(cars honking)
- [Narrator] Las Vegas, Nevada.
A millionaire casino
boss is found dead.
His girlfriend and her lover
are charged with murder.
Did she do it, or didn't she?
- It was the most trying
time I've ever had
in my life.
- It's a story that
really has everything.
I mean, sex.
- [Sandy] Teddy Ruxpin.
- Oh, my little treasure.
- Drugs.
Love, betrayal, buried treasure.
And it's all in the
backdrop of Las Vegas.
(catchy music)
- [Narrator] Was it suicide,
an accidental overdose,
or ruthless murder
that took the life
of a Las Vegas casino boss?
Here's what
happened, you decide.
(dramatic music)
(lighthearted jazzy music)
(sirens blaring)
On September 17th, 1998...
(radio chatter)
(pleading)
Rescue workers respond
to a frantic 9-1-1 call
from the home of a
Las Vegas legend.
- Please send someone here!
Please, can you do something!
It's my husband, God!
He's not breathing.
I have to go, he needs me.
- [Narrator] The 9-1-1
operator traces the call
to 2408 Palomino Lane, a
sprawling Las Vegas mansion.
(catchy music)
Inside, a grizzly sight.
Millionaire casino
boss, Ted Binion, dead.
(catchy jazz music)
Crime scene investigator,
Mike Perkins,
was among the
first at the scene.
- Obviously, there
was no blatant trauma
to the body of Mr. Binion.
There wasn't a gunshot
wound to the head,
his throat hadn't been slashed,
there wasn't anything
substantial like that.
There were a few small
injuries on his body.
But we didn't have anything else
specifically on him to go with.
- I never should've
left the house.
I never should've
let you be alone.
- [Narrator] The
woman who called 9-1-1
is not Ted Binion's wife,
it's his girlfriend, 26
year old Sandy Murphy.
This is her first TV interview
since being released after
four and a half years
in a federal penitentiary.
- Well, I came home, and I
parked in the sally port.
(lighthearted music)
And I came into the side
door, into the kitchen,
and I said Teddy
Ruxpin, I'm home.
I used to call him Teddy Ruxpin,
'cause I had a teddy
bear when I was a kid.
(lighthearted music)
He didn't answer.
So, I went to the
den to get him,
and he was resting, what
appeared to be resting.
And I tried to wake him up,
and he wouldn't wake up.
It was that point I realized
that he was in real trouble.
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] Sandy
fears the worst.
She calls 9-1-1, and
when police arrive,
she tells them her story.
Ted Binion has had a
destructive addiction to heroin
for almost two decades.
His favorite way of
getting high is smoking it,
called "chasing the dragon".
To help him come down, he
used a prescription sedative
called Xanax.
(dramatic music)
Doctor Enrique Enrique Lacayo
was Ted Binion's neighbor.
He prescribed the
sedative to Binion
the day before he died.
- I felt that it was
medically necessary for him
to have it, to help him to
go through the withdrawal,
without having to
go back to the drug.
Heroin addicts, they have
a tendency to crave it
as soon as they
get off the drug.
So I felt by him
having the Xanax,
he would feel much better to
fight the addiction again.
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] CSI Perkins
finds an empty Xanax bottle
and heroin paraphernalia.
Everything about the
scene suggests an addict
on a deadly binge.
(dramatic music)
Whether accident or suicide,
police conclude that
drugs killed Ted Binion.
Case closed.
(jazzy music)
There are many who
believe Ted Binion
had good reason
to take his life.
(jazzy music)
Binion's heroin addiction
cost him control
of Binion's Horseshoe Casino,
a Las Vegas fixture since
the early days of Sin City.
(jazzy music)
Jeff German is a
Vegas journalist.
- Well, I mean, anybody who
wants to talk about the Binions
has to start with Benny Binion.
(jazzy music)
He's the patriarch of the
family, he died in 1989.
He is one of the
pioneers of Las Vegas.
He's an old time
gambler from Texas,
ran illegal gambling
operations in Dallas,
and one of the most
colorful figures
this city has ever seen.
He killed a few
people in Dallas,
he had to get out of Dallas,
and ultimately ended up
starting the Horseshoe Club,
which became one of the most
popular casinos of its time.
(jazzy music)
Benny turned the
Horseshoe into Vegas's
most popular poker joint.
He promoted the now legendary
World Series of Poker.
When Benny died,
Ted and the family
took charge of the casino.
(jazzy music)
But Ted's problem with
heroin haunted him.
