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48 HOURS MYSTERY
Air Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010
Time Slot: 10:00 PM-11:00 PM EST on CBS
Episode Title: "BURIED SECRETS OF LAS VEGAS"
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

SEX, DRUGS, GREED AND THE BIGGEST MURDER MYSTERY IN LAS VEGAS HISTORY ON CBS NEWS "48 HOURS MYSTERY," SATURDAY, JAN. 23

It's been more than a decade since gambling tycoon Ted Binion was found dead in his Las Vegas home, but the questions still remain: how did he die, and where is all his money? Vegas headliner Wayne Newton, who knew Ted, tells 48 HOURS MYSTERY that while he believes Ted's destructive lifestyle contributed to his death, "someone got away with murder."

Ted was the son of legendary gambling impresario Benny Binion, who founded the famous Horseshoe Casino. Ted was Sin City royalty, a charismatic and brilliant casino operator, but whose millions in gaming profits fed a darker side. The easy cash also allowed him to indulge his addiction to "chasing the dragon," smoking heroin. Paranoid about his wealth, he was known to have hid at least $7 million in a buried vault among other places and it is believed that millions have never been recovered.

Before his death, Ted had taken up with a young woman from Orange County, Calif., Sandy Murphy, who shared his lavish lifestyle until September 1998, when she told police she found him dead of an apparent drug overdose. When authorities discovered Sandy was having an affair, and her lover Rick Tabish was trying to make off with Ted's buried treasure, both were charged with his murder.

Full of theatrics and unexpected twists and turns, the case would take five years and two trials for the case to come to a surprising end, yet, to this day Ted Binion's death remains one the biggest mysteries in Las Vegas history.

In an attempt to put to rest some of the unanswered questions in the case, 48 HOURS retained ground sonar experts to search the Binion estate for Ted's missing millions. The results will be revealed in the broadcast.

This broadcast is produced by James Stolz and Chris O'Connell. Al Briganti is the executive editor. Susan Zirinsky is the executive producer. CBS News 48 HOURS MYSTERY broadcasts are available on iTunes.

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