Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish will definitely spend the next two decades in jail, but a Nevada judge could opt Friday to send the pair away for much longer than that.(Court TV)

LAS VEGAS (Court TV) —Should Ted Binion's killers die in prison or only grow old behind bars?

That's the decision facing Judge Joseph Bonaventure Friday when he sentences Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy, secret lovers convicted of murdering the casino millionaire.

A jury has already stipulated the former stripper and the Montana businessman must serve at least 20 years in prison for the actual murder of Binion, but it's up to Bonaventure to mete out prison terms for a bevy of lesser charges. If the judge takes a hard line, he could hand down sentences of up to 70 additional years, guaranteeing that Murphy, 28, and Tabish, 35, die behind bars.

The pair was convicted in May of the poisoning and suffocation murder of Binion, Murphy's 55-year-old live-in boyfriend, in a bid to steal his $50 million silver fortune and disentangle Murphy from the relationship. The case's titillating combination of sex, drugs, and money has captivated even the jaded population of this resort mecca known as Sin City. Th trial lasted two months and the players were back in court last month for what turned out to be an unsuccessful attempt by the defense to overturn the verdict and order a new trial.

The duo's fate hinges not so much on the number of years to which Bonaventure's sentence them Friday, but on whether those years are served during the murder sentence or after it.

"Consecutive or concurrent, that's the whole issue here," said Clark County District Judge Michael A. Cherry, appointed by Bonaventure to handle press inquiries about the high-profile case.

Murphy and Tabish have naturally argued for concurrent sentences since their convictions. During the penalty phase of the trial, Tabish, for example, begged jurors for the 20-year sentence, the most lenient possible, saying he could survive two decades in jail knowing he would be young enough at the time of his release to have a relationship with his children and brothers.

Bonaventure's focus will not likely be on on what's good for Tabish or Murphy. Instead, Cherry said, the judge will consider the nature of the crimes, the defendants' prior histories and their potential for rehabilitation.

In addition to the murder convictions, Murphy faces 37 years for six charges stemming from the plot to rob Binion's estate after his death. Tabish faces 70 years for those crimes and four more which sprung from a scheme he hatched to extort ownership of a gravel mine from Las Vegas businessman Leo Casey.

The fact that the crimes happened in three separate phases — the Casey plot, the actual murder, and the robbery of Binion's estate — may suggest consecutive sentences, Cherry said. It is more difficult to make the case for concurrent sentences when the crimes were planned and carried out at different times, the judge said.

Also weighing against Tabish are his prior brushes with the law. As prosecutors noted during the penalty phase, Tabish had been convicted of burglary and cocaine possession. The state is likely to argue that he has squandered the chance to rehabilitate himself in the past and will do the same if released from prison in 20 years.

Murphy and Tabish, however, will have the opportunity to make a personal case for concurrent sentences. Although neither the state nor the defense plan to call witnesses, such as Binion's daughters or the defendants' relatives, both Murphy and Tabish are expected to speak directly to the judge. They offered highly emotional testimony during the penalty phase, but it's highly unlikely either would apologize since they plan to appeal the jury's decision.

"You're not going to see any remorse because they're saying they're not guilty, but they could appear sorrowful as they did when they took the stand," said Cherry, referring to the general apologies the pair made to their families and to Binion's relatives.

— Harriet Ryan