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Binion Verdict: Prosecutors Said a Desire for Ted Binion's Money Motivated Murphy and Tabish to Kill Him

The prosecution's case was made easier when defense attorneys John Momot and Louis Palazzo acknowledged in opening arguments that Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish were romantically involved at the time of Ted Binion's death.

The admission came as prosecutors were prepared to present numerous witnesses confirming the relationship. Prosecutors traced hundreds of cellular phone calls between Murphy and Tabish in the weeks before Binion's death and uncovered records of secret trysts between the two at posh Beverly Hills hotels, including one the weekend before Binion died.

Among the key witnesses who testified for the prosecution were three Montana men close to Tabish, all of whom were given immunity.

Steven Kurt Gratzer, a former Army Ranger and childhood Tabish friend, testified that Tabish asked him to think of ways to kill Binion. Gratzer stepped forward and struck a deal with prosecutors a year before the trial.

About six weeks prior to the trial, Jason Frazer, a 29-year-old Tabish friend who once ran his trucking businesses, agreed to testify that Tabish had sought his help in a scheme to pay off alibi witnesses.

And just days before the trial got underway, Tabish's brother-in-law, Dennis Rehbein turned in 100 pounds of silver Tabish had given him as collateral for a $25,000 loan. Prosecutors alleged the silver was stolen from Binion's safe by Murphy and Tabish after his death.

Last July, Tanya Cropp, a close Murphy friend, agreed to cooperate with investigators. She testified at the trial that she was told to fax a seven-page list of coins believed to have been stolen from Binion to Tabish in Montana. The list was written by Murphy.

Cropp also testified that Murphy and Tabish persuaded her to lie to investigators probing Binion's death.

Defense lawyers brought in experts to attack the crime scene they alleged was contaminated by the Binion estate, which took control of the home the day after Binion's death.

They accused the "Binion Money Machine" of railroading their clients.

But when it came time to present their defense, the attorneys never called any witnesses, such as Behnen and Dillard, to the witness stand to substantiate that claim.

And Chief Deputy District Attorney David Wall in his closing argument said a desire for Binion's money is what drove Murphy and Tabish to kill Binion.

Attorneys for Murphy also tried to portray her as a victim of Binion's drug-addicted world. They called Murphy's parents, Sandra and Kenneth Murphy, to the witness stand to bolster that claim.

And they passed blame on his death to his "Dr. Feelgood" neighbor, Enrique Lacayo, who gave him a prescription for Xanax the day before he died, and his heroin supplier, Peter Sheridan, who brought him 12 balloons of tar heroin that evening.

There were moments of high drama during the trial.

After presenting witnesses who testified Murphy's hysteria the day of Binion's death appeared "theatrical," prosecutors played a 20-minute videotape of Murphy giving a tour of Binion's home the day after his death.

The tape showed a dramatic change in Murphy's demeanor. In less than 24 hours, Murphy went from being the grieving girlfriend to the foul-mouthed greedy heir. She was observed using profanities and pointing to items she said were hers at the home.

But most importantly for prosecutors, Murphy appeared to take a wine glass from a kitchen counter-top and slip it in her purse with her back to the camera. Defense lawyers suggested Murphy had been drinking wine out of the glass that day, but prosecutors alleged the glass was used to mix the deadly Xanax cocktail that Murphy and Tabish had forced Binion to drink. Murphy laid her head on the defense table while the videotape was played.

Toward the end of the trial, the defense played the 911 audio tape on the day of Binion's death in which Murphy reported to police that "her husband stopped breathing."

Tears began to swell up in Murphy's eyes as the tape was played. And then when defense lawyers played a garbled 13-minute tape of a police detective trying to interview Murphy at the hospital the evening of Sept, 17, 1998, Murphy openly sobbed.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger later accused her of acting for the benefit of the jurors. Her suggested she laid her head down on the table and poked herself in the eyes to create tears.

Murphy was observed crying several other times during the trial, especially when photos of Binion's autopsy were shown in court. Most of the time Murphy played an active role in her defense in court, often whispering in Momot's ear and passing him notes.

Tabish, on the other hand, was much less demonstrative and rarely showed emotion. His father, Frank Tabish, a wealthy oil distributor from Missoula, Montana, was in court for every day of the trial.

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