Prosecutors open with ‘betrayal, lust, greed’

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 11:13 a.m.

In their opening argument this morning, prosecutors said the retrial of Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy for the alleged murder of Ted Binion is a case about "betrayal, lust, and abject greed" and that authorities have the evidence to prove it.

In 1998 Binion was found dead in the Las Vegas home he shared with Murphy. Tabish subsequently was caught digging up Binion's stash of silver in Pahrump. Tabish and Murphy were convicted of the murder in 2000 and were sentenced to life in prison, but the Nevada Supreme Court later overturned the convictions.

Lawyers for Tabish and Murphy have argued that Binion died of a drug overdose.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli said having an affair behind Binion's back wasn't enough for Tabish and Murphy.

"For months they carried on a secret relationship behind Ted's back and under his nose, Lalli said. "The only way they could live happily ever after together was to kill Ted (Binion) and take his property."

Lalli showed a clip of videotape made by Murphy as she went through Binion's home a day after he was found dead. On the tape Murphy sounds angry as she looks for property of value left in the home.

Lalli emphasized that the tape was made by Murphy "24 hours after discovering the lifeless body of the man she professed to love and two days later Tabish was caught in the act of unearthing $7 million worth of Binion's silver collection from a vault at his ranch in Pahrump."

There was also an 11th hour change to Binion's will that made Binion worth $1.2 million more to Murphy dead than alive, Lalli said. Not long after that, Murphy began predicting Binion's death by a drug overdose "within three weeks" and told a woman in a hair salon that she would be better off when Binion was dead, Lalli told the jurors.

The prosecutor said Binion was a man who "worked hard and played hard" and had many vices, one of which was the company of beautiful women. He said although he was married to a beautiful woman in 1995, he was having marital problems and Murphy, who was working at the gentleman's club Cheetahs at the time, "walked her way into Ted's (Binion) life."

Lalli said that after agreeing to live with Binion, Murphy quickly "enjoyed the spoils of the new high life Binion had to offer her." Murphy was given a $90,000 Mercedes, clothes and stock in the Rio Hotel, which she was allowed to keep, and a credit card with a $10,000 monthly limit, which she "gave a run for its money."

He said Tabish, who portrayed himself as a family man with a young wife and two children, entered Binion's life after he moved to Las Vegas to expand one of three businesses from his native Montana. Lalli said Binion "took a liking" to Tabish.

The prosecutor said it was soon after Binion lost his gaming license and was contemplating what to do with his multimillion-dollar silver collection, that Murphy and Tabish began their secret affair and began plotting a way to make money off of Binion. He said Tabish and Murphy were upset when Binion decided not to sell the silver collection because they had "worked out a secret commission over the sale that would have given them both hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Murphy appeared to be in good spirits before the trial began today, hugging her mother and father and other family members and friends. She also shared smiles and spoke with lawyer John Momot, who represented her in the first trial, in the hallway outside of the courtroom.

Tabish appeared calm, confident and attentive during Lalli's opening statement.

Opening arguments were delayed by roughly 30 minutes after one of the five alternate jurors was late. She is a married hair salon manager and a mother of a 10-month-old baby.

She said she misunderstood the schedule which called for the trial to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. For the course of the trial proceedings will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday through Wednesday. She apologized to the court for her mix-up.

Tabish's lead attorney, Tony Serra, was to follow Lalli this morning and Murphy's attorney, Michael Cristalli will follow once Serra is finished with his own separate opening argument.

"We're just happy to get started and finally let the jury listen to the evidence of the case," Cristalli said Wednesday.

In a boost to prosecutors Wednesday, District Judge Joe Bonaventure on refused to bar eight witnesses from testifying at the Ted Binion murder retrial that was set to get under way this morning.

Defense lawyers wanted the testimony of the eight excluded because they shared in a $100,000 reward paid by the Binion estate after the first trial resulted in the murder convictions -- later overturned -- of Tabish and Murphy.

"I don't see any foul play here," Bonaventure said. "The state didn't pay them -- instead the estate of the deceased paid them, which is a common practice -- and weren't payments made for testimony in my opinion."

Because of the number of witnesses and the amount of testimony and evidence that will be presented, the trial is expected to take six to eight weeks, and if for some reason one of the 12 jurors selected can't last or through the whole thing or gets booted from the jury, there are five alternate jurors, selected Wednesday, who will be standing by.

The other four alternate jurors selected are:

The publicity from the first case made jury selection an arduous process, and in attempt to preserve what Murphy's attorney, Michael Cristalli, deemed a jury that represents "the middle of the road" Bonaventure this week emphasized how important it is for jurors to remain guarded.

Bonaventure warned the jurors several times to avoid any reports or media commentary about the case in newspapers, on the television, in magazines, the radio, the Internet or anywhere.

Jurors will have a designated parking area and a bailiff escort to take them to and from the courthouse each day. They will never be out of the bailiff's presence and will be supplied with a 24-hour hotline to inform the bailiff of any problems that occur.

Bonaventure said if any of the jurors discuss the case with anyone, including other jurors, prior to their deliberation about a verdict, he will find out. He told the jury of one female juror in a case who was getting her hair done and told her hairdresser about the case. Another patron in the salon overheard and reported it to Bonaventure, he said.

Bonaventure hasn't decided whether he will sequester the jury when the time comes for deliberations.

The defense attorneys have said they are willing to waive their clients right to have a jury decide the penalty phase for the defendants if they are found guilty. The prosecution said they had no problem with the defense's request and upon the issuing of a written waiver Bonaventure said he would impose the sentence if the defendants were convicted.