August 25, 2004: Cathy Scott, who writes a column for the Las Vegas City Life Newspaper was in the court room and describes the episode surrounding the missing shirt and a request for a hearing on the missing evidence. Scott writes:

Button, button, who's got the button?

A hearing will be held into what happened to a shirt -- and the buttons -- worn by casino heir Ted Binion when his body was found in his home in September 1998.

"This case, believe it or not, centers around the buttons on the shirt," said J. Tony Serra, attorney for defendant Rick Tabish, who has been charged, along with Binion's live-in girlfriend Sandy Murphy, with killing the former casino exec. The pair were convicted after a 2000 trial but the verdicts were later reversed by the Nevada Supreme Court.

"We have, through our perspective, been limited," Serra continued. "What was the button material? What was the size of the button? What was the distance between buttons? Was the shirt turned and was [the button] inside? If [Binion] was smoking heroin, was the shirt in any way impregnated [with heroin]? It's imperative to our defense. We're very disgruntled."

Christopher Lalli, a prosecutor in the case, told Judge Joseph Bonaventure the shirt was missing.

The judge granted an evidentiary hearing for Sept. 10 to look into what happened to the shirt and buttons, saying the record "isn't clear."

During a request for another motion at the Aug. 20 hearing, a discussion between the prosecution and the defense got heated. It was after Lalli referred to the alleged crime as "murder."

"This isn't a tea party," Lalli said. "This is murder."

With that, Serra jumped up from his chair and told the judge, "What he's doing right now is posturing for the cameras. If he says that to a jury, it's misconduct. No prosecutors say 'murder.'"

Bonaventure agreed, because Tabish and Murphy have been accused and not convicted, and asked both Lalli and co-prosecutor Robert Daskas to refrain from calling the defendants murderers and to refer to the charges as 'alleged.'"

with that, Bonaventure said, "Let's take a lunch break. Everybody's getting a little testy."

Here are other articles written by Cathy Scott relating to the new trial:

August 11, 2004: http://www.lvcitylife.com/articles/2004/08/11/crime_punishment/crime.txt

August 23, 2004: In the first of two minor victories, the Tabish lawyers, led by J. Tony Serra, got the right to hearings on Sept. 10 to "explore the criteria used" by the Binion estate to pay roughly seven witnesses a share of $100,000 after the first trial concluded. Serra implied the prosecution may have had a hand in "paying witnesses for their testimony." The second victory concerned a hearing on how the shirt worn by Binion at the time of his death had been lost by the prosecution. This was an important piece of evidence in the first trial backing up the main theory of how Binion was killed.

The Las Vegas Sun story indicates that Murphy's attorney, Michael Cristalli, lost the the argument that testimony of witness Steven Kurt Gratzer had been mishandled. Another reporter present at the hearing told our sources that Murphy's attorney did not seem confident and seemed unsure of some of presentation. This leads many to continue to have the fear that with the departure of Murphy's lead attorney over differences with the defense team, her case might be in trouble. Others seem to think since they are being tried together again, Tabish defense team which is top rated still might carry the case for both defendants.

August 20, 2004: from Jerry Pippin: Today's hearing ...which is expected to be the last before the retrial, scheduled for October, gave defendants, Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish a big break. During the deliberations, the jury will be sequestered. And on another technical issue, which could become important in the trial, the defense received an additional number of preemptory challenges. Which means members of the jury can be excluded by the defense without cause.

The Las Vegas Sun Newspaper reports that the motion concerning prosecutorial misconduct conducted by Vegas DA, Davis Roger, was denied. Most experts watching this trial figure the defense got a better break in today's hearing than what was expected. For details, see: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-crime/2004/aug/20/517375913.html.

August 11, 2004: From Jerry Pippin: Casey Clare has a background in law enforcement and we are very lucky to have her as a contributor to several sections of this week site. Posted below you will find her conclusions about this case. I am inclined to agree with her. As you know Cathy Scott, a very good investigative reporter believes it was an accidental overdose. Probably so; I originally had thought it was mob related and a frame job. I still say I am half right.

