DeGuerin lead counsel for Murphy’s second trial

Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.

Well-known Houston lawyer Dick DeGuerin said today that he will be Sandy Murphy's lead counsel in the second trial involving the murder of wealthy gambling figure Ted Binion.

The Nevada Supreme Court on July 14 overturned the murder convictions of both Murphy and her co-defendant, Rick Tabish, and ordered District Judge Joseph Bonaventure to retry the case.

DeGuerin is known for handling high-profile cases. He represented David Koresh during his deadly holdout in Waco, Texas. DeGuerin also won an acquittal earlier this month in Galveston, Texas, for real estate heir Robert Durst, who was charged with killing his neighbor. Durst testified during the nationally publicized trial that he accidentally shot the neighbor, Morris Black, and then mutilated and dumped his body in a panic.

In the Binion case, DeGuerin will join prominent San Francisco attorney J. Tony Serra, who is expected to be Tabish's lead counsel, at the defense table the second time around.

"It's a fascinating case," DeGuerin told the Sun this morning. "I'm looking forward to it."

He said the defense will contend that the Binion, a known heroin addict, "almost assuredly" was the victim of an accidental death on Sept. 17, 1998.

DeGuerin would not say how much he will be paid to represent Murphy, but his expenses are expected to be picked up by Murphy's millionaire benefactor, William Fuller, an Irish-born Southern Nevada mining executive.

Bonaventure formally received the Binion case from the Supreme Court this week and has scheduled a hearing at 9:15 a.m. on Dec. 15 to consider, among other things, setting a new trial date.

Murphy, a 31-year-old onetime topless dancer, and Tabish, a 38-year-old Montana contractor, were convicted of killing Binion on May 19, 2000, following a seven-week trial carried live on local and national television.

Binion's body was found next to an empty bottle of Xanax on the floor of his 2408 Palomino Lane home. His house had been looted of its valuables, including a $300,000 collection of antique currency and coins. Two days later Tabish and two other men were arrested on theft charges in Pahrump after they had dug up Binion's $6 million silver fortune from an underground vault.

Police later learned that Murphy, Binion's live-in girlfriend, and Tabish were romantically involved at the time of the 55-year-old gaming executive's death. The defendants, prosecutors charged, killed Binion to gain access to his money.

Detectives originally thought that Binion had died of a drug overdose. His death turned into a homicide investigation two weeks later, after toxicology tests found that he had lethal levels of heroin and Xanax in his stomach.

At the first trial, prosecutors presented a circumstantial case, alleging that Murphy and Tabish pumped the former Binion's Horseshoe co-owner with drugs and then suffocated him.

Following their convictions, Bonaventure sentenced Murphy to a minimum of 22 years in prison and Tabish to a minimum of 25 years behind bars.