In 1997, the Nevada
Gaming Commission
revoked his license.
His final words to the
commission revealed his despair.
- This is my life.
I have nowhere else to go.
- [Narrator] All he
has left is Sandy.
- In the beginning,
it was wonderful.
I mean, I had started
a new relationship,
and he moved me into his home,
and he had some
troubles of his own
with the Gaming Control board,
and he was going
through a divorce,
so it was a little
tough, but it was new,
and we were in love,
and we had a great
time for, I would say,
at least the first 12
months of our relationship,
it was all bliss,
and everything that
comes with love.
- Thanks to those.
- [Narrator] But the heroin
was more powerful than love.
(dramatic western music)
John Momot is a defense
attorney in Vegas.
He was a friend of Binion's.
- He loved his heroin
more than he loved her.
And that's what stepped in
between Sandy and Teddy.
You know, people say, well,
he's been taken
heroin for years,
so he knows what he's doing.
That's a joke,
that's ridiculous.
He is addicted to
heroin for 15-20 years,
and because of that,
when you start taking it,
you don't realize your limits,
and then you start taking
Xanax on top of it,
you don't know where you're at.
(hard rock music)
- [Narrator] CSI Mike Perkins
concludes his investigation
and finds nothing suspicious.
The police are certain, Ted
Binion died of a drug overdose.
- When we left the
residence on September 17th,
we had not formed any
definitive conclusions
on what had happened
to Mr. Binion.
We obviously didn't
have any signs
of a substantial struggle,
or of a violent death.
- I'll call you when
he's feeling better.
Thank you, buh-bye now.
- [Narrator] New
evidence will produce
a different version of events.
One that points to murder.
(rock music)
(ominous music)
One day after casino boss
Ted Binion is found dead,
an autopsy determines
the cause of death.
A textbook overdose.
(dramatic piano music)
Famed pathologist,
Dr. Cyril Wecht
has reviewed the autopsy report.
- In my opnion, Ted Binion
clearly, unquestionably died
as a result of
combined drug toxicity,
heroin and Xanax,
a touch of Valium,
but it was the
heroin and the Xanax.
Keep in mind that both
are central nervous
system depressants.
Heroin is a powerful analgesic,
and Xanax, a kind of a
tranquilizer and so on,
both work pharmacologically
by depressing
different parts of the brain.
And in combination,
they produce a situation
which we called synergism,
where two plus two may
equal five or seven,
not just four.
(jazzy music)
- [Narrator] The body
shows no signs of struggle.
The pathologist notes
a small red mark
in the middle of Binion's chest,
and a mild abrasion
on his upper lip.
Neither points to foul play.
Rigor mortis has set in,
providing an approximate
time of death
around 12 noon, or
four hours before
Sandy Murphy called 9-1-1.
(jazzy music)
Vegas police officially
close the case.
But the Binion family
believes Sandy Murphy
murdered Ted Binion.
They hire a private
investigator to prove it.
To this day, Sandy says the
cards were stacked against her.
- I think it's a
very tough thing
when you're up against
a very powerful family
who has a tremendous amount
of political influence,
and I was sort of the scapegoat.
(jazzy music)
- [Narrator] The PI
produces a new version
of the facts.
The story begins at a
Las Vegas strip club,
when Teddy first
laid eyes on Sandy,
a 23 year old
California surfer girl.
(jazzy music)
By most accounts, she
danced topless for him,
but to this day, Sandy Murphy
says she was never a stripper.
- Well, I was very young,
and I was traveling at the time,
and it was my first
time to Nevada.
I was quite excited.
And I lost money gambling,
and had a girlfriend with me
who was manufacturing intimates,
and we went to a
gentleman's club,
it was the first time I had
ever been to a gentleman's club,
and we sold costumes.
And that's how I met Teddy.
(jazzy music)
- [Narrator] Whatever
the truth is,
Ted Binion saw Sandy
Murphy, and was entranced.
- My Teddy Ruxpin.
- Yeah, yeah.
(laughing)
- At first, I didn't
really like him very much.
He seemed sort of arrogant,
and he was with a
friend of his who
I thought was
rather interesting,
and I didn't care for
him in the beginning.
But through several
cocktails and hours later,
he kind of won me over,
and he was very silly,
and extremely witty,
and very intelligent.
And then gave him my number,
and he never stopped calling.
(laughing)
I love you.
- [Narrator] He divorced
his wife of 25 years.
Sandy moved in.
- Teddy was the man who
swept me off my feet.