From Casey: In my opinion the evidence doesn't show guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. There can be varying scenarios for his death, i.e. suicide, accidental overdose etc. I will say that the timing of his death is suspicious, but let's look at his life. He asked for Xanax the previous day from his Dr. He bought heroin also. He was a long time drug user. He may have discovered her infidelity and became depressed, and the drugs he was using caused him to become even more depressed than he might have been ordinarily. Also, he had fallen the day before. Everyone says that he has compression bruises, but I feel that these aren't bruises at all, bur dermatitis (see pictures above and letter to the left). I can't believe the doctors in this case said they were bruises. He didn't have petechiae (broken blood vessels from hypoxia or lack of oxygen in the brain) which are always present in suffocation. His autopsy showed no damage to his chest or neck area, but a lot of congestion in the nose and lungs, which often happens in overdoses; these people often suffocate because of this alone. How does an overdose of drugs translate into homicide? The redness around his mouth was attributed to resuscitation efforts. The droplets of unknown substance on the carpet was literally a trail to where he finally went down, indicating to me that he was ambulatory before he died. How can you force drugs into someone while they are standing or walking? He could not have drank it as he would have fallen and died then and there. There are absolutely no defense wounds of any kind on him. When I person feels threatened with immediate harm or death they will fight or struggle, and this is not evident here. Also keep in mind that there were no marks on either of the defendants either, which would happen if they were struggling with this man.

A teenage girl was once arrested for the death of her Mother by suffocation and almost convicted, as she had the broken blood vessels in her eyes and bruises like this man. It turned out that she had a seizure and fell, bruising and suffocating herself. It's very possible that this happened to him. You don't have to have a diagnosis of a seizure disorder to have one, especially if you are using multiple drugs. I know one person who had a grand mal seizure and almost died. She was comatose for 3 days. She had never had one, and hasn't had another one since. It's been 6 years. No one knows why this happens, but it does.

My feeling is: He took the Xanax and the other drugs, and was doped up before taking the heroin. He then tried to walk but fell and crawled, with matter coming from his mouth, where he finally collapsed and died. He could have been choking. As far as the postmortem lividity it is possible that he fell into a sitting position and died with his head down. It wouldn't take long for the blood to pool in his head. After a while before rigor set in, he finally fell into a laying position. It's happened many times before. This kind of death might indicate to someone that his body had been moved when it hadn't. This is my opinion.

So the doubt is there. I am not an expert by any means, but any of these lawyers, doctors, and the Judge could have figured this out too. There is just too much in the defense's favor. She was sleeping with another guy; it happens every day and the people involved don't kill the other person except in rare circumstances. He was abusive towards her in their relationship, and he was a drug user. These are not very effective dating tools, and does not endear you to your significant other. It would disgust me, I can tell you. Things might have turned out differently if he actually checked into a drug rehab center for treatment.
 

None of this adds up to murder. Aren't you glad you asked?

August 8, 2004: From Jerry Pippin: Some interesting things have been happening in pre-trial hearings for Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish. On Friday, August 6th, Judge Joseph Bonaventure ruled in favor of the two defendants in critical areas. First of all, the state will pay for expert witness testimony. This comes not to soon for the defense as another attorney dropped out of the Murphy case because he is owed money by the defense. The good news for both Tabish and Murphy was a ruling by the Judge that they could not be convicted of the crime and sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.

Interesting in that most of the breaks this time around have been going to the defense and the last time the defense could not get an even break on any of the pre-trial hearings. Read the story from the Las Vegas Review Journal here.

August

August 4, 2004: Murphy associate leaves threatening message, By Cathy Scott

The trials and tribulations of writing true crime means people occasionally jump from the shadows in gorilla costumes and try to scare you to death with threats of lawsuits. Too many times, however, the people making the accusations don't know the laws they're supposedly quoting from.

Such appears to be the case regarding a book I wrote in 2000 about the Ted Binion homicide trial, which prompted a recent phone message, left late July 30 on my home recorder.

In the message, the person threatened to sue for libel, although, apparently unbeknownst to the caller, the statute of limitations for the book, per both state and federal laws, expired nearly two years ago.

The person, employed along with other people by defendant Sandy Murphy's financial backer, originally called a few days earlier with questions about a passage in my book. The questions were about Murphy's work history, information readily available to defense attorneys.

