A Travis County district judge must decide whether statements by a man accused of killing five people in Central Texas last year can be used against him.

The hearing Tuesday afternoon is the first time accused serial killer Paul Devoe has been seen in a public court setting since he was extradited from New York late last year.

The question before Judge Brenda Kennedy is whether statements Devoe made after his arrest in New York can be used against him in his Texas trial.

Officers and detectives from Suffolk County, New York, testified that Devoe was arrested there last August after a brief standoff.

At issue here is not what Devoe may have done, but instead, what he said or didn't say while talking with detectives, who said he sometimes volunteered information during those first hours he was under arrest.

"His demeanor changed at times while we were talking," said Detective Susan Nolan, Suffolk Co. Police Department. "He was talk, again, responsive, at times, he was emotional, when he talked about certain aspects of when he killed some of the people. He became tearful, he sobbed, he cried, he became annoyed at different times."

Another witness quoted Devoe as saying one mistake ruined his whole life.

More witnesses are scheduled to testify Wednesday, so there will not be a ruling from Judge Kennedy until at least Wednesday afternoon.

Devoe is charged with killing six people during a three-day crime spree in August 2007.

Police say Devoe's first victim was Bartender Michael Allred in Marble Falls. After killing Allred, officers say Devoe shot and killed his ex-girlfriend, Paula Griffith, her boyfriend, Jay Feltner, Griffith's daughter Haylie Faulkner and the daughter's friend, Danielle Hensley.

Investigators say after those killings, Devoe fled to Long Island in New York, where he grew up.

That's where he was later arrested. Along the way, detectives say he murdered an elderly woman in Pennsylvania in order to steal her car.