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 The BBC's David Willis"Accused of poisoning her ex-boyfriend"  real 28k  |
Prosecutors said Sandra Murphy, aged 28, and Rick Tabish, suffocated Ted Binion, 55, then tried to steal his buried fortune of silver and coins.
He was murdered for lust, for greed  |
Prosecutor David Roger
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But defence lawyers countered that the Binion family bore a grudge against Miss Murphy, and that Mr Tabish was just a friend of Mr Binion's who had his best interests at heart.
Lethal drugs
The pair are charged with killing the casino magnate on 17 September 1998, and stealing valuables from his home.
They are also accused of trying to steal about $5m from Mr Binion's desert vault, near a heavily-travelled road in Pahrump, Nevada.
Take Sandy out of the will, if she doesn't kill me tonight |
Ted Binion
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The prosecution alleges that Miss Murphy and Mr Tabish forced Mr Binion to ingest a lethal combination of heroin and the prescription drug Xanax, but were obliged to suffocate him when they were interrupted by his gardener.
Red-handed
The defence claims Mr Binion overdosed, either accidentally or in a suicide.
Both sides have well-known forensics experts to back their theories.
Mr Roger portrayed Miss Murphy, who met Mr Binion when she was 23, as a money-hungry woman who fully exploited the credit line the casino executive allowed her.
She had been written into his will, but the day before he died he allegedly told his attorney: "Take Sandy out of the will, if she doesn't kill me tonight."
Mr Tabish was deep in debt, Mr Roger said.
He was caught red-handed digging up the silver 36 hours after Mr Binion died.
Drug dealer
Sandra Murphy's attorney, John Momot, said his client loved Mr Binion and was the only one who would take care of him when he was on drugs.
He said the charges against her were "the Binion money machine at work".
Rick Tabish didn't ask for any of this. He didn't ask to be part of this nightmare |
Defence attorney Louis Palazzo
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He added that Mr Binion had obtained the heroin from his drug dealer the night before.
Mr Tabish's attorney, Louis Palazzo, told the jury that he only took Mr Binion's silver because the casino executive had asked him to, if anything should happen to him.
"Rick Tabish didn't ask for any of this," Mr Palazzo said.
"He didn't ask to be a part of this nightmare."
Miss Murphy has been out on bail thanks to a mystery Irish benefactor who put up $300,000 to secure her release.
BBC correspondent David Willis says her trial will be screened live on national television and that it looks like becoming one of the most talked-about court cases since the trial of the football player O J Simpson.
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