Back in the old days, the business of murdering your spouse or loved one for the money was rather straightforward. Do the deed - or hire a hit man if you were in that socio-economic class - then collect the insurance money and run.
No such simplicity anymore, or at least there wasn't in the Ted Binion murder case that concluded this week in Las Vegas. This was a case populated by characters with names like "Bucky" and "Fat Herbie"; it featured a $6 million stash of silver bullion buried in the Nevada desert, an Irish-American former topless dancer named Sandra Murphy who was convicted of murder, and her forlorn 84-year-old Irish benefactor who believed in her innocence and helped pay for a first-class defence.
As the case ended this week, Ms Murphy and her secret lover, Rick Tabish, were convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison with the possibility of parole. They could have been sentenced to life in prison. When the jury announced its verdict, Bill Fuller, the 84-year-old Irish-born mining magnate who posted Ms Murphy's bail and voiced a desire to marry her if she was acquitted, shook his head and looked crestfallen.
The strange murder case began on September 17th, 1998 when Ted Binion (55) was found dead in his bed at his $1 million Las Vegas mansion. Beside his bed was a bottle of Xanax, a tranquiliser. An autopsy showed that he died of a combination of heroin and Xanax.
Mr Binion was a legendary figure in glitzy Las Vegas, scion of a legendary and glitzy family. His father, Benny Binion, was a gambling pioneer, founder of Binion's Horseshoe Casino.
Ted Binion took over the management of the Horseshoe and did so quite successfully. But over the years, Binion's heroin addiction grew severe. He also began to rub shoulders with mobsters, people like "Fat Herbie" Blitzein, who was shot to death in 1997. In 1986, Binion was arrested as part of an investigation into heroin trafficking. He lost his gaming licence.
It was in 1995 that Binion met Sandra Murphy (23), a former California beauty queen just arrived in Las Vegas. The city did to Murphy what it has done to countless others; it broke her, and quickly. She lost her life savings, $10,000, within a month from gambling. She took a job at Cheetah's topless bar, a favourite hangout for Binion.
Within a month of their meeting, on March 7th, 1995, Murphy had moved into Binion's mansion. Various supporting characters, such as Tom Loveday, Binion's gardener, described them as a partying and volatile couple.
Sometime in 1998, Binion and Murphy met Rick Tabish, a trucking contractor who seemed perpetually in debt. The three became friends and, prosecutors alleged, Tabish and Murphy became lovers.
Tabish and Murphy tried to convince Binion to liquidate his silver fortune, worth between $6 million and $7 million, but Binion refused because of low silver prices. Instead, he hired Tabish to build an underground vault for the stash some 60 miles outside Las Vegas. The silver was buried on July 4th, 1998.
Prosecutors argued Tabish and Murphy hatched their plot to kill Binion. Murphy would inherit the mansion, now worth $900,000, and about $300,000 in cash. She was also under the mistaken impression that she was the beneficiary of a $1 million insurance policy.
On September 16th, his last night alive, Binion purchased 12 balloons of heroin. Next afternoon, Murphy placed a frantic telephone call to emergency services, crying that her "husband" could not breath. Paramedics found Binion dead.
The case wasn't even ruled a homicide until six months later. The Binion family had been suspicious of Murphy and Tabish from the start, especially after police found Tabish and two assistants digging up the 46,000 lb of silver fewer than two days after Binion's death. They hired a private investigator, who convinced police that Binion had been murdered. On June 24th, 1999, Tabish and Murphy were charged.
The seven-week trial became a circus worthy of Las Vegas. TV gave gavel-to-gavel live coverage.
After deliberating for 68 hours over eight days, the jury convicted the couple of first degree murder. Both Murphy and Tabish appeared stunned.
During the subsequent penalty phase, Murphy cried on the stand and begged for forgiveness. Both she and Tabish's family pleaded for lenience.
The jury obliged. Instead of sending the couple to jail for life, they now have the possibility of parole in 20 years, when Murphy is 48 and Tabish will be 55. That is of little consolation to 84-year-old Mr Fuller.