Columnist Jeff German: New buzz created over hunt for Binion treasure

Friday, Feb. 13, 2004 | 5:38 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION

Feb. 14 - 15, 2004

It took a while, but police on sleepy Vancouver Island in British Columbia finally understand the importance in Las Vegas of the Ted Binion murder case, our "trial of the century."

Police received their wakeup call last week from the media on the tourist-friendly island and on the mainland 30 miles away in metropolitan Vancouver.

Eight months ago I first brought you the story of an informant in Saanich, a town on the southern tip of the island, who claimed that some $3.5 million in silver coins belong to Binion was hidden on the island.

Binion prosecutors, while preparing for the retrial of the casino executive's accused killers, Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, have been struggling since June to get Saanich police to lead them to the supposed treasure site.

"They've been difficult to deal with because they move at a much slower pace than we do," Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli told me late last week.

The media frenzy that got Saanich police moving began Thursday after a reporter from a popular all-news radio station in Vancouver ran a story on a December 12 column I did in which District Attorney David Roger accused Saanich police of being less than cooperative with Las Vegas authorities.

The reporter had found the column while doing research over the Internet on possible Las Vegas-Vancouver connections in anticipation of a planned vacation and working trip here. She talked to Las Vegas prosecutors about the column and put her piece together when she returned to Vancouver.

After her story aired, local newspaper and television reporters barraged Saanich police with questions about the silver controversy. Suddenly the story became big news.

Under the crush of local media attention, a Saanich police spokesman contacted me offering to give his department's side of the controversy -- at long last.

"We're certainly prepared to cooperate with any police agency that needs our assistance, but we have to work within the framework of our legal system," said Chris Horsley, the department's media relations officer. "The real hurdle is that we're dealing with two sets of rules."

Horsley said Saanich police are forbidden by Canadian law from giving Las Vegas prosecutors the specific information they've been requesting (like the names of people who may have knowledge of the silver) either in writing or over the telephone.

But he added: "If they're thinking about coming here, ultimately that's where the solution is going to be."

Duh ...

Of course Las Vegas authorities want to go to Saanich. They've been trying to arrange a trip the last eight months, but were unable to obtain assurances from Saanich police that, if they go there, they'll be put in touch with the people who may have knowledge of the silver's whereabouts.

Now, however, Binion prosecutors finally may get a chance to go on that long-awaited treasure hunt.

On Friday, I'm told, the telephone lines were buzzing between Las Vegas and Saanich. The district attorney's office was getting the green light from Canada to send investigators to Saanich to conduct interviews.

If things go right, that trip could be made as early as this week, and we could be closer to solving the mystery of Ted Binion's missing silver.