Columnist Jeff German: Murphy easily dupes Larry King

Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

It's the story that just won't go away.

Sandy Murphy has been making the network talk show circuit following her stunning acquittal in the death of Ted Binion.

Larry King, in typical fashion, conducted a lovefest for Murphy and her lawyer, Michael Cristalli, on live national television Wednesday night.

Binion's former girlfriend responded by lying to America about the extent of her love affair with her co-defendant, Rick Tabish, who also was acquitted in Binion's 1998 death.

Murphy told the clueless King of Softballs that she never loved Tabish, and she described him simply as a friend with whom she had "some indiscretions."

Her words flew in the face of the evidence that surfaced during the two murder trials -- including the love notes from Murphy police once found in Tabish's possession and the secret trysts the couple had behind Binion's back in Beverly Hills, where hotel records show Murphy called herself "S.M. Tabish." The couple even shared the same apartment in the months after Binion's death and were captured on videotape gazing lovingly at each other during their initial court appearance in 1999.

With the remaking of Murphy's public image in high gear, one of her shadowy surrogates, John Prendeville, has been gloating over the trial victory. He has put the word out that the defense team might file a civil rights lawsuit on Murphy's behalf, contending she was wrongly jailed on murder charges.

It's a long shot at best, considering that both Murphy and Tabish previously were convicted of killing Binion and now stand convicted for the second time of stealing his $6 million silver fortune in Pahrump.

But Prendeville, a hired gun for Murphy's millionaire benefactor, William Fuller, has more pressing matters at hand. He may need a lawyer of his own soon.

Prosecutors are sending a package of evidence they've collected on the defense team strategist to authorities in Missoula, Mont.

The evidence relates to allegations Prendeville unlawfully influenced the testimony of key prosecution witness Kurt Gratzer more than three years ago. Prendeville has denied wrongdoing.

But at the retrial last month, Gratzer, who lives in Missoula, was hostile to prosecutors and changed his testimony from the first trial in 2000.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure, however, wouldn't allow prosecutors to question Prendeville about allegations the defense team funneled thousands of dollars to Gratzer in 2001 to bring him into the defense camp. So the jury never got to hear why Gratzer went south on prosecutors.

The Nevada law that applies in this case, dissuading a witness, runs out after three years, which means prosecutors can't file criminal charges against Prendeville in Las Vegas. But a similar felony law in Montana, where acts of wrongdoing allegedly were committed, as well, has a five-year statute of limitations.

Murphy, meanwhile, probably won't get more prison time at her Jan. 28 sentencing on the silver theft charges. She's already served 4 1/2 years behind bars and likely will get credit for time served.

Tabish is a different story, however.

Prosecutors are considering asking Bonaventure to declare him a habitual criminal, which would make him eligible for a harsher sentence.

"We're looking at it," says Chief Deputy District Christopher Lalli in his first public statement since last week's acquittals. "We believe that he was certainly involved in Ted Binion's death, and we think that additional punishment is warranted."

There are two levels of enhancement -- one for defendants who have two previous convictions and one for those who have more than two.

Tabish falls into the lower level. He has a 1988 drug conviction in Montana and a 2000 extortion conviction in Nevada relating to the Binion case.

If Tabish is declared a habitual criminal, he could face a minimum of five additional years in prison instead of one year. His maximum prison time would rise from 16 to 20 years.

A stiffer sentence won't erase the memory for prosecutors of letting the murder charges slip away, but it sure will ease the pain.