NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A potential witness took the stand Tuesday and testified he overheard Jerome Barrett confessing to killing four people.

Related: Livestream: Murder Trial Begins | Video

Barrett, 61, is charged in the 1975 slayings of 9-year-old Girl Scout Marcia Trimble and Vanderbilt University student Sarah Des Prez.

Sheldon Anter, a former prison inmate with Barrett, testified in court that, while in jail, he overheard Barrett confess to killing four people on two different occasions. Anter said he heard Barrett admit to killing white, blue-eyed girls.

Barrett's defense attorney, Kerry Haymaker, immediately asked if Anter was making these statements to get a lesser sentence for a worker's compensation fraud conviction.

Prosecutors feel the statements are relevant and should be allowed in trial.

"Obviously, there is relevance to this. I think it's a question of weighing prejudicial value versus relevance," said Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman.

Defense attorneys said they disagree that the evidence should be used in court.

Since the jury will be deciding Barrett's sentence instead of the judge, due to the trial using 1975 laws, everyone wants to make sure the jury has an unbiased view of Barrett.

The judge has taken the issue under advisement and will decide Wednesday morning on whether or not the testimony will be used in the trial.

Also, one of the defense's witnesses is very sick, but the judge said he should be able to come in for 15 minutes of questioning.

A Chattanooga jury was selected Monday to try Barrett, who wasn't arrested and charged with the slayings until 2007. The jury consists of six women and eight men.

The jury arrived in Nashville on Tuesday and will be sequestered throughout the trial. Testimony is set to begin on Wednesday and will be streamed live on WSMV.com.

This jury won't hear any details about the Trimble case during the Des Prez trial.