 CHICAGO (AP) - A prosecutor alleged Wednesday that Jennifer Hudson's brother-in-law killed three family members because he was angry his estranged wife — the singer's sister — was dating another man.
At a court hearing, prosecutor LuAnn Snow said William Balfour came to the family's South Side home the morning of Oct. 24 and confronted his wife, Julia Hudson.
Balfour and Julia Hudson, Snow said, left together but Balfour returned to the home. The bodies of Hudson's mother and brother were found there later that day. The body of Julia Hudson's 7-year-old son was found in an SUV three days later.
Balfour, 27, was charged with murder Tuesday after being held for weeks on a parole violation. Judge Raymond Myles on Wednesday denied his request for bail and set his next court date for Dec. 30.
Balfour's attorney, Joshua Kutnick, criticized the charges against Balfour, saying there was no fingerprint, blood or any other forensic evidence linking him to the slayings.
"There is no direct evidence of Mr. Balfour committing these crimes," he said, adding that a woman who claims Balfour confessed to her and asked her to provide him with an alibi is "highly suspect."  The slightly built Balfour, wearing a yellow jump suit, stood quietly as Snow described how he allegedly killed his stepson, Julian King, the Hudson sisters' mother, Darnell Donerson, and their brother, Jason Hudson.
Balfour, Snow said, had been at the home the morning of the slayings and saw a birthday present he believed had been given to Julia Hudson from a boyfriend he had threatened her about earlier that month at her job.
As he did previously, he threatened the safety of her family, Snow said, a threat Julia Hudson did not take seriously because he "had not followed through on any of those threats" before.
The two left at the same time, with Hudson driving away as she saw Balfour walking toward his own car. But Balfour's car broke down and two acquaintances gave him a ride to a gas station. At that time, according to Snow, Balfour said he had a handgun but had left it in his car.  The gun, Snow said, belonged to Jason Hudson and Balfour allegedly stole it during the summer.
In the stark language of a legal document that she was reading from, Snow described what allegedly happened next:
He entered the home at gunpoint. "He shot Darnell Donerson several times while she was in the living room area," she read. "He then went into Jason Hudson's bedroom and shot him two times in the head. Jason Hudson was still in bed when he was shot."
Then, prosecutors allege, Balfour took Julian and loaded him into Jason Hudson's white SUV. "Defendant shot Julian King in the head while the 7-year-old was laying behind the front seat of the Suburban," Snow read.
Snow said there is evidence linking Balfour to the crimes, including gunshot residue on the steering wheel of his broken-down car.
Further, she said, Balfour has made statements to authorities that detectives have proven are not true. For example, while Balfour claimed he used a transit card to ride a train from the Hudson residence to his home, "The card was last used two days before the murders," she said.
Balfour also does not appear on surveillance video of the train station he said he rode to.
And, she said, while Balfour said he was at his West Side home at 10 a.m. the morning of the killings, cell phone records show that he did not return there until just before 1 that afternoon.
Jennifer Hudson was a finalist in the 2004 season of "American Idol" and won an Oscar in 2007 for her film debut, a supporting role in "Dreamgirls." She has mostly stayed out of the spotlight and close to her family since the killings.
Her publicist said Wednesday that the actress would not offer any comment. |