Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Columnist Jeff German: First Binion trial is a tough act to follow

THE MEDIA was pumped up, and there was excitement in the air at Thursday's calendar call in the Ted Binion murder retrial.

"This case is ready to go," District Judge Joseph Bonaventure declared from the bench after determining that prosecutors and defense lawyers were prepared to do battle in court this week.

A battle it will be -- but with a little less hype this time around.

Sandy Murphy, one of Binion's accused killers, didn't even bother to show up for the dress rehearsal. Her attorney, Michael Cristalli, said she was with her family in California.

Murphy's co-defendant, Rick Tabish, was in court, flanked by a trio of lawyers. He appeared eager for the sequel to the valley's most publicized murder case of all time to get under way.

"I've spent a lot of time preparing for this trial," Tabish told the judge with his best game face. During a break, a smiling Tabish, once called a "con man" by Bonaventure, conducted friendly chats with reporters.

Four years ago Murphy and Tabish were convicted of killing Binion, the colorful drug-addicted casino executive, at his Las Vegas home on Sept. 17, 1998. Murphy, who liked the fast lane, was living with Binion at the time, but had been carrying on a secret romance with Tabish, a Montana businessman with a prominent family name.

Though Murphy and Tabish contended Binion died of an accidental drug overdose, a jury concluded that the duo had pumped Binion with heroin and Xanax and then suffocated him to gain access to his fortune. Their convictions, however, were overturned by the Nevada Supreme Court last year on a technicality, setting the stage for this week's retrial.

Heading into the first trial there was a barrage of local and national publicity. The media was fascinated with the case that had everything -- love, betrayal, sex, drugs, buried treasure and, of course, murder.

All of the network news magazines picked up on the story. So did the syndicated tabloid television shows. And there were pieces in newspapers of record like the New York Times and Washington Post and in popular magazines like Playboy and Gentlemen's Quarterly.

The trial itself became a circus. Satellite trucks lined the streets outside the courthouse, Court TV put up a tent on the courthouse lawn to conduct daily interviews, and court officials used a lottery to hand out seats to the crush of trial watchers.

Murphy, who looked more like she was hosting a party than standing trial for murder, also provided plenty of theatrics for the trial watchers. Four books, including one by me, were written after the trial.

Some of the case's mystique, however, has waned over time. This time around we've seen nothing close to the publicity the first trial received.

District Attorney David Roger, the lead prosecutor in 2000, says he thinks this is happening because people already know the story.

"The media has been through this once," he says. "It's old news to them, so there's not as much sparkle."

But Roger, who has farmed the case out to two of his better prosecutors, predicts there still will be surprises and plenty of dramatic moments at the retrial, which could last through Thanksgiving.

And don't forget there are thousands of new Las Vegas residents who will likely find themselves hooked on the story, which is why we still can expect a lot of media attention once the trial gets started.

Even as Bonaventure was preparing the lawyers last week, technicians were wiring a special courtroom with three remote control cameras. NBC's "Dateline" asked for permission to install the cameras for an hour-long broadcast it plans after the trial.

And though Court TV, which has its hands full with the never-ending Scott Peterson murder trial, has so far taken a pass on gavel-to-gavel coverage, Las Vegas One, as it did four years ago, is televising every moment live throughout the valley.

The excitement, it seems, hasn't worn off completely.

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