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A Limestone County judge could decide to throw out an Elkmont teen's murder confession, weeks before his case goes to trial.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys gathered in a courtroom Friday for a pretrial hearing about Mason Sisk, who's accused of killing five of his family members and admitting it to investigators hours later.

Friday's hearing featured testimony from former Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely about the way his investigators treated Sisk moments after he called 911. Investigators said Sisk was considered a witness at the time but placed him in the back of a patrol car, handcuffed, and took away his phone.

Sisk was then moved to Blakely's truck, where he had an unrecorded conversation that led to his transfer to the Limestone County Detention Center, his lawyers claimed. Video from body-worn cameras and from inside the interrogation room was played in court Friday for the first time in public.

Defense attorney Shay Golden said officers never read Sisk his rights before taking him to the jail for a recorded interview. During the interview, Sisk is given a gunshot residue test, and when the lights were turned off in the room and a black light was turned on, his hands light up.

That test was preformed without a court order, according to defense attorneys.

In the interview, Sisk at first denied being involved and claimed an intruder was inside the house. He later broke down and admitted to killing his family and ditching the gun down the road. Sisk also admitted he called his girlfriend several times before calling 911.

On the stand Friday, Blakely said Sisk was free to go up until investigators read him his rights. Before that point, he was just a witness and not their primary suspect. 

Golden said there's a lot of moving parts involved in Sisk becoming the one accused of the murders instead of the one who reported it.

"What has to be understood is that, given the complex nature of this case and the complex nature of this investigation and the parties involved, these are the types of cases that you have got to take extra steps to make sure all the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted correctly and everything is done the way it supposed to," he said. "And when it's not, that is cause for concern."

After the murders, Sisk told investigators he was upset with his parents for  frequently fighting and being extra hard on him and his siblings. He said he killed his siblings — aged 6 months, 5 years and 6 years old — so they would not have to see the parents continue to fight.

Sisk was asked during the interrogation if he considered killing himself that night, and he said the idea crossed his mind but he didn't because he wanted to stay alive to keep the Sisk family name going. 

Court documents show Sisk allegedly threatened his father and stepmother on multiple occasions prior to the shootings. Prosecutors allege Sisk was "forceful" to his siblings and had "anger control" issues with one of his brothers.

He also allegedly took two rings from his stepmother and gave them away.

Court documents further revealed Sisk took a gun from his grandmother's house, and that he allegedly put peanut butter in his stepmother's coffee despite knowing she had a severe peanut allergy.

Sisk's murder trial begins Sept. 12. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to life without parole or life with a chance of a parole after 30 years. Due to his age, state law does not allow the death penalty.

The judge is expected to rule on this motion next week.