A witness in the murder trial of Margaret Rudin dropped a bombshell outside a Las Vegas courtroom right before the defense rested its case Thursday.

Susan Reasbeck, a former employee of slain millionaire Ron Rudin, said the late real estate mogul all but confessed he killed his third wife in the bedroom where prosecutors claim Margaret, his fifth wife, shot him dead.

The attractive mother of two — who like the defendant has ash blond hair and a soft voice — said during a Court TV interview that Rudin talked to her about Peggy Rudin, whose death was deemed a suicide.

"He described what had taken place and that he was questioned for the murder or suicide, but that there were no charges filed," she said.

"I just joked and said, 'Did you?' and he looked me right in the eye and said, 'Susan, no one will ever know,'" she told Court TV's Rikki Klieman.

"Not only did I get chills and not only did I think this man killed his wife, buy my next instinct was not to walk, but to run, to the nearest exit," she said.

Jurors who must decide whether Margaret Rudin was behind her husband's Dec. 18, 1994, murder did not hear that account, since Judge Joseph Bonaventure ruled it inadmissible.

Reasbeck said the conversation took place in 1988 when she worked for Rudin's real estate firm and was inside the Rudins' home getting some paperwork.

It was then she noticed 50 to 100 candles lit at the foot of Rudin's bed. When she asked him about the candles, the millionaire told her they were to "keep evil spirits away," she said.

Also barred from Reasbeck's testimony were comments she planned to make about sexual advances Rudin allegedly made toward her.

"Mr. Rudin approached most women," she said. "Did he make advances? Yes."

Reasbeck — who said she was happily married at the time — said that her boss, whom she described as openly flirtatious and "indiscreet about his affections for other women," took rejection well.

The former employee had nothing but kind words for Margaret Rudin, whom she characterized as "the ultimate lady."

"She was always upbeat, very happy. Just a delightful person to be around," she said. "You would want to be in her presence because she was a kind and caring person." Jurors did not have the opportunity to see this side of Margaret Rudin, however, since the defense rested without calling her to the stand.

Reasbeck also testified that Ron Rudin would record office conversations without his employees' knowledge.

Prosecutors contend that Margaret Rudin illegally wiretapped the telephone lines inside the real estate office to listen to conversations between her husband and his mistresses. She even went as far as logging the conversations and making notes in her diary about them, they allege.

During the interview that followed her testimony, Reasbeck said it was the wiretapping allegation that made her come forward and contact defense lawyers.

Reasbeck said she wondered at the time why Margaret Rudin "would be tapping him tapping everyone else."

She also ripped prosecutors, charging that there was a "tremendous amount of information" that wasn't being presented by the state.

Further bolstering the defense's case in its fourth and final day, Reasbeck testified before the jury that Ron Rudin was prone to heavy nosebleeds. That testimony comes a day after a blood spatter expert said that evidence of blood on the Rudins' bedroom wall could not have resulted from a gunshot. On Wednesday, criminologist John Thornton said that he didn't believe the shooting of Ron Rudin took place in the bedroom, contradicting the prosecution's theory of the crime.

On the stand for a good portion of the day was real estate expert Terrance Cluretie, who walked jurors through Rudin's business transactions as part of the defense's attempt to prove that Rudin was a shady businessman.

The defense contends that Rudin's business associates and the trustees of his estate — rather than his wife — had the motive and the means to kill the real estate mogul.

Cluretie explained the proper protocol for a legal real estate sale, noting that using fictitious names was not legal. The defense contends that Rudin used this illegal practice to drive up real estate values.

Court reconvenes at 1 p.m. ET on Friday for the prosecution's rebuttal case.