The next day I called Murphy's lead attorney, Michael Cristalli, to ask him about the inquiry. That apparently prompted the person to call me again at home, late at night. After the caller started yelling, I hung up. The person immediately called back, leaving a lengthy voice message. Here's the message:

"Listen to this and listen to it good. You know, you're obviously chicken enough not to even take my calls, which is somewhat, you know, childish of you. Anyway, you know, I rang you yesterday in good faith and you're trying to make some little problem out of nothing, and it doesn't work that way because I run that entire camp.

"So let me tell you something now. We have a flank of libel attorneys looking into the statements you made in your crappy book. It's full of crap. It's silly stuff. It's poorly researched. And my [inaudible] advice to you is you keep all the notes you can possibly gather together and the names of all those girls you claimed to have spoken to, because they're going to sue your ass, your sorry ass, and also that of your publisher and anybody else backing you for years to come, and you can spend the rest of your days defending yourself. And that's not a threat, that's a promise. Good night."

July 22, 2004: From Jerry Pippin: William Fuller, the 80-ish millionaire who has bankrolled Sandy Murphy's appeal, and John Prendeville, a paralegal, who has been doing legwork for the defense of Sandy Murphy, are targets of the DA Investigation. The question gets more complicated, when you look at it. This is a good example on how to discount a key witness. The results are simple, if there was hanky panky by the prosecution, it will now be a clouded issue. If the witness tells the story of the highest bidder, we will never know if that is really the truth. Read below a very good account by one of the most respected journalist in Las Vegas, George Knapp:

Thursday, July 22, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury
By George Knapp
The Binion Quandary

The latest salvos in the ongoing Ted Binion murder saga certainly demonstrate just how rough and tumble the upcoming trial will be. A week ago, defense attorneys filed a motion that accused prosecutors of misconduct. Witness Kurt Gratzer, who testified in the first trial that he had been approached by Rick Tabish to kill Ted Binion, now says he repeatedly told prosecutors that Sandy Murphy knew nothing of the plot, but that the state advised him to keep his trap shut about Murphy. By any standards, this is a blockbuster allegation. The question is whether it can be proven.

Gratzer isn't exactly a reliable witness. During his earliest appearances, it seemed tough for him to pay attention. We later learned that he had drug and alcohol problems. No kidding. But his testimony about being recruited as a hit man was certainly damaging to the defendants. In exchange for his testimony, he was given a $20,000 reward from the Binion estate.

Now, prosecutors are firing back. They allege that Gratzer may have been bribed to change his tune about Murphy's noninvolvement in the alleged plot. They point out that Murphy's defenders paid Gratzer's legal bills to the tune of about 35 grand, and they think it might amount to felony witness tampering. No one has spelled it out, but it appears the state will try to go after William Fuller, the 80-ish millionaire who has bankrolled Sandy Murphy's appeal. They are also targeting John Prendeville, a paralegal who has been doing a lot of the legwork for the defense.

Although these developments might seem like they just popped up, they didn't. Gratzer's affidavit about Murphy's innocence was given almost four years ago. For a variety of reasons, it wasn't formally introduced in court, but there have been several media references to it, including in

this column. Likewise, the D.A. investigation into the alleged witness tampering didn't start recently. Knowledgeable sources told this writer about it last summer.

The problem now will be how to believe anything that Gratzer says. If he was paid $20 grand in cash for one set of testimony, then his lawyers got $35,000 in connection with his cooperation on another story, what is anyone to ever make of his credibility? Are we to believe only some of his statements but not others? If he is discredited as a witness, or isn't even called in a second trial, you would have to call it a victory for the defense, because it would mean the jury will never hear the story of how Tabish tried to hire him. If he IS called, it really could open up a can of worms. Then again, who knows what twists and turns Gratzer's tale may take between now and the October trial date.

July 21, 2004: A note from Jerry Pippin: The headlines in the Las Vegas Review Journal over an article by reporter Glen Putt says it all: ACCEPTANCE OF LEGAL FEES: Reliability of Binion witness questioned One attorney says Gratzer's "credibility is less than zero," or does it? The PR machine from the DA is working overtime on this one and in this redirection movement of the story, the central question is still left unanswered and now, probably, will never be answered, " Did the DA and the police pressure testimony that was untrue in order to convict Tabish or Murphy?"

