KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasBinion Murder Retrial Day Five

Binion Murder Retrial Day Five

(Oct. 20) -- Did people know about the alleged plot to kill Ted Binion before the casino executive was found dead? That's the testimony that the jury heard Wednesday from several witnesses in the case against Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish. But the defense questioned the motives of one of those witnesses, as she got paid for her testimony in the first Binion murder trial.

Three people who worked in salons testified Wednesday. Each person had information about a possible murder plot against Binion before he died. But the witnesses only came forward with that information, after Binion died.

Deanna Perry, a former manicurist at the Neiman Marcus salon, testified that while Sandy Murphy was getting her nails done a week before Ted Binion's death, Murphy predicted that Binion would die of a heroin overdose. Perry said that Murphy also bragged about her younger, good looking boyfriend, Richard, who she planned on taking to some high-profile parties, after Binion died.

But the defense tried to discredit Perry by saying that she didn't come forward with that information until the Binion family offered reward money. Perry ultimately received $20,000 for her testimony in the first trial, in which Murphy and Tabish were convicted.

But the prosecution called other witnesses to the stand Wednesday who corroborated Perry's statements from the salon. The third salon employee, Michael Barger, is a stylist in Missula, Montana. He met Murphy when Tabish brought her to his hometown a month after Binion's death.

Barger also knew Kurt Gratzer, who claimed that Tabish asked him to kill Binion in exchange for money. Barger confirmed that story on the stand. "I got to get away from this guy because he wants me to kill a guy in Vegas who owes him money."

The defense tried to poke holes in the witnesses' testimony by claiming that they got the stories confused, and that Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish never said they were going to kill Ted Binion.

You can watch continuing live coverage of the Binion murder re- trial on our sister station Las Vegas One. That's Cox cable channel 19.