Sandy Murphy collapsed into sobs as her lawyers played the 911 call she made the day Ted Binion died. (Court TV)

By Laura Barandes
Court TV

Jurors in the Ted Binion murder case listened to Sandy Murphy's cries live and on tape Thursday morning. Murphy's lawyers played recordings of her 911 call and interview with police so that jurors could hear the hysteria in her voice the day Binion died.

Murphy broke down on the defense table as she listened with jurors.

Read Complete Transcript of Sandy Murphy's Interview the Day Ted Binion Died

The defense first played the short 911 call Sandy Murphy made at approximately 4 p.m. on Sept. 17, 1998. Jurors heard her high-pitched voice, crying, "my husband's not breathing...he needs..." before abruptly hanging up the phone.

Binion was already dead when paramedics arrived minutes later. Las Vegas firefighter paramedic Steven Reincke testified earlier that Murphy met them in the driveway.

"She came screaming, running up to us, 'he's not breathing,'" Riencke testified. "She was pretty hysterical." The paramedic said Murphy informed them she was Binion's wife and that she had last seen him that morning.

At one point, testified the paramedic, Murphy ran into the room and "just about dove on the body." She later had to be taken to the hospital for trauma. "She went from silent sobs to hysterics," said Reincke, "It was cyclic."

The phone was constantly ringing right next to the body, Murphy was screaming, Metro police arrived, and "the scene became chaotic," Reincke testified.

The second tape the defense played Thursday was from an interview Murphy gave to police at 7 p.m. the same day. Murphy's crying rendered most of her words incoherent, so jurors were most likely left with only the sound of her sobs.

And that is exactly what the defense wants.

Prosecutors have alleged that Murphy, whom they claim killed Binion, was faking her emotional distress. They put nurses from the hospital where Murphy was sent for treatment on the stand earlier in the case, all of whom said Murphy seemed to be "over-theatrical."

The prosecution has also pointed to a videotaped inventory Murphy made of the house, just one day after Binion died, in which she appears more focused on possessions than on her supposed feelings of loss for Binion.

Now that jurors have heard Murphy's own voice, ripped straight from Sept. 17, 1998, they will have to decide what to believe.