In a world where the good guys sometimes use the methods of the bad guys, one wonders what really happened. The circumstantial facts are simple, it meant more money and power if Sandy Murphy was out of the way when it came time to divide up the estate of Ted Binion. This upcoming trial could have been very informative, but it looks like it is shaping up to be another railroad job for the prosecution. Read the article here.

July 20, 2004: Things are getting dirty in the pre-trial activities leading up to the new murder trial for Sandy Murphy. Murphy Defense team has unearthed testimony from a witness that DA, Police and other investigators tried to silence a witness. The DA is answering those charges by telling the newspapers that they are investigating witness tampering in connection with that testimony. Read the Las Vegas Review Journal Story.

July 16, 2004: By Cathy Scott, Bonaventure boys cause conflicts with Binion case

Big Joe and Little Joe. The names sound straight out of vintage Bonanza episodes about the Cartwright family. They're not.

The names of "Big Joe" Judge Bonaventure and his son "Little Joe" Bonaventure -- a justice of the peace candidate -- are being bandied about in the media because of possible conflicts of interest in the Ted Binion retrial.

One of Little Joe's campaign fundraisers is cosponsored by Michael Cristolli, the lead attorney for Sandy Murphy in the Binion case. Murphy is scheduled with co-defendant Rick Tabish in October to be tried a second time for murder in the senior Bonaventure's courtroom.

But that's not the only seemingly conflict of interest in the case. Murphy attorney Cristolli once clerked for Big Joe. And Little Joe once worked for David Roger, who is now a district attorney. This was in the appellate division of the district attorney's office at a time when Roger prepared briefs in the Binion case and filed them with the Nevada Supreme Court.

It's all a little too close for comfort and could eventually be grounds for a mistrial. Or, if Bonaventure continues presiding over the case and Murphy is again convicted, the conflict could be grounds for another appellate decision in favor of the defense.

Conflicts of interest aren't simply about the conflict itself. They are about public perception. If the public perceives it as a conflict, then it should be removed, especially when the future of a defendant is hanging in the balance.

The senior Bonaventure is already under scrutiny for possible bias in his active role in a book signing at the Horseshoe Club following the first Binion trial. It was a book signing where he, along with his then-clerk Al Lasso, signed a bevy of books not with just his name, but with the moniker "Judge Bonaventure."

The outcome of a Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline review about the issue is pending. Mark Denton, a fellow judge with Bonaventure in Clark County District Court, sits on the discipline commission.

In a 2002 court motion, San Francisco attorney J. Tony Serra, who represents Tabish, took issue with the book signing. He asked that Bonaventure be removed from the case because of his participation. Serra at the time called the book, written by a Las Vegas Sun columnist, a "one-sided recounting" of the events leading to Binion's death. And signing his name to a "perceived biased and inflammatory book" should disqualify him from the case, Serra said.

Chief District Judge Mark Gibbons, in response, refused the defense's request to disqualify Bonaventure as the presiding judge. Bonaventure remains on the case.

July 15, 2004: Comments on the current status of the Binion case by Edna Burch.

July 8, 2004: By Cathy Scott, Bonaventure boys cause conflicts with Binion case

Big Joe and Little Joe. The names sound straight out of vintage Bonanza episodes about the Cartwright family. They're not.

The names of "Big Joe" Judge Bonaventure and his son "Little Joe" Bonaventure -- a justice of the peace candidate -- are being bandied about in the media because of possible conflicts of interest in the Ted Binion retrial.

One of Little Joe's campaign fundraisers is cosponsored by Michael Cristolli, the lead attorney for Sandy Murphy in the Binion case. Murphy is scheduled with co-defendant Rick Tabish in October to be tried a second time for murder in the senior Bonaventure's courtroom.

But that's not the only seemingly conflict of interest in the case. Murphy attorney Cristolli once clerked for Big Joe. And Little Joe once worked for David Roger, who is now a district attorney. This was in the appellate division of the district attorney's office at a time when Roger prepared briefs in the Binion case and filed them with the Nevada Supreme Court.

