Prosecution calls for life without parole for murder defendants

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Sandra Murphy and Rick Tabish committed the ''ultimate crime'' in killing gambler Ted Binion and should pay the ultimate price of life in prison, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Prosecutors called 12 witnesses to raise questions about the character of Murphy and Tabish, who were convicted of first-degree murder Friday in Binion's death.

Jurors who convicted the two lovers must now recommend a penalty on the murder charge.

Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger said the jurors have three options - life without the possibility of parole, life with the possibility of parole after 20 years, or a 50-year sentence with parole possible after 20 years.

''They have committed the ultimate crime,'' Roger told the jury of nine women and three men. ''Guilt or innocence is no longer an issue.

''You're going to hear a little about Ted Binion the person, not Ted Binion the heroin addict,'' the prosecutor said. Binion lost his gambling license over allegations of drug use and associations with a mob figure.

Roger listed the three penalty options for jurors and said the state of Nevada believed there was only one appropriate punishment - life without parole for the pair who were accused of forcing Binion to ingest a lethal dose of heroin and the prescription drug Xanax and then suffocating him on Sept. 17, 1998.

Murphy's attorney, John Momot, promised he would produce witnesses to show his client is ''not who she is portrayed by the state.'' Those witnesses will be called Wednesday.

Momot and Tabish attorney Louis Palazzo have said they were uncertain whether they would put their clients on the stand. Neither testified in the six-week trial.

Palazzo said the prosecution would try to turn the penalty hearing into ''bash Rick day.'' He said prosecutors would seek to delve into problems that Tabish, a Missoula, Mont., contractor, had in his ''childhood'' years, including a drug conviction, three fights and the theft of an expensive painting.

Larry Jackson, a detective with the Missoula County sheriff's office, told of Tabish's role in the theft of a painting from a Missoula attorney's home in December 1985. Tabish returned the painting and the case was resolved without him serving time. Jackson said the painting was appraised at $600,000, but Palazzo said it was worth $50,000.

A Missoula County detective, Rick Newlon, told of Tabish's arrest on a charge of possessing a controlled substance, which was shipped via Federal Express between Phoenix and Missoula. Tabish pleaded guilty on the drug charge and served time in prison.

Missoula residents Jack Galahan, Donald Persicke and Steve Bryan testified about a fight they had with Tabish outside a Montana bar in July 1985. All three said Galahan was struck by Tabish without provocation.

Joe Gonzaque, a Binion family friend for 35 years, said he went to Binion's home one night and was given a fighting knife that included spikes and a rounded blade.

Gonzaque said Binion told him he had fought with Murphy the night before.

''He said to take it home because the bitch pulled it on him,'' Gonzaque testified.

Gonzaque described Binion as ''likable, very smart, except for that dope he was using.''

Binion's ex-wife, Doris, wept as Gonzaque testified. The Binions' daughter, Bonnie, put her arm around her mother, then later held her hand to comfort her.

Stan White, an agent with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, testified that Murphy received rides in limousines owned by the family's Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas at a time she was supposed to be under house arrest in Jordan, Mont. She was completing provisions of probation on a California driving under the influence charge.

Prosecutors had planned to call three of Binion's siblings to provide a personal glimpse of Binion. Instead, they called only Binion's daughter, Bonnie, who tearfully told how her father taught her to play poker, ride a horse and fish.

''Most kids get a kiss and a hug when they leave for school, but I couldn't leave a room without ...,'' she said, breaking down in tears before finishing the sentence. ''Without a hug and a kiss.''

Bonnie, 19, recalled how she and her father would watch Sesame Street together when she was younger and how he was like a second father to her friends.

''He would always tell me: 'I love you so much that it makes the angels in heaven jealous,' '' she said.