Ted Binion's housekeeper said she did not call 911 when Sandy Murphy was screaming for help during a fight. (Court TV)

By Laura Barandes
Court TV

If Ted Binion really had been suicidal, his housekeeper testified Monday, the millionaire would have paid her before killing himself.

Mary Montoya-Gascoigne echoed other state witnesses who have claimed Binion would never have taken his own life. The defense contends the casino mogul overdosed intentionally.

"He would have paid me," Montoya-Gascoigne told the court.

Binion's girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, and her lover, Rick Tabish are accused of killing the gaming titan on Sept. 17, 1998 in a bid to steal his silver fortune and free Murphy from their allegedly abusive relationship.

Montoya-Gascoigne, who previously testified about strange behavior on Murphy's part the day before the alleged murder, told the court Monday about property missing from Binion's house after his death.

Defense attorneys, however, suggested that it was Binion's daughter, not Murphy, who took items from the house. They attacked Montoya-Gascoigne's credibility, painting her as yet another person who stood idly by as Murphy tried to help Binion battle his drug addiction.

The housekeeper described a close, loyal relationship with Binion and his family. She recalled him promising that "he would take care of me...when I got old." Even after his death, Montoya-Gascoigne said, she borrowed money from Binion's sister, Becky Behnan, to make ends meet.

On Oct. 7, 1998, less than a month after Binion's death, the housekeeper toured the home "to see if anything was missing or out of place or different," she said. The list of missing items she compiled included various coins and pocket watches. The housekeeper also said that Binion's bed was made in a different manner from the way she had left it the day before he died.

However, defense attorneys noted that Binion's daughter was responsible for removing the pocket watches, some pictures and other valuables from the house on Sept. 18, 1998.

Under cross-examination, Gascoigne also admitted that Murphy and Binion caught her in their house upon returning from a trip to Pahrump on the evening of March 17, 1998. The housekeeper, whose husband was also there drinking a beer, was on the phone when Murphy and Binion walked in unexpectedly. Montoya-Gascoigne testified that she was simply worried about the couple because they had been gone for so long, and that her phone call was to Pahrump to check on them.

But Murphy, the housekeeper admitted, was angry and took back the housekeeper's keys to the estate. "She just took 'em off my key chain," Montoya-Gascoigne testified.

Also under cross-examination, Montoya-Gascoigne admitted while she never saw any domestic violence in the home, she heard Binion and Murphy arguing frequently and once ignored a scream from Murphy to call 911. When asked why she did not come to Murphy's aid, the housekeeper answered that "[Binion] told me not to."

Montoya-Gascoigne also recalled Binion unloading ammunition from guns he kept in the house. He explained to her that he did not want Murphy to have access to them when she was angry, Montoya-Gascoigne testified.

According to the housekeeper, most of the arguments centered on Binion's drug use. "They argued about it because she didn't want him to do it," said Montoya-Gascoigne.

Montoya-Gascoigne also testified that the home's extensive surveillance system wasn't working two days before the murder because the millionaire himself had broken it. "Yes," said Montoya-Gascoigne, "you just couldn't record [from the cameras]."

The prosecution has suggested the lack of surveillance recordings from the night of Binion's death is suspicious.

Montoya-Gascoigne's second day of testimony was less-explosive than the first when she testified that Murphy instructed her not to come into work the day of Binion's death. The defense did not delve into that piece of testimony.