JOLIET – The judge overseeing the Drew Peterson murder trial that starts next week refused a request by prosecutors Wednesday for him to immediately rule on whether he will admit certain hearsay statements – appearing to leave open the possibility of barring at least some of that evidence, which could be central to their case.

The issue arose at the last scheduled pretrial hearing before the selection of jurors who will decide the fate of the former suburban Chicago police officer accused of murdering his third of four wives, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

It isn't known what specific statements were the points of contention at Wednesday's hearing because the judge cleared the courtroom before discussing the question for several hours with the two sides in the morning.