There are so many reasons to believe that the son of Benny Binion killed himself and there are so many reasons to believe that Benny’s son, Lonnie “Ted” Binion was murdered. Unfortunately, the case seems to have died in the Las Vegas desert rather than had any real support behind it. And remember, this was a Las Vegas Legend’s son. Imagine how the city turns a cold cheek to crimes which take place where an unknown is the victim.
Ted Binion was not without faults. He was a known drug user and was known to make bad business and personal decisions throughout his adult life. Contrary to what his sister Becky would have the public and the media believe, he did not get along with Becky Binion Behnen or her husband. However, it is doubtful if sister Becky and her family were his only substantial enemies. Ted Binion, after all, coveted life in the fast lane and so he possibly met up with his share of undesirables. Nick Behnen was possibly one that hated Ted the most but could he have murdered Ted Binion or could he have hired someone to do it? Media hints at that possibility yet the real trial was for someone else.
Ted’s live-in girlfriend, Sandy Murphy and a man that Binion had hired to build a vault to hide silver for him , Rick Tabish, became the focus of media attention and ultimately were accused for the murder of Ted Binion. While it certainly looked like the city of Las Vegas had their guy ( and gal ), the evidence was too weak to hold them and other evidence seemed to be too insignificant to pursue.
What seems so surprising to people outside of Las Vegas is the fact that no one seemed to pursue other likely candidates for the murder of Ted Binion. Sister Becky and her husband seemed to escape any notion of foul play but yet they were known to be arch rivals of Ted’s. When Becky visited Ted’s grave, there was media attention that she was thought to have provoked casting yet another shadow of doubt in her hand in this. There are also other factors that surround the case of Ted Binion’s murder.
Binion had notorious connections to the underworld through his heroine addictions. He was paranoid about losing his life and many thought that the people he feared were connected to his drug activity. And many thought that Tabish and Murphy were his executioners.
Interestingly, there are casino games events surrounding the murder or death , whichever you prefer to call it , of Ted Binion which have held some significant meaning behind them that will never fully be investigated because of the bingo players involved. The confrontations involving a long time friend of Ted and Jack Binion, Bob Stupak and young Benny Behnen at a restaurant called Piero’s had significant meaning in the case but no one pressured Behnen or Stupak into telling the whole truth about the scene. Stupak’s daughter was bruised during the assault of which Benny Behnen was allegedly a part of and there were other ignored pieces of evidence. What about the tapes that were on file with alleged conversations between Ted Binion and Nick Behnen?
If you really want to have a mystery, think about this one: Stu Ungar died on November 22, 1998. Quickly, his death was ruled accidental but he had a deadly mixture of narcotics and pain killers which supposedly triggered a heart condition causing his death. On September 17, 1998, only 35 days before Ungar’s death, Ted Binion died from a lethal drug cocktail. Does anyone see anything strange about this at all? These two guys were Las Vegas legends in their own right with identical habits and both men had several free bingo friends in common. Why this wasn’t explored more can only be attributed to how neatly Las Vegas swept the death of Ungar under the rug. Could it be that if you found the last person to see Ungar or Binion alive that he or she may be an important player in all of this Las Vegas mystery?
There were so many reasons to believe that the demise of Ted Binion was because of greed within a dysfunctional and highly powerful family, yet no one cared to check out the validity of the evidence which kept coming to the surface. One thing is increasing clear after the Ted Binion case has now seen many days in court—What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas and Vegas will always protect its own—as long as they are among the living.