It's all a little too close for comfort and could eventually be grounds for a mistrial. Or, if Bonaventure continues presiding over the case and Murphy is again convicted, the conflict could be grounds for another appellate decision in favor of the defense.

Conflicts of interest aren't simply about the conflict itself. They are about public perception. If the public perceives it as a conflict, then it should be removed, especially when the future of a defendant is hanging in the balance.

The senior Bonaventure is already under scrutiny for possible bias in his active role in a book signing at the Horseshoe Club following the first Binion trial. It was a book signing where he, along with his then-clerk Al Lasso, signed a bevy of books not with just his name, but with the moniker "Judge Bonaventure."

The outcome of a Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline review about the issue is pending. Mark Denton, a fellow judge with Bonaventure in Clark County District Court, sits on the discipline commission.

In a 2002 court motion, San Francisco attorney J. Tony Serra, who represents Tabish, took issue with the book signing. He asked that Bonaventure be removed from the case because of his participation. Serra at the time called the book, written by a Las Vegas Sun columnist, a "one-sided recounting" of the events leading to Binion's death. And signing his name to a "perceived biased and inflammatory book" should disqualify him from the case, Serra said.

Chief District Judge Mark Gibbons, in response, refused the defense's request to disqualify Bonaventure as the presiding judge. Bonaventure remains on the case.

June, 23, 2004: BY CATHY SCOTT, Non-lawyer visits prison as attorney

The unnamed non-lawyer -- referred to by celebrity attorney Dick DeGuerin as the reason for quitting his representation of Sandy Murphy -- has regularly been visiting a prisoner, seemingly as a lawyer, according to sources inside the prison and sources close to the case.

Rick Tabish, who is housed at the High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs 30 miles north of Las Vegas, is represented by San Francisco attorney J. Tony Serra. Murphy, Tabish's co-defendant, is represented by local lead attorney Michael Cristalli. William Fuller, who has been paying Murphy's legal fees, hired the non-lawyer.

Tabish and Murphy were convicted of killing casino heir Ted Binion. But their convictions were overturned and a new trial was scheduled for October.

"If the inmate wants to talk to [the non-lawyer], he can," said Glen Whorton, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Corrections.

Even though the non-attorney isn't even a paralegal and the firm he's affiliated with doesn't represent Tabish? And is the non-attorney escorted into the prison to a visiting room as lawyers are?

"If there's something inappropriate, we'll fix it, and if we don't find something, we won't," Whorton said. "Other than that, I have no comment, unless I find something further."

An officer inside the prison said lawyers' bags and paperwork routinely aren't searched because of the client-attorney privilege. "A non-attorney is a security risk," the officer said.

http://www.lvcitylife.com/articles/2004/06/23/crime_punishment/crime.txt

June 16, 2004: Dream Team shattered. Celebrity attorney Dick DeGuerin departs from the Binion murder case. Now what? A Las Vegas City Life article by Cathy Scott, a Las Vegas-based journalist and author, who wrote a book about the Ted Binion case titled, Death in the Desert.

Order the book below.

May 7,2004: Rick Tabish got bad news today in Court in Las Vegas. The Judge refused to grant him time served on other charges besides the murder conviction of Ted Binion which has been set aside for a new trial. His lawyer says he could get out as early as next year if not convicted again in the new trial this October. CLICK HERE for the KLAS-TV story.

April 30, 2004: Las Vegas, compiled by Edna Burch, Glenn Putt and George Knapp. Long time rumors about hit team hired by Binion by his brother in law surface, including copies of tape recordings made from phone calls.

Another wrinkle in the Ted Binion Murder case, a Los Angeles, Ast. US Attorney, notified the defense team of a witness in Federal custody for a period of time in another investigation has personal evidence that someone else killed Ted Binion. This evidence surrounds a man involved in a plot to rob and kill Binion that came to light when Sandy Murphy turned over a tape with the voice of Ted's brother in law responding to charges that Murphy had made to the gaming board. One of the men in the plot died in Arizona later as the result of a drug overdose. to read the complete story by Glenn Putt of the Las Vegas Review Journal.
to view the video filed by George Knapp of KLAS-TV.

