Maria Montoya-Gascoigne, Ted Binion's housekeeper, testified that Sandy Murphy told her not to come to work the day of Binion's death. (Court TV)

Las Vegas (Court TV) — The jurors in the Ted Binion murder case reviewed Wednesday the testimony of the casino mogul's housekeeper, Mary Montoya-Gascoigne. Jurors also requested a review of the housekeeper's cross-examination by Louis Palazzo, the attorney for co-defendant Rick Tabish.

Sandra Murphy and her lover Tabish are accused of killing Binion in an attempt to steal his money and free Murphy from an allegedly abusive relationship with the millionaire.

Montoya-Gascoigne testified April 14 that defendant Sandy Murphy ordered her to leave early the day before Binion's death, and told her not to come in the next day. However, jurors weren't interested in such explosive testimony. They asked the judge in a note Tuesday instead to play her testimony up to the point where the housekeeper says Murphy asked her to leave.

The testimony the jurors re-heard Wednesday on audiotape centered on the maid's identification of who was at the house on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 1998, the day before Binion died. Specifically, Montoya-Gascoigne testified that Tabish was at the Binion house that Wednesday.

According to Montoya-Gascoigne, Binion paid Tabish in cash that day, for "doing a job for him."

Tabish was discovered and arrested in the early hours of Sept. 19, 1998, as he unearthed the nearly 46,000 pounds of silver Binion had buried in an underground vault in Pahrump. Binion had been dead for less than two days.

Tabish told the suspicious officers who arrived at the scene that he was acting on orders of the late casino mogul; according to Tabish, Binion said to dig up the silver immediately if he died and put it in a trust for his daughter, Bonnie.

Palazzo told Court TV that the jurors' concern about Tabish's business dealings with Binion was good for his client. Jurors, however, also might be trying to place where Tabish was at the time of the murder.

The jury foreman also requested a readback of Palazzo's cross-examination, specifically the part about "when Mary [sic] M. G. went to Horseshoe approx. 2 weeks after Ted's death to the point where Mary M.G. saw Ted Binion's 'sleeping mat' on floor."

The housekeeper said she had seen Binion use a sleeping mat only once; he told her he used it to massage Murphy. Prosecutors contend that Binion was moved onto his sleeping mat when he was killed, whereas the defense argues Binion routinely used the mat.

Palazzo had Montoya-Gascoigne concede that she only saw Binion do drugs in her presence once. She said Binion spread the drug on a piece of foil, held a flame underneath and inhaled the smoke.

Binion used herion all the time, Palazzo said, and he questioned why the housekeeper had only once seen him use drugs. Palazzo was suggesting that just because Montoya-Gascoigne only once saw the mat in use, doesn't mean Binion rarely used it.

Nine women and six men have been deliberating for about 50 hours. They received the case last Wednesday. They must consider a total of 17 charges, contained in 11 counts. Murphy and Tabish are charged with Binion's murder and the theft of his silver, and Tabish is also charged with extorting and kidnapping Las Vegas businessman Leo Casey. Yesterday they sent a letter to the judge to reassure him that jurors were a "cohesive unit."

"We feel we're moving in the right direction," wrote the jury foremam, "taking the time required to give the defendants a fair and just trial by this jury!"