LAS VEGAS — At 3:55 p.m. on Sept. 17, 1998, Sandra Murphy made a frantic 911 call to report that her "husband," casino heir Ted Binion, "wasn't breathing."

But a paramedic who responded to the house exactly two minutes later told jurors Friday that Binion's lifeless body was already exhibiting signs of rigor mortis by the time he arrived.

"He was ashen. All the blood had drained from his face," said Steven Reincke of the Las Vegas Fire Department, who found Binion dead on top of a sleeping bag in the den with a blanket pulled up to his chest.

Investigators initially thought the 55-year-old heroin addict had died from an overdose of heroin and Xanax, which he had purchased the day before.

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Six months later, his cause of death was changed to homicide.

Now Murphy, 32, and her former lover, Rick Tabish, 39, are on trial for his murder, accused of killing Binion in an alleged plot to steal his millions in silver buried in a desert vault that Tabish helped him to build.

The co-defendants admit they were having an affair, but deny any involvement in Binion's death.

In 2000, a jury deliberated for eight days before convicting Tabish and Murphy of murder and grand larceny, among other charges. An appeals court overturned the convictions in 2003 and the retrial began early last week.

On Friday, several witnesses testified about the strange events surrounding the day of Binion's death.

Ill omens

Gardener Thomas Loveday, who had been coming to Binion's home every Thursday morning for 10 years, testified that when he arrived at 9 a.m., he knew something wasn't right.

Loveday told jurors that several things captured his attention that morning: The curtains in the den, living room and Binion's bedroom were shut tight; Murphy's car was parked in an atypical area near the kitchen entrance; the dogs had been locked out of the house; and the housekeeper had not arrived.

"In the 520 times you were there, had you ever seen those curtains closed?" Prosecutor Robert Daskas asked.

"No," Loveday said.

Prosecutors have theorized that while Loveday was outside tending the grounds, Murphy and Tabish were in the den, forcing the drugs down Binion's throat, and that they closed the curtains to cloak their murder plot.

Binion's personal housekeeper, Mary Montoya-Gascoigne, previously testified that on Sept. 17, Murphy called her at 9 a.m. and told her not to come in that day because Binion wasn't feeling well. She also said that she worked five days a week at the house and had never seen any of the drapes closed.

Loveday said that at about 11 a.m., he grew concerned, so he walked around the home and found that all the doors were locked. Looking into a side window of Binion's bedroom, he saw that the bed was made and the room was clean. The bed was also made in Murphy's bedroom, and her carpet still had fresh vacuum marks.

Loveday said he could not see into the den, but he did not knock on any doors or call police. He left the home at exactly 1:15 p.m. and never saw anyone enter or exit the home.

The gardener admitted during cross-examination that Ted once told him that "Sandy was a good little girl and she could take a beating."

He also said that about a month after Binion's death, he found what amounted to about 100 pieces of foil in the bushes near the den.

Witnesses previously testified that Binion used tin foil and a lighter to smoke heroin in his den bathroom.

'He's out cold'

Realtor and friend Barbara Brown testified Friday that she called the home at about noon and had a three-minute conversation with a distraught Murphy, who answered on the first ring.

"She said, 'He can't talk right now, he's out of it, he's out cold,'" Brown told jurors. "She was crying and quite hysterical. I asked her what was wrong. She said that she had a mess in the bathroom to clean up.

"I said, 'What happened?' and she said, 'No one knows what it's like to live with a drug addict,'" Brown testified.

Brown, who was trying to confirm a meeting she had scheduled with Binion for the next afternoon, said Murphy didn't want her to come over, but did not forbid it.

"She said, 'He wouldn't want anyone to see him. If you come, come alone. Don't bring anyone with you,'" Brown testified.

Brown said Murphy doubted Binion would make the meeting, but she would try to get him "ready" for it.

Witness Kathy Rose, Binion's former secretary, testified that Murphy arrived at the Horseshoe business office to visit her shortly before 3 p.m.

Although Binion sometimes sent Murphy to the office to run errands for him, Rose said she thought it was odd that Murphy pulled her out of a meeting to ask her to deposit a $150 check into an account that rarely dipped below $100,000.

Prosecutors have theorized that Murphy was trying to establish an alibi.

Murphy then gave Rose unsolicited information, saying that "Ted had gotten a prescription for detox medication and he asked her to stay up all night with him" according to Rose. "She said he had just gone to sleep and she was going to go for a bite to eat."

The witness said Murphy did not appear to have been crying. She also testified that in early September, Binion called and asked her to cancel Murphy's credit card. He had made the same request several times before, only to change his mind, so Rose said she waited four days before contacting the bank.

Murphy's defense attorney was able to show during cross-examination, however, that Binion continued to write checks out to Murphy for clothing bills and thousands of dollars in "pocket money" up until his death.

Jurors also heard from Richard Wright, Binion's attorney who represented his appeals to reinstate his gaming license which was revoked in March 1998 by the Gaming Control Board due to his struggle with addiction and alleged association with organized crime figures.

Wright said Binion was upbeat about the matter, not depressed as the defense has tried to establish.

Wright also testified that Binion called him the day before his death and asked for the name of a private investigator. He is expected to return to the stand at a later date, presumably to discuss the substance of their conversation, in which Binion reportedly told Wright he wanted a private investigator to trail Murphy because he suspected she was cheating on him.

The testimony of paramedic Reincke will resume on Monday morning.

Murphy and Tabish face from 20 years to life in prison if convicted. Court TV Extra is streaming the trial live on the Web.