I thought he'd fill
the hole in my heart.
I thought he'd love
and protect me forever.
- Sandy was taken care
of very well by Teddy.
He gave her a credit
card with a 10,000 limit,
which he paid off
everything month.
She had access to call
the cash she needed.
They lived in a
million dollar home,
beautiful ranch style home.
He bought her a
Mercedes sports coupe,
they dined at expensive gourmet
restaurants all the time.
So it was a pretty
good lifestyle for her.
- [Narrator] But by
1998, the relationship
between Ted and
Sandy was no longer
the loving, gentle
partnership it had once been.
- Well, I don't think anyone
really knows what it's like
to live with a drug addict.
It's very difficult, because
it's like living with
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
One day he would be the
sweet, loving man that I know,
and while at his highest moment,
or at his lowest of lows,
where he was looking
to get high again,
he wasn't that man anymore.
(jazzy music)
- [Narrator] Tom Loveday
was Ted Binion's gardener
for 15 years.
- The only thing I
didn't like about Ted,
that if he got stoned,
or if he did his heroin,
or if he got drunk, he got mean,
and he got mean
only with his women.
And he beat up Sandy,
'cause I used to see
the bruises on Sandy.
He'd call me in the house,
and I came that
following Thursday,
and say "Tom, I did a
bad thing last night,
"I beat up Sandy."
- Teddy was the kind of
guy who had this smile.
No matter what he did, or
how angry you got at him,
all he had to do was smile.
I miss his face.
I miss his voice.
I miss his touch.
- [Narrator] Always
a paranoid man,
Ted wires his
house with cameras.
He watches Sandy's every move,
and he doesn't trust her.
In this version of events,
Sandy senses Ted is
about to kick her out.
She'll lose her car,
her credit card,
and the million
dollar house which Ted
has given her in his will.
(catchy rock music)
Some say Ted Binion was
finished with Sandy Murphy.
- Hey, my Teddy Ruxpin.
What's wrong?
You've been drinking again.
- Where the hell have you been?
- Excuse me?
- Where the hell have you been?
- What business is it of yours?
- Oh no, darling. If
it's none of my business,
then why don't you get
the hell out of here?
- Fine, I'm gone.
- [Narrator] Is this
motive for murder?
(catchy rock music)
The private investigator
takes a fresh look
at Sandy's behavior the
day Ted Binion died.
He reexamines the
statement she gave police
at the hospital.
- My neighbor, he's
a doctor, and...
He used to give us
that stuff all the time
when we were...
And I told him not to
give him that stuff again.
(somber music)
He gave him some last night.
- [Narrator] Sandy's
story comes across
as a too perfect performance.
- Oh, God.
Oh, God, he wouldn't wake up!
- [Narrator] CSI Mike
Perkins doesn't buy it.
- I've been in,
the last 20 years,
with several police departments,
over 6,000, close to
6,300 crime scenes,
and Miss Murphy's
behavior that day
struck me as fabricated,
it was varying too much,
she seemed to be able
to turn it off at will.
- [Narrator] Then,
there's the 9-1-1 call.
- It's my husband!
(sobbing)
He's not breathing!
- [Narrator] Binion has been
dead for about four hours
at the time of her call.
It's a strange statement.
Ted's not only stopped
breathing, he's stone cold.
Sandy Murphy is either a
grief stricken girlfriend,
or a gifted actor.
Another strange fact.
At 12 noon, a realtor
working on a deal for Ted
phones the house.
(phone ringing)
- Hello?
- Hi, Sandy, it's Barbara.
Is Ted there?
- No, Barbara, he's out of it.
- What's wrong?
Are you okay?
- No.
No one understands
what it's like
living with a drug addict.
I've got this mess to
clean up in the bathroom.
- Do you want me to come over?
I could do that right now.
- No.
He doesn't like people
to see him like this.
- Oh, we have an appointment
tomorrow at 1:00 pm.
- Well, you better call to see
if he can make that appointment.
- Why don't you get
me to come over there,
and we can go out
to lunch, and chat.
- No.
Every time I go out,
he interrogates me.
- Are you sure?
- Look, Barbara.
I have to go, okay?
Goodbye.
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] Ted
Binion is already dead,
or lies dying at
this very moment.
An hour later, Sandy goes
out to run some errands.
Either she didn't see
Ted on her way out,
or she had something
to do with his death.
- Well, I don't know that
I remember all of my day,
but I remember most of it,
only because I've told the
story so many times before.
