Binion's estate wants to sell silver fortune

LAS VEGAS - Ted Binion's estate is seeking permission from a judge to sell the former casino executive's $7 million silver fortune.

Attorney James J. Brown submitted a sworn affidavit late last week informing District Judge Joseph Bonaventure that it has cost the estate $85,000 to store and transport the silver since Binion's Sept. 17, 1998, slaying.

He said the estate is paying $200 a day to keep the 48,000 pounds of silver bars and coins under tight security.

''It is patently unfair to further punish the victim in this theft by requiring the estate to continue to incur ongoing expense for the storage of the silver and prevent the estate from deriving necessary cash proceeds from its sale,'' Brown wrote.

Bonaventure has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Thursday morning.

That's the same day two men charged with stealing the silver from an underground vault in Pahrump go before Bonaventure to learn when they will stand trial.

David Mattsen and Michael Milot were arrested with Montana contractor Rick Tabish on Sept. 19, 1998, after they had dug up the silver with heavy equipment in Pahrump.

Earlier this month Tabish and his lover, Sandy Murphy, were convicted of stealing the silver and killing the 55-year-old Binion. Murphy was Binion's live-in girlfriend.

Mattsen, who managed Binion's ranch in Pahrump, and Milot, who worked for Tabish's trucking company, are being tried separately from the murder defendants.