Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd
Contact:  http://www.scotsman.com/
Forum: http://www.scotsman.com/
Author: Tim Cornwell in Los Angeles

LAS VEGAS CASINO TYCOON ‘FED FATAL DOSE OF HEROIN’

THE mysterious death of Lonnie "Ted" Binion, an exotic figure in Las
Vegas’s best known casino dynasty, has been officially ruled a
homicide by a coroner.

The ruling capped the mounting suspicion focused on the dead man’s
girlfriend, a former topless dancer, and an employee who might have
been her lover.

Mr Binion’s body was found at his Las Vegas estate on 17 September
last year, in a death with all the trappings of a drug overdose. But
foul play was soon suspected in a case with all the twists and turns
of a cheap crime novel, which has electrified the country’s gambling
mecca.

Mr Binion was a long-time drug user and known to smoke heroin, but a
post-mortem examination discovered heroin in his stomach, fuelling
suspicion he could have been fed a fatal dose.

"You tell me," said the Clark County coroner, Ron Flud, announcing his
homicide ruling, "How do you inhale and get it in your stomach?"

Mr Binion, 55, was the younger son of Benny Binion, founder of the
Horseshoe Casino, established shortly after the war and famous as an
old-style gambling joint where the sky was the limit for bets.

Stories of the Binion family’s massive wealth, and rumours of its
Mafia connections, are part of Las Vegas legend.

Ted Binion left family business mostly to his older brother Jack, but
was celebrated for his fast lifestyle and friends in organised crime.

Mr Binion’s death was reported by his girlfriend, a Cheetah Lounge
dancer, Sandra Murphy, 25. An autopsy determined that he died from
ingesting lethal amounts of heroin and the prescription sedative
Xanax, and drug paraphernalia was found in his bathroom.

But surveillance cameras at his million-dollar home had been
disconnected days earlier. Questions were raised over the time of his
death, and his lawyer announced that just the day before Mr Binion had
asked to cut Ms Murphy out of his will, which had left her the house
and $300,000 (UKP185,000).

Ms Murphy is now fighting a court battle with Mr Binion’s executors,
who want his estate to go entirely to his daughter.

A few days later Rick Tabish, a Binion employee with a criminal
history of drug trafficking and art theft, was found by police in the
dead of night retrieving $4 million worth of silver from the dead
man’s vault.

In early February, Ms Murphy and Tabish took the Fifth Amendment,
electing not to answer questions in court about coins and other
valuables missing from Mr Binion’s home.

Both denied reports of a romantic link. Later that month police
arrived at Ms Murphy’s flat to search for evidence of an affair,
including Armani and Gucci clothing she was thought to have given
Tabish. Instead, they found Ms Murphy and Tabish together, alone, at
7am. Detectives called it "very intriguing".

Las Vegas police, in a public investigation, have not been shy of
dropping heavy hints about their suspicions. Lawyers for the two have
fired back, insisting they were merely good friends. Lieutenant Wayne
Petersen, at a press conference announcing the coroner’s verdict,
refused to name suspects but said: "It’s fairly obvious to all of us
who was present and who had motive and opportunity."

Detectives are now focusing on Linda Carroll, a friend of Ms Murphy,
who told authorities she had information about the death and then
dropped from sight.
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