And I remember
specifically getting up
at a certain point,
and feeding the dogs,
and having a chat
about life, and heroin,
and his life and hopes
of having a life without heroin.
- [Narrator] The
day before he died,
Ted Binion calls his
lawyer with strict orders.
- Yeah.
Take Sandy out of the will,
if she doesn't kill me tonight.
If I'm dead, you'll
know what happened.
Yeah.
(catchy jazzy music)
- [Narrator] Is money
enough of a motive
for Sandy Murphy
to kill Ted Binion?
There's another
shocking discovery.
Sandy Murphy has a lover,
and he too, has a
motive for murder.
(catchy jazzy music)
Six months before his death,
Ted Binion meets 33 year old
entrepreneur, Rick Tabish,
in the men's room.
- Heard about this new
guy hustling around Vegas,
his name was Rick
Tabish, from Montana.
I had a ranch in Montana, hell,
some of the best times in
my life were in Montana.
Anyway, Sandy and I were
at the restaurant there
having a couple of
drinks and a steak,
I excused myself
to go to the John,
and well, there's Rick Tabish.
Said I heard about him,
asked him if he'd like
to come out on the town
with Sandy and me.
Well, he was a little
hesitant at first,
but I said, you don't
know who I am, do you?
My name is Ted Binion.
He came.
- We met in the can.
We just hit it off.
After a couple of
months, he consulted me
about his problems.
How he'd like to
quit taking drugs.
I started helping the guy out.
Everybody's against him,
I just took him for who he was.
It was good.
- [Narrator] Tabish owns
a large trucking company.
Binion asks Tabish
for a bizarre favor.
He enlists him to bury
five million dollars worth
of rare silver coins.
He directs Tabish to
a vacant lot he owns
in a small town outside Vegas.
The paranoid casino
boss explains
that he doesn't want the coins
falling into the wrong hands.
- Ted said, "You keep the combo,
"you're the silver guy."
"If I need anything,
we'll both come out here."
He said he didn't
want his ex-wife
getting her hands
on that silver.
- [Narrator] Tabish
owes the IRS $300,000.
He's hoping his new
friend can help him
with his money problems.
(jazzy music)
And then, there's Sandy.
(jazzy music)
- One thing led to another,
they became friends.
Rick started doing
work for Teddy.
That's how they came about.
And that's how Sandy met Rick,
it was through Ted.
And because of the abuse
that she was undergoing
and suffering in the household,
because of the drug addiction,
because of the alcohol,
she turned to Rick.
And that's understandable in
a house where there's abuse,
and then a person turns to
a caregiver for assistance,
and that's what happened
here with Sandy.
- I swear, we only
slept together twice,
and we were pretty drunk,
and we decided to break it off.
Me married, two
kids, Sandy with Ted.
She was afraid of him.
That he would kill her
if he ever found out.
We thought we'd be
together one day,
but for now, just
calling it quits.
- I loved my man very much,
and he was on heroin, and
his love became heroin.
And as a result, he had
a friend who I trusted,
who I confided in,
and I took it a little too far,
on one occasion,
on September 13th,
and because of that, I've
been held accountable,
and to a standard
that I don't think
that any woman can live up to.
- [Narrator] Rick is deep
in debt and desperate.
Sandy is abused, alone,
and about to get kicked out
of her million dollar home.
(gate closes)
Not to mention, that
Ted might shoot them
if he knew about their affair.
(catchy funky music)
Did Rick and Sandy
murder Ted Binion?
- Ted was more valuable
to them dead than alive.
Sandy felt she would
inherit the home,
and a certain amount
of cash from Ted,
and Tabish was basically
trying to get at his wealth
any way he could,
and if Ted wasn't around, it
would've been a lot easier.
(catchy funky music)
- [Narrator] Now it's
up to forensic science
to prove their guilt...
Or innocence.
(calming music)
Casino boss, Ted Binion, died
of a massive drug overdose.
But was it murder?
(jazzy music)
Doctor Ellen Clark is
a forensic pathologist
in Reno, Nevada.
She believes Ted
Binion was murdered.
- Mr. Binion had some paleness
and distortion or bending
of the tip of his nose,
toward the, I believe,
it was the right side of
the front of his face.
In addition to this, he had
evidence of skin break injury,
or abrasion on the
sides of his upper lip,
immediately below his nose.
The total patterning
all suggested
that the body had at one point
been partially face down,
and at the scene, it
was discovered face up,
with these fixed
changes suggesting that
it remained face down for some
time after death occurred,
then had been rotated face up.
