What happened to Casino Mogul Ted Binion’s money?
Investigators have been working on the murder of Las Vegas casino mogul Ted Binion for more than two decades, but the case remains unsolved.
On Dateline’s What Happened in Vegas segment on January 14, journalist Keith Morrison will review Binion’s 1998 death.
As Ted Binion, Lonnie Theodore Binion was born on November 28, 1943 in Dallas, Texas and rose to prominence as a gaming executive and philanthropist.
The Binions were suspected of being involved in a lot of illegal activities behind the scenes.
In September 1998, Ted, 54, was found dead in his Las Vegas residence.
What was Ted Binion’s cause of death?
Ted Binion found dead on the floor of Ted’s Las Vegas estate property on Rancho Drive and Charleston Boulevard on September 17, 1998.
He was found dead by Sandy Murphy, his then-girlfriend, who called 911.
In the bathroom, she found an empty Xanax bottle and heroin paraphernalia, indicating that he died from an accidental overdose or suicide, according to the woman who claims to have found him.
Ted was depressed, according to Murphy, since he had lost his gaming licence earlier that year, allegedly due to his family’s participation in organised crime.
Xanax and heroin were found in Ted’s body two weeks after his death, testing results revealed.
Ted’s friends and family, on the other hand, were doubtful because they knew he only used Xanax to quit heroin and would not have taken them together. Furthermore, he preferred to smoke rather than take heroin.
Binion and Murphy had a rocky relationship, which made Murphy suspicious.
She was having an affair with Rick Tabish, a friend and business associate of his, whom he paid a private investigator to locate before he died.
In March 1999, the cause of Binion’s death was determined to be homicide, and two months later, according to the Los Angeles Times, Murphy and Tabish were arrested for his murder.
They were convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2000, however the decision was later reversed on appeal in 2004.
Was Ted Binion’s money stolen?
After Ted’s death and subsequent incarceration, Bonnie, Ted’s daughter, received a share of his vault’s silver.
Private investigator Tom Dillard relied on her testimony as a witness to Sandy’s criminal conduct.
Sandy “threatened to hit me a lot of times,” according to Bonnie. She’d certainly get in my face if she tried it. She’d shout at me for sure…
“At first, she started doing it in front of my father, and then she started getting where she would wait ‘till he was gone and start speaking for him and putting me in a really bad position.”
Most of Ted’s vault’s riches, according to sources, have remained unclaimed in the courts.
However, Ted’s estate has been accused of concealing large sums of cash and priceless gems, although no proof has been shown to support these claims.
In addition to the vault’s contents, Bonnie was entitled to a sizable chunk of her father’s estate.