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Bond denied for suspect in Hudson family killings
By DON BABWIN |
Associated Press Writer
4:44 PM CST, December 3, 2008
CHICAGO - A husband in a jealous rage -- using a gun he had stolen from Jennifer Hudson's brother -- killed three members of the Oscar winner's family then worked to cover his tracks and fabricate
an alibi, prosecutors alleged Wednesday.
But William Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister
Julia, made mistakes that led investigators to him, prosecutors said.
Balfour appeared in court for the first time in connection with
the deaths and was denied bond.
Balfour's attorney, Joshua Kutnick, criticized the first-degree
murder and home invasion charges against his client, saying no
fingerprint, blood or other forensic evidence links the 27-year-old
to the slayings.
"There is no direct evidence of Mr. Balfour committing these
crimes," he said, adding that a girlfriend who claims Balfour
confessed to her and asked her to provide him with an alibi is
"highly suspect."
Balfour was charged with murder Tuesday after being held for
weeks on a parole violation. Judge Raymond Myles denied his bail
request Wednesday and set a next court date for Dec. 30.
The slightly-built Balfour, wearing a yellow jump suit, stood
quietly as a prosecutor told the judge how Balfour allegedly ended
the lives of Hudson's mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, brother
Jason Hudson, and 7-year-old nephew, Julian King.
Cook County Assistant State's Attorney LuAnn Snow said Balfour
had been at the Hudsons' South Side home early Oct. 24 and
confronted Julia Hudson about a birthday present he believed she
had received from a boyfriend.
Balfour, Snow said, also had shown up to Julia Hudson's
workplace earlier in the month to confront her about dating another
man.
"He told her at the time that her family would suffer if she
saw other men," Snow said after Wednesday's hearing.
Balfour threatened Julia Hudson again that morning at the home,
Snow said, a threat she did not take seriously because he "had not
followed through on any of those threats" before, Snow told the
judge.
The two left the home together that morning, with Hudson driving
away as she saw Balfour walking toward his own car, according to
documents prosecutors filed with the court.
But Balfour's car broke down and two acquaintances gave him a
ride to a gas station -- during which time Balfour told them he had
a handgun, but had left it in his car, Snow alleged.
In fact, the prosecutor said, the gun belonged to Jason Hudson
and Balfour allegedly stole it during the summer. "Several people
observed defendant with the gun in the late summer of 2008," Snow
said.
Balfour was taken back to his disabled car after the trip to the
gas station, "although he was offered a ride to other locations,"
Snow told the court.
In the stark language of a legal document she was reading from,
Snow described what allegedly happened next:
"Defendant then entered the home at 7019 S. Yale at gunpoint,"
she read. "He shot Darnell Donerson several times while she was in
the living room area. He then went into Jason Hudson's bedroom and
shot him two times in the head."
Jason Hudson, she said, was still in bed when he was shot.
Balfour allegedly then took 7-year-old Julian and put him in
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. His body was found three days later in the
SUV.
Snow said there is evidence linking Balfour to the crimes,
including gunshot residue on the steering wheel of the car that had
broken down.
Further, she said, Balfour has made statements to authorities
that detectives have disproved. 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,"
Snow said.
Balfour also does not appear on surveillance video of the train
station he said he rode to. Cell phone records and gas station
surveillance video show Balfour was in the immediate vicinity of
the Hudsons' home until shortly after 9 a.m., according to the
court documents.
Snow said Balfour also claimed he was at his West Side home at
10 a.m. the morning of the killings but cell phone records show he
did not return there until just before 1 p.m.
Kutnick, the defense attorney, argued none of that means Balfour
killed anyone. He told the judge Balfour has not confessed and no
one has come forward saying they saw him commit the crimes.
As for the gunshot residue, Kutnick said after Wednesday's
hearing that Balfour's car was left unattended "for a period of
time" the day of the killings and it wasn't known if anyone else
had used it. He argued that witnesses linking Balfour to Jason
Hudson's stolen gun are unreliable.
Most significantly, Kutnick said, "No one ever says,
'Immediately after these shootings we saw him speed away"' from
the scene.
He also wondered aloud why Balfour isn't charged with kidnapping
if authorities believe he took the boy from the house, saying it
raises the question of whether another person was involved. If
that's the case, he asked the judge, then why couldn't that person
have committed the killings?
Snow said Balfour could face additional charges.
Jennifer Hudson was a finalist in the 2004 season of "American
Idol" and won her 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.
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