(mysterious music)
- [Narrator] If Sandy and
Rick did kill Ted Binion,
how did they do it?
How do you force an
addict to smoke heroin?
Famed forensic
pathologist, Cyril Wecht,
thinks the idea is preposterous.
- Ted Binion bought
the black tar,
Ted Binion got the Xanax tablets
from his next door neighbor.
So you've got that short
period of time, think.
So, Sandy Murphy and
Tabish, you know,
I'm not making them
out to be imbeciles,
but they're not medical people,
they're not forensic scientists.
They figure out, they
conspire, that gee,
he got the black tar,
and he got the Xanax,
this is what we can do.
In less than two days, they
planned the whole thing.
Think about that.
- [Narrator] No matter, two
days after Ted Binion's death,
Rick Tabish is caught digging up
the five million
dollars worth of silver
he buried for the casino boss.
- All right, let's see
what this guy's up to.
(catchy music)
What are you doing out here?
- Just cleaning up the place.
Working nights, to
get ahead of the job.
You know...
- What's in the truck?
- Oh, nothing.
See?
Nothing in there.
- Jimmy, come on up and
have a look for me, will ya?
- Steel on the bottom here.
- Uh huh.
(mysterious music)
- [Rick] Great night, isn't it?
- Yeah, a little nippy.
Out here digging holes in
the middle of the night.
- Oh, yeah.
Gotta do that now and then, to
fill the holes in, you know?
Gravel taken out.
- What do you got?
- You better have
a look at this.
- [Officer] I guess there
is something in the truck.
- All right, I'm lying.
I'm digging up the
silver for Teddy Binion.
I'm taking it to Las Vegas
to put it in a trust fund
for Teddy's daughter,
for when she turns 35.
Hey, I got nothing to hide.
- Let's talk
downtown, huh, okay?
- Man.
Honestly, Officer, I've
got nothing to hide.
- Yeah, I'm sure you don't.
- [Narrator] The cops don't
buy it, he is arrested.
Police find a briefcase
containing information
for selling antique coins.
The case also contains a love
letter from Sandy Murphy.
(mysterious music)
- [Officer] Hey, let's
go over it again, Rick.
- I mean, I'd have
to be a complete fool
to come out and load a
trailer full of silver.
I even called you guys
and told you I was coming out.
I didn't come out here
to rip the guy off.
I mean, I have a year
and a half year old kid,
and a three and a
half year old kid.
You think I want to go to jail?
Leave them without a daddy?
I know it's hard
for you to believe.
- [Narrator] Rick
is set free on bail.
(somber piano music)
The state of Nevada reopens
the Binion murder case.
They're looking for new evidence
to prove that Sandy
Murphy and Rick Tabish
killed the casino boss.
(dramatic piano music)
Binion's gardener gives them
what they're looking for.
- When I arrived at Ted's house,
it was approximately nine
o'clock in the morning,
because I had checked
the clock on my dash.
The first thing I
noticed was Sandy's car
parked on the side.
Sandy never parks
her car on the side.
It's always parked
either in the garage,
or in the circular driveway
in the front of the house.
So that seemed a
little strange to me,
but I didn't think
too much of it.
When I turned, I looked up,
and that's when I noticed
these curtains were closed.
Those curtains were never
supposed to be closed,
because Ted always
told me those curtains
have to be open, because
when he leaves his bedroom
to walk into his den,
he had always wanted
to see in the backyard.
I thought well, this
doesn't look right,
so I decided to check the house.
- [Narrator] Then,
Loveday notices something.
(mysterious music)
A chair off the bathroom window.
Did Ted kick Sandy out, and
did she break in to kill him?
(lawnmower revving)
Tom Loveday is certain.
Sandy Murphy was in the house
while he was in the yard.
Exactly when forensic
science had determined
Ted Binion's time of death.
(sobbing)
(dramatic music)
Was Rick in the house too?
(dramatic music)
(jazzy funky music)
Rick Tabish and Ted Binion
had become fast friends.
But Rick couldn't take
his eyes off Sandy.
- I'm not perfect, by all means.
I made my mistakes.
Some of the greatest lessons
in life are about hardship.
You don't learn that until
your hands are slapped.
- They would go to posh Beverly
Hills hotels on weekends,
and rendezvous
there, and live it up
all behind Ted's back.
And so, it's a relationship
that kinda evolved,
the last over time, maybe
the last four months
of Binion's life, and where
it became really serious
about the time that he died.
