Ted Binion

Upon further investigation, Buczek also learned additional information that showed that Binion had become even more suspicious that Sandy was cheating on him than investigators had originally thought.

Buczek discovered that Binion had sought the assistance of a surveillance expert on Saturday, September 12, 1998, only five days before his death, the weekend that Sandy and Rick were in Beverly Hills together.  Binion, Buczek learned, had previously hired Brad Parry to install a video surveillance system at Binions Palomino Lane home.  The surveillance system consisted of eight cameras situated on the exterior of the house, each connected to a television monitor in Binions den and another in his bedroom, and the entire system was connected to a video recorder.  The surveillance system had worked fine up until this point.

Binion had seen a truck parked outside his home recently, and was concerned that Sandy may have had contact with the trucks owner or driver.  When he tried to view the surveillance tapes, he discovered that there was something wrong with the system and had called Parry because he had installed it and was familiar with how it operated.  The buttons were all jammed, like someone had deliberately pressed them all down at once, and they had become stuck in that position.  Binion asked Parry to see if he could get the recorder to play the tape but he, too, was unable to do so.  He told Binion that he would have to take it into the shop for repairs.

Buczek recalled that when technicians had processed Binions home following his death, they had found that several wires had been disconnected from the security system making the system inoperable for its intended purposes.  He considered that the fact that Parry had been in the process of removing the system from Binions home at that time might serve to explain why the technicians had found several of the wires removed.  It didnt, however, explain the damage that had been done to the recorder.

Binion, Buczek learned, had asked Parry if he could install a hidden recording device on Sandys telephone, so that he could monitor all of her calls.  Parry told him that he could, and indicated that he would need to buy the equipment.  Binion provided him with money to purchase the equipment.

Parry returned to Binions home on Tuesday, September 15, to finish disconnecting the surveillance recorder so that he could take it to his shop for repairs.  Sandy had returned from her trip to California by this time, and was home when Parry arrived.  She made it known to him that she was aware that he and Binion had been attempting to view the surveillance tapes, and she indicated to him that she knew what was on them but did not say what information they contained.

When Sandy had returned from her trip to Beverly Hills, Binion, suspecting that Sandy had been cheating on him, had confronted her about where she had been all weekend long.  She had told Binion that she had been in California visiting relatives that weekend, but he had not believed her.

While inside Binions home, Parry noted that someone, presumably Sandy Murphy, had installed or had hired someone to install audio recording devices that would allow her to monitor all of the phone call activity at Binions home.  The tape recorders that were connected to the recording devices were found inside Sandys bedroom.  Parry removed the surveillance recorder and took it with him.

As a result, the surveillance system was out of commission for the next several days, including the day that Binion died.  With the system now useless for all intents and purposes, there were no surveillance tapes for the police to use in determining who came and went at Binions home the night before Binion died or on the day of his death and they were left wondering whether the recorder had been deliberately damaged to prevent its use on the days in question.