HOME PAGE
|
Tuesday, September 22, 1998
Police probe Ted Binion's buried silver
Nye County authorities arrest three men who were in the process of digging up $1 million worth of silver.
By Joe Schoenmann
Review-Journal
Las Vegas police are investigating a possible romantic relationship between the girlfriend of Lonnie "Ted" Binion, found dead last week in his Las Vegas home, and one of three men caught digging up a vault of Binion's silver in Pahrump.
Rick Tabish, Mike Milot and David Madsen were taken into custody early Saturday on suspicion of grand larceny, and more arrests are expected in connection with the buried silver, according to the Nye County sheriff's Department.
"We're looking at one person in Pahrump and maybe a few in Las Vegas," said Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke.
The arrests stem from the silver hoard that belonged to Binion, 55, who was found dead Thursday on the floor of his Palomino Lane home. An empty bottle of prescription sedatives was found next to his body, and the Clark County coroner is awaiting toxicology results before declaring a cause of death.
While Binion's death initially looked like an accidental or intentional overdose, Las Vegas Homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said Monday, "A number of interesting facts have come to light."
He confirmed detectives are looking into a possible relationship between Binion's girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, and Tabish, who was found digging up the estimated $1 million worth of silver bars and coins in Pahrump.
"It's interesting and maybe even suspicious," Petersen said. "But I don't think it makes it a homicide."
Police also have learned that Tabish, who comes from a well-to-do family in Missoula, Mont., has a criminal background. He served about three years in prison for a drug conviction in 1988.
In Las Vegas, secretary of state records show that Tabish and his wife, Mary Joe, who lives in Missoula, had incorporated three businesses in December 1997 -- MRT Leasing of Nevada, MRT Transportation of Nevada and MRT Contracting -- and another business, MRT Transport, in March of this year. Rick Tabish is listed as the president, while his wife is treasurer and secretary.
Lieseke, who called himself a close friend to Binion, said Tabish befriended Binion about a year ago. Then about six months ago, Lieseke has learned, Binion hired Tabish to build an underground vault in which to bury the silver.
The silver came from the Horseshoe casino. The Gaming Control Board gave Binion permission to remove $5 million worth of the precious metal, and he used a semi-trailer truck to haul it away in February.
Binion buried the lode after the same regulators revoked his gaming license and ordered him to sell his 20 percent interest in the Horseshoe.
And that's where the silver sat -- until Saturday morning.
It was about 3 a.m. when Nye County Sgt. Ed Howard found Tabish with Milot, who worked for Tabish, and Madsen, manager of Binion's ranch, using a mechanical shovel to dig, a crane to lift and a flatbed truck to carry.
It was right across the street from the Terrible Herbst convenience store, the same place where several town residents saw something being buried about six months earlier, Lieseke said. "But they didn't know what was being buried."
When Howard confronted Tabish, Lieseke said, Tabish responded, "The sheriff knows we're doing this."
The day after Binion's death, Lieseke confirmed, he received a phone call from Tabish, a man he had never met.
"He said he had instructions from Ted that if anything ever happened to him, that (Tabish) was to collect the assets that were his and Ted's," Lieseke said. Lieseke was somewhat surprised at the call because he said he had no authority one way or the other in the matter.
"I never told him he can or no, he can't," Lieseke said. "I certainly never knew this vault existed."
In hindsight, Lieseke thinks Tabish might have been "trying to lend legitimacy to what they were doing" by calling ahead of time.
After the three were arrested, Lieseke said he hired a private security company to haul away the silver in an armored vehicle.
"There's a lot of people who would kill you, who would even kill a police officer, for that kind of money," he said.
Give us your FEEDBACK on this or any story.
Fill out our Online Readers' Poll
|
Rick Tabish was at the home of Ted Binion on Thursday after the former gaming executive was found dead. Tabish has been arrested in connection with buried silver in Pahrump that belonged to Binion.
Photo by Craig L. Moran.
|