(jazzy music)
- [Narrator] Investigators
seek evidence
to prove that Rick
Tabish was in the house
when Ted Binion died.
Their main clue is Sandy's car.
Tom Loveday had never seen
it parked clear of the drive.
- I figure there was another
car in her garage space.
Because the other garage space,
there was no way
you could get in it,
because I'm parked
in front of it.
So, who was ever in there,
cannot leave anyway.
(mysterious music)
- [Narrator] Ted Binion
stashed millions of dollars
all over his house,
but police find safes
and hiding spots empty.
(mysterious music)
Did Sandy keep
the driveway clear
while Rick stole
millions in cash?
Lawyer John Momot says
the theory is crazy.
- Well, that's exactly correct,
because you have a
couple of things here.
Number one, during the
course of the trial,
no one ever placed Sandy
Murphy at the scene
where the silver
is being dug up.
And at the trial, no one
has ever placed Mr. Tabish
in the house where Ted Binion's
body was found that day.
So, we have a
divergence of facts here
that's putting the people in
opposite ends of the spectrum.
- Hi, Mary, it's Sandy.
- [Narrator] But there
is another strange fact.
- I'm fine, thank you.
You don't need to come in today,
Ted isn't feeling very well.
He was up all night, so was I,
so we need to get
some sleep, okay?
- [Narrator] Sandy Murphy
canceled the cleaning lady
the morning Ted Binion died.
- I'll call you when
he's feeling better.
(ominous music)
Thank you.
Buh-bye now.
(lawnmower mowing)
- [Narrator] But what
about the gardener?
Did smart Sandy simply
forget to call him?
Even if Rick Tabish
was in the house,
how could he kill Ted Binion?
And can you get
heroin in your stomach
if you smoke it?
Forensic scientist
Ellen Clark says yes.
- Certainly, you can swallow
heroin when you smoke it,
it's going through
the oral cavity,
through the nasal cavity,
so it may end up in the stomach.
And Mr. Binion's
case, the morphine,
the Alprazolam in particular,
and even the Benzodiazepine,
Valium-like drugs,
were all present, and toxic,
and published lethal levels.
- [Narrator] Murder by
deliberate overdose,
a near perfect crime.
(calming music)
- I'm an overachiever.
Should've listened to my father.
He told me all the time.
"Learn to walk before
you learn to run, Rick."
I never listened.
Got in too deep.
(jazzy music)
- [Narrator] But even if his
life was being threatened,
would Ted Binion
deliberately overdose?
Pathologist Cyril Wecht cannot
envision the crime scene.
- To my knowledge,
nobody ever suggested
that they had a gun
pointed at his head,
and even if you
restrain his wrist,
how do you get this
stuff into him,
including all of
these Xanax tablets?
- [Narrator] The only
other piece of evidence
is the chair outside
the back window.
Vegas CSI Mike Perkins
revisited the crime scene
and took a closer
look at the chair.
- We did fingerprint
processing on the window,
both inside and out,
as well as the chair,
and the windowsill inside.
We did recover several
prints from those areas.
At a later time, these
prints became identified back
to Sandra Murphy.
(catchy music)
- [Narrator] Did Sandy Murphy
break into her own house
to kill Ted Binion?
(catchy music)
It's a slim case, but Sandy
Murphy and Rick Tabish
are arrested for his murder.
- [Reporter] Court
documents just released
point to Murphy and her
alleged boyfriend, Rick Tabish,
as the masterminds
of a conspiracy
to kill the casino executive,
and take his assets.
- There isn't a
week that goes by
where we don't acquire
more information.
The investigation
is not over with.
We will continue to investigate
even up until the time
that the case goes to the jury.
- [Narrator] It's up to
the jury to find the truth
in one of Las Vegas's
murkiest murders.
(gavel slams)
- [Man] This court
is now in session.
- [Narrator] One and
a half years after
the death of Ted Binion,
the trial of Sandy Murphy
and Rick Tabish begins.
- [Man] Please be seated.
- [Narrator] Mob
attorney John Momot
defends Sandy Murphy, as she
and Tabish sit side by side
and face a media frenzy.
- This young lady is strong,
and she's gonna continue to
fight until she's vindicated.
But a long trial is no excuse
for an expert witness to
break the rules, is it?
- I do the best I can.
- And the gentlemen
of the jury will then
be the ultimate determiners
of reasonableness.
- This is a case that
really captivated Las Vegas.
