't want to be on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

They take their time getting things done on this tourist-friendly island, not far from Seattle.

It has been six months since I reported in this space that a jailed informant told Vancouver authorities that he knows the whereabouts of some $3.5 million in silver coins belonging to slain gambling figure Ted Binion.

With most of Binion's valuables, including silver and gold coins, still missing following his death, the tip has attracted strong interest from local prosecutors, who see it as an opening to tie additional conspirators to the biggest murder case of all time in Las Vegas.

That interest has grown even stronger now that the Nevada Supreme Court has overturned the murder convictions of Binion's live-in girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, and her lover, Rick Tabish. District Judge Joseph Bonaventure is expected to set a new trial date in court on Monday.

Part of the excitement about the silver claim among Las Vegas prosecutors comes from knowing that Tabish had "associates" on Vancouver Island. Records also show he made phone calls to the area around the time of Binion's well-publicized 1998 death.

But in the past six months, prosecutors haven't had much luck persuading Vancouver Island authorities to share their knowledge of the silver.

"I'm a little disappointed with their inability to provide us information in a timely fashion," District Attorney David Roger said Monday. "We need to know whether there is a legitimate basis to this claim."

Prosecutors have been dumfounded by the lack of help from Vancouver authorities.

"It's highly unusual that you see a law enforcement agency dragging its feet in cooperating with another law enforcement agency," Roger said. "I don't understand the hang-up."

Roger said forcing the issue in court would be complicated because the information being sought is in Canada, which has a different legal system with different rules.

But he added now that the Binion case is formally back in the hands of Bonaventure, prosecutors intend to press Vancouver authorities much harder.

The DA's contact in the search for the silver is the police department in Saanich, which is a suburb of the port city of Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island.

Constable Shannon Lance in Saanich refused to discuss the case, saying any comments should come from the district attorney's office here.

But what Roger had to say wasn't very flattering to Saanich police, who obviously have no idea how big the "trial of the century" is in Las Vegas. They must not watch "Dateline" or "20/20" or "Unsolved Mysteries" on the island.

Roger said the Saanich police department basically has made his office jump through hoops the past six months. The DA even was forced to agree to give the Vancouver informant and those associated with the informant a 5 percent share of the loot if it indeed is located.

It turns out that more than one person on Vancouver Island may have knowledge of the silver's whereabouts. Saanich police were supposed to give the DA's office copies of statements they took from those people back in September, but never did.

So you can imagine the frustration on the part of local lawmen.

On the one hand, they have no better handle on the veracity of this tip than they did six months ago.

Yet on the other hand, if it is legitimate, each day they're kept in the dark increases the chances that somebody will get to the silver before they do.

That's not exactly doing justice to the biggest murder case of all time in Las Vegas.