Pubdate: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press Author: Robert Macy WAYWARD HEIR'S DEATH A HOMICIDE LAS VEGAS (AP) The wayward heir to a casino fortune who died in September after burying $4 million in silver bars and coins was killed with a heroin and prescription drug overdose administered by someone else, the coroner said. Family and friends of Ted Binion had been saying for months that the 55-year-old man who had lost his gambling license because of a drug problem would not have taken an overdose himself or committed suicide. Investigators would not say how the drugs were administered or whether they had a suspect, only that Binion was killed by someone else. "There are numerous scenarios," Clark County Coroner Ron Flud said Tuesday. "We're not to the point we're going to comment on any of the scenarios." However, lawyers for Binion's girlfriend, 27-year-old former topless dancer Sandy Murphy, said they think their client may be a suspect. "She hasn't been designated a target," David Chesnoff said Tuesday. "But I would be an incompetent lawyer if I didn't think she was the target of law enforcement interests." Binion's sister, Becky Behnen, owner of the family's Horseshoe hotel-casino, had been pushing police to treat the Sept. 17 death as a homicide. Binion's brother, Jack Binion, executor of his estate, increased a reward for the killer from $25,000 to $100,000 after Monday's ruling. The homicide ruling comes just days before three men are to appear in court on charges they removed $4 million in silver bars and coins Binion had buried in a vault just a few feet from a heavily traveled road in Pahrump, about 65 miles west of Las Vegas. Richard Tabish, Michael David Milot and David Lee Mattsen were arrested as they loaded the silver onto a truck before daybreak on Sept. 19, two days after Binion's death. The three are due in court for a preliminary hearing Friday on charges of burglary, larceny and conspiracy. They have refused to answer questions. Binion, whose father, Benny Binion, came here from Texas to fulfill his dream of owning a casino, had an estate valued at $30 million. Ms. Murphy has said she found her boyfriend dead in front of his television, a comforter draped about him. The coroner found a lethal dose of heroin and Xanax in Binion's stomach. According to Binion's lawyer, Richard Wright, Binion thought Ms. Murphy was having an affair with Tabish. Wright said Binion called him two days before his death and asked that Ms. Murphy be removed from his will. A judge refused to acknowledge the change because Binion was not present when it was made. Wright said Binion expressed fear for his life at the time he changed the will. Since the death, Ms. Murphy has been involved in a legal battle with Binion's family over what she says is her share of his estate, including a $900,000 house and $300,000 in cash. Ms. Murphy refused to answer some 200 questions posed to her in the civil case last month, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. - --- MAP posted-by: Patrick Henry