Bribe in Murder Case plus Discrediting Private Investigator

[Robert Donovan]

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/net/20041105/capt.b138477c899ce262b9df1a9c7833e000
Sandy Murphy, left, and Rick Tabish

LAS VEGAS - A Missoula man and former business associate of Rick Tabish testified he was asked to pay for alibi witnesses for Tabish, accused of murdering gambling heir Ted Binion, and help find witnesses to discredit a private investigator in the case.

Jason Frazier said Wednesday that following Tabish's 1999 arrest in the death of Binion, a wealthy former casino executive, Tabish repeatedly asked him to find alibi witnesses.

Frazier said Tabish hoped one potential witness, Larry Eckhart, would give information that could clear him.

"Mr. Tabish wanted him to provide a statement for an alibi, (and) he (Eckhart) did not want anything to do with it," Frazier told jurors.

Tabish, a former contractor from Missoula, and his former lover, Sandy Murphy, are being retried on charges they killed Binion in 1998. Their original convictions were overturned by the state Supreme Court last year.

Frazier also testified Tabish asked him to contact Jim Mitchell, who worked for Tabish's MRT Transport trucking company. Tabish hoped Mitchell would testify that Tabish was at a North Las Vegas business and not at Binion's house the morning Binion died.

"We really need an affidavit from him saying we were working," Frazier said, quoting Tabish.

Frazier said Tabish implied he would pay for testimony.

In addition, Frazier said Tabish asked him to find people willing to make false accusations against Las Vegas private investigator Tom Dillard. Dillard, a former Las Vegas police homicide investigator, is credited with gathering much of the evidence against Tabish and Murphy, who was Binion's live-in girlfriend at the time.

"He wanted me to contact somebody to provide testimony against Dillard, that he'd offered witnesses some money," Frazier said.

Tabish's defense lawyer, J. Tony Serra, said there were inconsistencies in Frazier's account and noted there is nothing inappropriate about a defendant in a criminal case seeking an alibi witness.

Authorities contend Murphy and Tabish killed Binion by forcing him to ingest drugs and suffocating him. They say they were motivated by greed.

Two days after Binion's death, Tabish was caught digging up a cache of silver buried by Binion in an underground vault that Tabish had built for Binion. Authorities estimate the silver was worth $7 million.

Defense lawyers say Binion, a heroin addict, died of an accidental overdose.

Source:
http://www.citylinkz.com/argon/clickthru.php?self=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jaXR5bGlua3ouY29tL25ldmFkYS9sYXMtdmVnYXMv bmV3cy5waHA%3D&target=aHR0cDovL3d3dy50b3BpeC5uZXQvcmVkaXIvbG9jPXJzcy1zLS9odHRwPTNBPTJGPTJG d3d3Lm1pc3NvdWxpYW4uY29tPTJGYXJ0aWNsZXM9MkYyMDA0PTJGMTE9MkYwNT0yRm5ld3M9MkZ tdHJlZ2lvbmFsPTJGbmV3czA4LnR4dA%3D%3D

[B Ann Craig]

Robert, thank you for posting this story. I hope they throw the book at Rick Tabish. Too many crooks try to pay a bribe, and there are too many that will take a bribe. This hurts everyone in the long run. ;)

Have a wonderful week. Take care. :)

[Raoul P Sheridan]

Wow, this brings to mind some of the dangers of doing this job. I guess that the best way to approach this work is to always do be above reproach. I have been falsely accused before, and I know how tough it is, but I suppose in a business where you specialize in dealing with the worst sort of people it is to be expected.
Personally I think that if anyone tried to bribe me I would be so offended that they could even think I might accept it, that I wouldn’t have time to even be tempted.
I pride myself on my integrity, and have trouble even imagining myself in that situation…
I am glad to see that the PI in the story was doing the right thing, despite the accusation. It is kind of funny how quickly criminals will spout off with wild accusations against those who are responsible for catching them.

[Kristie L McKinley]

Thanks for the article. I too have been accused of things I have not done. This just makes me more aware of what criminals are capable of doing, and to the extremes they are willing to go to get away unpunished.
I will not be paranoid, but I will most certainly be alert.

[Katrina Burton Todd]

Thank you for sharing this article with us. It's a good thing that the PI was doing the right thing. It's always good to stay alert and always maintain your integrity.

[Scott M Albright -]

Authorities estimate the silver was worth $7 million.

There was about 46,000 pounds of silver if you can believe that.

"He was convicted twice in Montana, once on a burglary charge and once for conspiracy to possess narcotics — he attempted to transport cocaine to Arizona. A judge dismissed his burglary conviction after he served out his parole without incident, but the drug conviction stands." (http://www.courttv.com/trials/binion/profiles/tabish_ctv.html)

[Tiffany Eichor]

I wish I could be surprised. In my opinion, the fact that Tabish would pay for probably false testimony says that he is guilty. And I agree with Raoul about being offended at someone offering me a bribe. I have been asked to do dishonest things as recently as last month, but the bottom line is that I remember the things I do and I have to face myself everyday.

[Michael Harris]

Robert,

Great case.

I have long thought about bribes. When I was a graduate teaching assistant, the topic came up with one of the professors for whom I taught. He said that he would have been so outraged to be offered a bribe.

I have always felt that everyone has a price, but that the price for most of us is so high as to be inconceivable.

I know a few people who think that money can cure all ills and make justice bend to their wills. That kind of nonsense upsets my stomach.

[Cindy Keenan]

It's nice to hear the positive stories about private investigators, so often you hear negative views about this field. That private investigator can hold his head up high,as well as the majority of people in this field. Too bad people tend to remember more about the one bad apple than the rest of the tree.

[Tessa Davenport]

Greed and money is what's making the world so terrible today. If people would stop being so materialistic then we wouldn't have to worry about greed so much. We all need to realize that when you leave this ever corrupting world whether it be today, or tomorrow, that everything tangible is going to stay right here where you left it.
Remember that.

[Robert Elliott Samuels]

It's so nice that the media is getting a chance to discover just how ethical the majority of of PI's are.

[Ian Langley]

What happened to being innocent untill proven guilty? "Their original convictions were overturned by the state Supreme Court last year", that at least says something. I thought that P.I.'s were suppose to be subjective?

[Joyce Jameson -]

Hi,
Along with all of the other obvious reasons that this outrages me is that Tom Dillard is not only a PI he is a former Police Homicide Investigator, Without knowing him personally I would think that he spent his career building a reputation that he also carried with him into this new career, if the truth hadn't come out then all of that would have gone straight down the toilet! It just reinforces the fact that the words of one bad seed can destroy many good ones, that's why the COE is so important to follow.
Thanks for listening.
Joyce :eek:

[Mary Rose]

After reading the article and then reading the responses from forum members, I am proud to be part of the IPIU. The integrity of those that answered is incredible. Wouldn't it be nice if all people were honest...but then again, we would be out of work.

[Joyce Jameson -]

Great point Mary Rose! :D
Joyce

[Mary Rose]

Ian, if you have no use for the forums, why are you on them? I don't think the people in this organization are patting themselves on the back, I would hope that anyone that has any integrity at all, no matter what career they are in would want to be honest and do the right thing. If this isn't for you, don't waste our time with your negative comments.

[Scott Bole]

An intresting read. I'll have to look into this one a bit more...

[Mary Rose]

Scott, never did hear anything back from Ian. Hopefully he got the message that the people in these forums are here to support each other not dishout negative comments. Good luck to you.