April 3, 2004: from Edna Birch - The Truth and Justice is a very important organization which has picked up our case. I am friends with Sheri who operates this site. I liked the way she worded this, and she has a link to Cathy Scott's article after the word extortion. This website will not accept cases unless the defendants are innocent.

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Nevada, Clark County, DA David Roger is taking an innovative approach to dodging Rick Tabish's complaint that Roger suborned perjury in order to obtain an extortion conviction against Tabish. Roger is claiming that Tabish's prosecutorial misconduct complaint is really a complaint of ineffective assistance by his own trial counsel. Moreover, Roger wants a judge to throw out Tabish's complaint unless Tabish waives attorney-client privilege so Roger can grill Tabish's trial attorney. Speaking of Extortion ... http://truthinjustice.org/p-pmisconduct.htm.

March 29, 2004:

Mystery of the Binion Silver in Vancouver
by Edna Birch

After nine months of investigation into the Binion silver being in Vancouver, nothing has come out of this. Even the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General Office has no knowledge of the silver. This agency is responsible for the corrections department and correctional facilities in the Vancouver area. This agency referred me to the Police Chief of Saanich to validate the articles regarding the silver. However, why would a Police Chief be involved in negotiations with an inmate in a correctional facility. Certainly the agency responsible for the correctional facilities would be aware of ongoing negotiations with inmates. Is this just another rumor, started to prejudice the potential jury pool for the new trial?

March 12, 2004: Rick Tabish gets okay for attorney even though DA says murder charges could be filed against the lawyer in connection with the Binion case. Las Vegas Sun story here.

March 10, 2004: Are the new prosecutors in the Binion case, attempting to intimidate Mike Milot, from allowing his former lawyer, Attorney Sgro from joining Rick's defense team? The hearing regarding Attorney Sgro joining the team is on Friday the 12th. Five years after Ted Binion's death, the prosecutors are alleging they have new information. As Attorney Sgro commented, Mike Milot has already been investigated. CLICK HERE for story.

February 11, 2004: Possible DA conduct in Binion case? CLICK HERE for story.

February 9, 2004: Binion Case is heating up again, as Sandy Murphy new trial gets closer. Sources close to the case call recent newspaper articles in the Las Vegas Sun as out and out lies. Controversial Las Vegas political personality weighs in on the case in a recent newspaper article as well. CLICK HERE for details.

January 1, 2004: District Attorney wants Rick Tabish ex-lawyer to tell on his former client. Las Vegas Sun story can be found here: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-crime/2003/dec/31/516103958.html.

December 22, 2003: Sandy Murphy released on $250,000 bail, and she can go to California to live with her parents awaiting trial, and travel to Vegas to meet with her lawyers. Her new lawyer Dick DeGuerin is awesome, and wants the trial moved from Oct to June.

December 20, 2003: The Prosecutors are getting down and dirty, going for life without parole this time. They give a litany of reasons, which are mostly hearsay as to why Sandy should not get bail. I think she and her parents must be on pins and needles. Jeff German, has turned into a real tabloid trash writer, you might want to check out his columns also. There is another bail hearing Mon, will let you know how it comes out. Commentary by Edna.

December 8, 2003: Judge Bonaventure should not be on the Sandy Murphy case at all. It is well documented that he was there at the Jeff German book signing and afterwards more than one person has told me that he was seen drinking with Becky, Ted's sister and benefactor to ownership of the Binion Las Vegas facility. Las Vegas can ill afford to have a "crooked biased Judge" on a high profile case like this. It shows that far from the Vegas PR machine, organized crime still rules the roost. Commentary by Jerry Pippin.

September 14, 2003: The Binion case has always fascinated me (Jerry Pippin). I was talking with Frank Military, one of the top Private Investigators around who lives in Las Vegas about the case today (www.frankmilitary.com). I asked him if he thought Sandy Murphy was innocent, was it an accidental overdose by Ted Binion or was there some hanky panky by the mob or someone. He told me in no uncertain terms: "JERRY, ACCIDENTAL OVERDOSE, NO HANKY PANKY. SHE WILL GO FREE THIS TIME."