Tabish talks of alibi, relationship with Murphy

Monday, Nov. 15, 2004 | 8:49 a.m.

As he began his roughly five hours of testimony in a packed courtroom on Friday afternoon, Rick Tabish said he "absolutely and unequivocally" did not kill Ted Binion.

Tabish's testimony, which was scheduled to resume this morning, is arguably the biggest new wrinkle in his and his former lover Sandy Murphy's retrial in the death 55-year-old millionaire casino figure in 1998. Neither Tabish nor Murphy testified in the first trial in 2000.

Under the questioning of his lead attorney, J. Tony Serra, Tabish on Friday said he wanted to set the record straight regarding where he was on the day of Binion's death, why he was caught digging up $7 million worth of silver from Binion's underground vault in Pahrump a day after Binion's death and the true nature of his relationship with Murphy.

Prosecutors allege Murphy and Tabish suffocated Binion and tried to make it look like an overdose. The defense contends Binion died of an accidental overdose of heroin, Xanax and Valium.

Tabish and Murphy had been having an affair at the time of Binion's death, though Murphy was living with Binion and Tabish had a wife in Montana. Four years ago Tabish and Murphy were convicted of murdering Binion and were sentenced to life in prison, but the Nevada Supreme Court later overturned the convictions.

Tabish, who owned and operated a trucking company specializing in processing and transporting sand for use in construction, said he was tending to problems at his plant near All-Star Ready Mix, a North Las Vegas concrete company, during the morning of Binion's death.

Tabish said he was "highly upset" and was at the sand-washing plant first from roughly 1 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. before returning to the plant to tend to a broken water meter between 8 a.m. and noon on Sept. 17, 1998.

Prosecution witnesses have said Binion died between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m on that day, and they also said the most likely time of death was between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Tabish's alibi was supported earlier this week by the testimony of two of his former employees who said their former boss was working with them during those hours.

He rejected the recollections of his right-hand man at the plant, Mike Milot, who testified there was "no question" in his mind he didn't see Tabish at work during the suggested time frame.

Tabish, who faced the jurors throughout his testimony, said Binion told him "numerous times" that if Binion ever died Tabish should go out to the underground vault on his property in Pahrump and unearth his silver. He said Binion wanted him to then take the silver, "put it into cash" and create a trust fund for his daughter Bonnie Binion.

"There was not one other person that could have gone up to get the silver," Tabish said.

He said Binion didn't want his ex-wife, Doris Binion, to get the silver, which Binion often referred to as "loose change."

Tabish, who helped Binion build the vault and put the silver in it, said because he was "not going to wheel up to Pahrump all cavalier" he called then-Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke and told him he was a "partner of Ted Binion and I'm coming up to get the silver."

He said he "wasn't being sneaky" as he and Milot drove to Pahrump and dug up the silver using vehicles and machinery registered to his own company. Tabish said he was almost finished when police officers arrived.

"They (officers) asked for ID, and I was pissed," Tabish said. "I told them to call the sheriff. He knows what's going on. Why would I explain myself to these people? I didn't know them, I didn't trust them."

Tabish said the officers looked intp one of his trailers even though they failed to produce a search warrant. He said he initially had told them there was nothing in the trailer because he didn't think they would believe the truth.

The Nye County sheriff's deputies wound up arresting Tabish, Milot and David Mattsen, manager of Binion's Pahrump ranch, for burglary.

Tabish blamed his actions on the same man who allegedly entrusted him to preserve the silver.

"I got sucked into Ted Binion's world," Tabish said. "Because he (Binion) thought it was all right. It's upsetting to talk about because it's caused me a lot of problems."

Tabish said he came to Las Vegas in 1995 to expand his trucking company and met Binion while the two were using adjacent urinals in the bathroom of Piero's Restaurant on Convention Center Drive.

After Binion discovered Tabish was from Montana where Binion's family owned a ranch, the two quickly hit it off, and days later Tabish would go to Binion's home. Tabish smiled at the mention of Binion's name and while he recalled the times he spent with him.

"Ted (Binion) always had a big smile on his face and made you feel good," Tabish said.

Tabish said although he quickly began bonding with Binion at his house, which he considered his "home away from home," he found Murphy a bit "guarded." After several visits at Binion's home he said Murphy later "loosened up" and the three would regularly go out to eat, dine at Binion's home and watch movies such as "Faces of Death," which includes brutal scenes of people and animals being killed.

Tabish said Binion enjoyed having him around because Tabish would offer "objective advice." He said he was a fresh voice for Binion because Binion was used to "dealing in the same advice from the same people" for many years.

Although Tabish didn't see Binion using heroin initially, he did say Binion had an alcohol problem and that Tabish felt like a "football coach" when he told Binion he needed "to lay-off the booze and that he can't wake up and start drinking tequila and smoking cigarettes all day."

Tabish said once Binion lost his gaming license he traded his abuse of alcohol for abuse of heroin and also began discussing the prospect of having his silver collection, at the time housed in a basement safe at the casino, appraised and sold.

He said at Binion's request he contacted a jewelry appraiser in Beverly Hills who connected him with a man who could appraise and later auction off Binion's collection. Although Binion had the collection appraised and removed from the Horsehoe, he decided the price of silver was too low at the time and instead asked Tabish to help him build a vault for it on his property in Pahrump.

Tabish said about this time he "ended up seeing more of Sandy and less of Ted." He said Murphy, who is a "wonderful little gal," soon became his "breakfast buddy" because the two had breakfast together almost daily because of Binion's irregular sleep patterns brought on by his heroin use.

"I became close to her," Tabish said. "She was so down-to-earth. I had my problems, she had hers and we had each other."

Tabish, who was married and had two children in Montana, said Binion would encourage him to take Murphy out to the movies and nightclubs. He said Murphy told him "if she wasn't out with me, she wasn't allowed out."

Tabish said he tried "to deny" he was developing feelings for Murphy until one night "alcohol got the best of us and we had sex."

Tabish said he would only be with Murphy "twice romantically" before Binion's death and although he "felt guilty" he "never had the heart to tell (Binion)."

He said although the two were "pretty much in love" during a trip to Beverly Hills only days before Binion's death, they put things on hold after agreeing it "wasn't right" because Tabish was married and Murphy was still with Binion.

Tabish said he discovered Binion's death via a phone call while he was on his way to the airport. He said he quickly changed plans and rushed over to Binion's home and would later attempt to comfort a "hysterical" Murphy.