Court ‘has a lot of options’ in sentencing Murphy, Tabish

Matt Pordum and Jace Radke

Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

Once convicted of murdering millionaire casino heir Ted Binion, Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish were overjoyed Tuesday when a Clark County jury acquitted them of killing him in their retrial.

While the jury found them not guilty of murder, jurors found the two guilty of conspiring to steal Binion's cache of silver.

The split verdict came after a six-week trial featuring more than 800 pieces of evidence and 150 witnesses. The jury took about 2 1/2 days to find Murphy and Tabish not guilty in Binion's death but guilty of conspiring to commit burglary and/or larceny as well as guilty of burglary and grand larceny.

With the convictions on three theft counts, Tabish and Murphy each face anywhere from probation to a maximum of 21 years in prison at their Jan. 28 sentencing, according to Clark County District Attorney David Roger. Roger said conspiracy to commit burglary is a gross misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of one year at the Clark County Detention Center. The maximum sentence for burglary is 10 years and the grand larceny conviction carries a sentence of one to 10 years.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure said the "the court has a lot of options" ranging from probation to running the sentences concurrently or consecutively.

Murphy's attorney, Michael Cristalli, said because Murphy has already served four years as a result of the first trial he felt confident she wouldn't get a long prison sentence.

"I've never seen anyone go down for robbery and burglary without any previous felony convictions," he said.

Murphy remains out of custody on $250,000 bail, while Tabish continues to serve 18 to 120 months for the 1998 beating of Leo Casey.

Tabish was originally sentenced to at least 25 years in prison and Murphy was sentenced to 22 years in prison after a jury in 2000 convicted them for murdering Binion. The Nevada Supreme Court overturned those convictions and sent the case back for a retrial.

Tabish's San Francisco-based attorney, J. Tony Serra, said he believed Bonaventure would be prudent in sentencing, calling him a "consummate jurist."

"If the judge just gives us a midrange sentence, if he cuts the baby in half, Rick will be out in a few more years," Serra said.

As the jury came in to deliver its verdict at noon Tuesday, Tabish's eyes watered. Just prior to the jury's entrance into the packed courtroom, Murphy was shaking and appeared to vomit into the trash can under her lawyer's courtroom table.

As the jury forewoman read the not guilty verdicts on the first three charges against Tabish, Murphy began weeping into her hands. After the same verdicts were read for the charges against her, she cried into the shoulder of Cristalli, then turned to face the jury again and wiped away tears from her flushed face.

"I was petrified, and now I'm feeling relieved," Murphy, 32, said afterward. "This restores my faith in the justice system. I'm going back now (to family in California) and catching the first flight out that I can."

Murphy said she was looking forward to spending her first Thanksgiving with her family in six years.

Cristalli, who unlike the four-attorney team defending Tabish was only aided in court by one assistant, said the verdict was "a huge victory,"

"I believed in her since the very beginning and have worked on this case for a year," he said.

Cristalli said the jury responded to his call to rely on the evidence.

"I asked the jury during closing arguments to believe in the evidence, stay focused on it, and they did," Cristalli said. "We called an overwhelming amount of experts to testify and in the end (prosecution witness Dr. Michael) Baden's theory (that Binion had been suffocated) was not supported by any medical evidence and the jury understood that."

Cristalli added that he felt that Murphy's relationship with Binion and how much she cared for him came through during the trial.

Serra echoed Cristalli in saying the key to the case was the medical evidence.

"Their (the prosecution's) medical (evidence) was weak, and we undermined it," Serra said. "The jury recognized that Baden was not credible. The jury quickly found that this wasn't a homicide. That's the reason the verdict was so quick. They didn't have to go past the medical evidence."

After the verdict, Tabish called for his father. After Frank Tabish made his way through the crowded courtroom, they shared a strong embrace.

"It's because of him (Frank Tabish) that this has happened," Rick Tabish said. "I love you so much."

Tabish then called for his mother and brother as the four hugged each other hard. Tabish, who had testified for hours in his own defense during the re-trial, said, "I'm speechless, I'm done with it, done with it!"

One of Tabish's lawyers, Joseph Caramagno, said the verdict had "brought him (Tabish) back from the dead, breathed life into him."

Tabish's mother, Lani Tabish, said that she was "tickled to death" by the verdict.

"He's been behind bars for five years, and we've been praying for five years," sher said. "Thank God. I just thank God. I was scared to death but I knew that the evidence was there (to acquit her son)."

Rick Tabish also singled out William Fuller, Murphy's octogenarian benefactor who had paid for her release on bail and for her defense in the retrial, saying "Thank God for Bill Fuller."

Fuller, an Irish mining executive who had not known Murphy prior to paying for her defense, said after the verdict that he had helped Murphy simply because he was convinced that "she is an innocent person."

Serra said Tabish's innocence was illuminated when he took the stand to testify.

"Rick is innocent, and he should have testified last time around," Serra said, referring to the 2000 trial when Tabish and Murphy were convicted of murdering Binion.

Prosecutors had alleged that Murphy and Tabish suffocated 55-year-old Binion on Sept. 17, 1998, and tried to make it look like a drug overdose. A day later Tabish tried to steal Binion's silver in Pahrump, prosecutors said.

The prosecution based much of its case on the medical testimony of Baden, a nationally renowned forensic pathologist who is the host of a show on HBO about solving crimes with autopsies and forensic evidence.

Baden testified that Binion's death was the result of "burking," which occurs when "the mouth and nose are obstructed and someone sits on the chest to prevent the diaphragm from moving up and down." He said it is usually done "to leave as little injury to the body as possible."

The defense lawyers contended that Binion died of an accidental overdose of heroin, Xanax and Valium and that Tabish was simply following Binion's orders when he tried to recover and preserve the silver for Binion's daughter.

The defense called nine medical experts to the stand to reject Baden's theory, saying it wasn't based on science and instead was "outrageous" and "impossible." One after another testified that science indicated that Binion's death was an accidental overdose.

The defense attorneys successfully argued that the testimony about the medical evidence created more than enough reasonable doubt to call for a not guilty verdict on the murder and conspiracy to murder charges.

Tabish and Murphy had been having an affair at the time of Binion's death.

Murphy and Tabish's lawyers said the murder charges were the result of the money and power of the Binion family, which owned Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas.

Ted Binion's brother, Jack Binion, left the courtroom as Tabish and Murphy embraced their lawyers, friends and family.

"I was hoping for better, but it is what it is," Binion said. "I felt like it would be a guilty verdict."

Binion's sister, Becky Behnen, said she would reserve her opinion as to whether she still believes Tabish and Murphy killed Ted Binion. She did, however, appreciate the jury's dedication to the case.

"Those were a diligent group of people and that's how the justice system works," Behnen said.

Behnen also hugged Tabish's parents after the verdict was issued and said later outside of the courthouse "I've developed a friendship with Mrs. Tabish, and I'm happy for her and for the Tabish family."

It was Jack Binion's wife, Phyllis, however, who perhaps summed up the day for all parties best as she said: "It's a hard day for everyone, I guess."

It was certainly a hard day for Chief Deputy District Attorneys Robert Daskas and Christopher Lalli, who disappeared without a word after the verdict, having failed to replicate the verdict of guilty on all counts that came four years ago when the man who is now their boss, Roger, had prosecuted the case.

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