In addition to murder charges, prosecutors are now investigating Rick Tabish for allegedly plotting from behind bars to bribe alibi witnesses. (AP Photo)

Rick Tabish was arrested on June 24, 1999 in connection with the then-alleged murder of millionaire casino figure Ted Binion in Las Vegas. Tabish, 34, was discovered with two associates trying to dig up more than 46,000 pounds of silver from Binion's desert vault only two days after Binion died.

Sporting a comfortable outfit of jeans and a casual shirt, Tabish stood outside Binion's home and told reporters that he had no idea what had happened to his friend and would only say that it was a tragedy. A well-known drug abuser, Binion's death was initially ruled a self-inflicted overdose until his connected Las Vegas family hired private investigator Tom Dillard to search for evidence of foul play.

On September 17, 1998, paramedics found 55-year-old Binion dead in his Las Vegas home, next to an empty bottle of Xanax. The first medical report indicated that Binion had a died of a deadly mixture of the prescription sedative and large amounts of tar heroin.

Soon, however, police began to piece together a story far more complicated than that of a simple overdose. The prosecution's medical examiner, Dr. Michael Baden, has advanced the theory that Binion was force-fed the drug mixture — which did not kill him, but made him disoriented — and then suffocated. Speculation that Tabish, who had become friends with Binion in early 1998, was somehow involved in Binion's death was buoyed by his attempt to gain possession of the silver.

As luck would have it, Tabish, a struggling entrepreneur, befriended one of the richest men in Vegas — Ted Binion — in a urinal at one of Sin City's most posh eateries.

In June of that year, Tabish and Binion's live-in girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, suggested that Binion should liquidate his silver fortune — Binion wanted to get it out of the casino before his sister, Becky, took possession. But Binion was not receptive to the idea, reportedly because of silver prices at the time. Instead, he enjoined Tabish to construct an underground vault on the property of his desert ranch in the nearby town of Pahrump.

During the summer of 1998, as her relationship with Binion began to deteriorate, investigators believe Murphy began an affair with Tabish. In pre-trial testimony, an acquaintance said Tabish bragged about his liaisons with Murphy. "He said that Binion's drunk and knocked out on drugs most of the time and he couldn't really perform," said the former Tabish business associate. "[Tabish said] he was f***ing Sandra Murphy all the time and she was loving it."

Meanwhile, Tabish continued to lose money on weak business deals. He owned a struggling sandpit and trucking company, MRT, that kept him deep in debt. Prosecutors say his constant cash-strapped status was the perfect motive to kill Ted Binion.

In addition to charges stemming from Binion's death, Tabish and two others, Steven Wadkins and John Joseph, are charged with kidnapping and torturing business associate Leo Casey in July 1998. According to Casey, Tabish and Wadkins assaulted him until he signed papers admitting he embezzled from Joseph. Murphy, also charged in the attack, was cleared for lack of evidence on Feb. 28 — the same day Judge Bonaventure refused to dismiss charges against Tabish and Murphy stemming from Binion's death. Tabish was convicted on all charges.

And there were other hazards for Tabish at trial. Kurt Gratzer, a long-time friend, testified that Tabish asked for his help to murder Binion.

In addition, prosecutors were looking at more charges against Tabish for allegedly plotting from behind bars to bribe witnesses to provide him with an alibi defense for the Binion case. Jason Lee Frazier, arrested Feb. 14 on a material witness warrant, testified that he paid a man known only as "Ishma" $2,000 up front to locate alibi witnesses for Tabish.

"[Tabish said] he was f***ing Sandra Murphy all the time and she was loving it," a pre-trial witness testified.

Last October, Tabish's wife, Mary Jo, filed a letter in court, beseeching the judge to grant her husband bail. She blamed the powerful Binion family and the media for creating a presumption of guilt and wrote that her family was running out of money without their primary wage-earner. The Tabishes have two children, Amanda, 5, and Kyle, 2.

Mary Jo Tabish, who lives in Missoula, Mont., has kept a low profile since her husband's arrest and made no mention of the allegations that her husband was engaged in a sexual relationship with Murphy. During hearings, courtroom cameras have captured Tabish and Murphy, who have appeared together several times in pre-trial hearings, exchanging smiles.

After the murder convictions were handed down, Mary Jo Tabish filed for divorce.

And this is not Tabish's first run-in with the law. 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.

—Laura Barandes