I mean, the first
trial was shown live,
gavel to gavel, on television.
It was also covered
live by Court TV.
- [Man] In this case
paints a clear picture,
of two people who killed a man--
- It was just a case that
fascinated everybody,
it was this ultimate mystery,
there was no smoking gun,
there was a compelling
circumstantial case,
but no one could
really say for sure
how Ted Binion died,
and I think that
was part of what
piqued everybody's interest.
- You know what, Teddy?
- [Narrator] The
prosecution maintains
that Binion's overdose
was forced on him
by Rick and Sandy.
- Come on, pal.
- [Rick] Pick it up.
Pick it up.
(dramatic music)
Go ahead.
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] Cyril Wecht
testified for the defense.
- [Rick] Go again.
- [Narrator] And he
thinks the lovers
didn't stand a chance.
- I don't care
what anybody says,
when a jury is convened
in a criminal case,
especially a homicide case,
those jurors, the
overwhelming majority of them,
will go in thinking hey,
this guy would not be
here, charged with murder,
if they did not have a case.
(jazzy music)
Any time you have adultery,
or cheating on the side,
then that's going
to be a major factor
in the consideration
of the jury,
even though it does not
directly have relevance
in application of the
true issues of the case.
- [Narrator] Another
forensic pathologist
presents the jury with a
new and radical theory.
- I think they had
one primary witness,
his name was Dr. Michael Baden.
- [Narrator] Dr. Michael
Baden is a forensic superstar.
- That he didn't want to be
influenced by outside opinions.
- [Narrator] His theory
makes a messy legal case
even messier.
- My opinion is he died of
asphyxia by suffocation.
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] The process
is known as "burking".
Named after a famous
Scottish serial killer,
who suffocated his victims
by sitting on their chests.
- Just keeping pressing,
just keep pressing,
keep blocking, keep blocking.
- Why is he shaking?
- It's okay, Teddy.
I think he's done.
(mysterious music)
- Some pathologists,
including yourself,
have described suffocation
as perhaps the perfect crime.
- I would not say perfect crime,
it's among the most
difficult diagnoses
to make at autopsies.
- [Narrator] Baden says
the mark on Binion's chest
is from one of
his shirt buttons.
(dramatic music)
Baden's expertise hits
home with the jury.
But there is another twist.
- And the opinions that
you reached in this case
were opinions that you reached--
- [Reporter] Shella
went on to portray Baden
as a gun for hire, pointing out
he was initially hired
by the Binion family,
not the prosecution.
- The opinions I reached
were the opinions I reached
the day before I testified
in preliminary hearing,
and at that time,
I'd come out here,
at the request of
the family, yes.
- [Narrator] Then, it is
pathologist Cyril Wecht's turn.
He totally disagrees with Baden.
- I just don't find a basis
for such a diagnosis
in this case.
Take the morphine, and
you take the Xanax,
and you take the Valium,
and you got three drugs that
are depressing the brain,
and you have a
synergistic effect.
- [Narrator] Wecht also asks,
"What on Earth do Sandy and
Rick know about berking?"
- "Boy, if you sit on the chest,
"and I'll cover the nose,
and I'll cover the mouth,
"and we'll stop him from
breathing and so and so forth."
And by the way, there was no
evidence of strangulation,
and no marks on the neck,
or in the soft tissues
beneath the skin in
the neck and so on.
You know, again, 99
out of 100 doctors
don't know what berking is,
and 95 out of 100 pathologists
who don't do forensic
pathology know what berking is,
and 999, no, 999,999
out of a million
forensic pathologists
have never used berking
as a diagnosis.
I'm still looking
for the last case
that was signed out as
berking, anywhere in the world.
- [Narrator] Wecht
says Ted's scraped lip
is shaving burn,
plain and simple.
- My opinion that this
case represented homicide
was based upon the fact that
the collective evidence,
that is the physical
evidence on the body,
coupled with the
investigative evidence,
many inconsistencies
at the scene,
and in the follow
up investigations,
indicated that other
people may have had a hand
in Mr. Binion's death.
- [Narrator] In other words,
Ellen thinks Rick
and Sandy killed Ted.
Wecht doesn't.
- You're gonna have six,
eight, 10 forensic scientists,
as in the Binion
case, top people,
forensic pathologists,
toxicologists, et cetera,
but these 12 jurors, most of
whom didn't go to college,
most of whom never even saw
a chemistry physics lab,
let alone looked
under a microscope,
or saw a dead body
and dissected it,
but they will figure it out,
they'll figure it out.
