Paul Dougherty, a crime scene reconstructionist for 40 years, stressed the importance of preserving the scene and conducting a thorough examination for trace evidence. (Court TV)

By Laura Barandes
Court TV

The crime scene in the Ted Binion murder case was irreparably mishandled and contaminated, a defense criminologist testified Monday.

"It isn't fair because that information needs to be available — whether it's inclusive or exclusive," said Paul Dougherty, a crime scene reconstructionist for 40 years. The information to which Dougherty referred was possible hair, fiber, glass and other trace evidence at the scene of Binion's death.

Read key testimony from all defense witnesses

Defendants Sandy Murphy, Binion's live-in girlfriend, and Rick Tabish, her lover, are accused of killing the casino mogul in his home Sept. 17, 1998 to steal his money and free Murphy from her relationship with him.

Prosecutors argue that Murphy and Tabish forced heroin and Xanax down Binion's throat and then suffocated him when the gardener arrived unexpectedly. The defense contends that 55-year old Binion, a heroin addict for 20 years, died of a self-inflicted overdose, either accidentally or in an act of suicide.

"The body itself was not photographed adequately," said Dougherty, who was questioned by a new defense lawyer, Tom Pitaro. The veteran criminalist focused on the spacial relationship between Binion's body and the television in the den where he was found. In the one picture that shows the objects clearly, said Dougherty, it appears that Binion's position would have allowed him to view the television and his surveillance monitors simultaneously.

"[The remote control] was next to him as if he could change channels or something of that nature," said Dougherty.

Most significant for the defense, Dougherty testified that it appeared "[Binion] himself lay down on the mat." Based on on the position of the body, "it would be very difficult for someone to drag him into that position," said Dougherty.

Binion's home was not initially sealed off by police as a crime scene because his death was not ruled a homicide until three weeks after the fact. During that time, several individuals went into the house, affected the scene and even removed items. The defense claims that this traffic caused irreparable contamination to the crime scene and shows that important evidence for their case might have been altered or destroyed.

The prosecution, perhaps in an effort to divert attention from sloppy police work, argued that the lack of crime scene evidence is nothing but helpful to the defense. "If this was a suicide," posited lead prosecutor David Roger, "trace evidence has no relevance."

Tom Petaro is the second attorney hired by Sandy Murphy's benefactor, millionaire William Fuller, to aid lead counsel John Momot in her defense. (Court TV)

However, Dougherty answered that investigators must always look for these types of evidence, because they do not know at the time what the final outcome of the investigation will be. "You sometimes don't know the significance at the beginning," said Dougherty. "You can discard them later.

Why is the preservation of the crime scene and a careful collection of any evidence so important? Defense attorney Tom Patero answered his own question: "So that innocent people don't get convicted of murder."

In addition, the allegations of poor police work, in the minds of jurors, could spill over to other parts of the case.

On cross-examination, Roger attacked Dougherty's credentials with little success, and then accused the criminologist of not being thorough in his own examination of the case. Dougherty said that he never asked anyone about Binion's personal habits, such as whether the millionaire would lie on the floor to watch television. "Nobody said that to me," Dougherty admitted.

Roger also tried to minimize the usefulness of hair and fiber evidence possibly neglected at the crime scene. The prosecutor implied that Murphy lived in the house, so her hair at the scene would have little probative value for the case.

Dougherty seemed stunned by Roger's suggestion that collection of trace evidence in the case was not important, just because it might not make a difference in the end. "That confounds me, Counsel," he told Roger.

Nevertheless, Roger closed his questioning by asking if Dougherty thought a murderer might commonly try to stage the scene as that of a suicide. By implication, even if evidence of a suicide had been found in a more thorough investigation, that might not be conclusive proof. Dougherty reluctantly agreed.