It's ridiculous!
- [Narrator] Less than two
months after the trial began,
the jurors return
with their verdict.
- [Juror] We, the jury in
the above and titled case,
find the defendant, Richard
Bennett Tabish, as follows.
Count seven, murder with
use of a deadly weapon,
guilty of murder of
the first degree.
We the jury in the
above and titled case,
find the defendant, Sandra
Renee Murphy as follows,
count seven, murder with
use of a deadly weapon,
guilty of murder of
the first degree.
- I can remember,
but I don't know
that I could ever describe it.
Because at the same time,
I was disheartened to think that
anybody who ever
knew us as a couple,
would ever think
that I would harm
someone that I loved.
- [Narrator] They
each get 20 years.
But there has been a
major legal screw up,
one that will open
up old wounds,
and set Sandy Murphy free.
California surfer
girl, Sandy Murphy,
finds herself doing hard time.
Convinced of a murder she says
she did not commit.
- I went to prison for
four and a half years.
The first six months I did
in solitary confinement.
I received a 30 minute
phone call in the morning,
and a shower, escorted
back to my cell,
and a 30 minute phone
call and a shower
later on that evening,
Monday through Friday,
locked down Friday 'til Monday,
for my first six months.
And then I was eventually sent
to the women's state
penitentiary in Nevada.
- It's not about
passing or failing--
- [Narrator] Alan
Dershowitz is among the most
famous defense
lawyers in the world.
He defends underdogs.
And he believes Sandy
Murphy and Rick Tabish
were wrongfully convicted.
- I loved Teddy
with all my heart,
and I know he loved
me just as much.
I'm sorry for the day
I walked out that door
on September 17th, and
left him there alone.
I'm sorry for not being there
when he needed me the most.
- I absolutely and unequivocally
did not kill Ted Binion.
Digging up the silver was the
worst decision of my life.
I got sucked into
Ted Binion's world.
(jazzy music)
- [Narrator] Dershowitz says
the Binion case is unique
because prosecutors presented
two forensic stories.
Maybe Binion was suffocated,
or maybe he was
forced to overdose.
You can't have it both ways.
- Yeah, yeah.
Take Sandy out of the will,
if she doesn't kill me tonight.
Then, there's the testimony
from Ted Binion's lawyer.
Total hearsay from a dead man.
- Well, if I end up dead,
you'll know what happened.
(catchy music)
- [Narrator] In October 2004,
Sandy Murphy and Rick
Tabish get a retrial,
and a second chance.
- Well, I think that the
truth spoke for itself
in my second trial,
and I was vindicated
for all the right reasons,
thanks to medical science,
and I think it was easy to
pick out an indiscretion
that sort of became the
catalyst to my downfall,
and ultimately it was rectified,
and we are where we are today.
But sure, my involvement
with Rick Tabish
was the catalyst, it was
the beginning of the end,
and I'm grateful for science,
because that's what led
me to where we are today,
and to my new found freedom.
- Mr. Tabish, Ms. Murphy,
I'd like you to stand up
and face the jury.
- [Juror] We the jury, in
the above and titled case,
find the defendant, Richard
Bennett Tabish as follows.
Count one, conspiracy to
commit murder and or robbery,
we find the
defendant not guilty.
We the jury, in the
above and titled case,
find the defendant, Sandra
Renee Murphy, as follows.
Count one, conspiracy to
commit murder and or robbery,
we find the
defendant not guilty.
- [Man] Quiet.
Everybody quiet down.
- [Narrator] Both are
found not guilty of murder,
but guilty of stealing
Ted Binion's money.
Sandy Murphy is
appealing that decision.
(clapping)
Today, after four and a
half years of hard time,
Sandy Murphy is free.
- I feel relief that I have
set the record straight,
that I've been given
a second chance.
- [Reporter] Sandy
Murphy is free,
clear from the legal shadow
of Ted Binion's death.
- So even though at some point,
every now and then I
feel a little resentful,
I'm grateful at the same respect
that they gave me a
greater sense of self,
and I was able to
achieve what I did,
and I don't know
that I ever thought
that I would be capable
of fighting and surviving
through all of this,
knowing who I was at such a
young age at Teddy's death,
in comparison to
the woman I am now.
- [Narrator] Rick Tabish
is up for parole in 2008.
(jazzy music)
Did they do it?
Unless one of them confesses,
no one will ever know for sure.
(jazzy music)
(dramatic music)
