Nov 10, 2008 11:15 am US/Central
Parole Board Decides To Keep Balfour Behind Bars
JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) ―
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William Balfour
Courtesy: Chicago Police Department
An Illinois parole board decided Monday morning to hold the person of interest in the murders of Jennifer Hudson's relatives. William Balfour is Hudson's brother-in-law. CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports on the new evidence that will keep him behind bars.
Balfour has been held at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet since Oct. 26. He was arrested after the murders of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. He could have gone free today because the parole hearing was a separate issue from the murders.
Balfour was out on parole for a 1999 attempted murder conviction. He is the estranged husband of Julia Hudson, Jennifer's sister.
Law enforcement sources say he admits he was at the Hudson's Englewood home on Oct. 24 - the morning Darnell Donerson and Jason Hudson were shot. Julian King, 7, was found in Jason Hudson's abandoned SUV three days later.
In a 35-minute hearing before a parole officer, new evidence was presented by Cook County investigators - and it was enough to rule that Balfour should stay in prison.
Investigators say Balfour's girlfriend told them she saw Balfour with the gun that matches the gun used in the murders. That weapon was discovered in a vacant lot near the location where Julian King's body was found.
Balfour was arrested and questioned by Chicago Police, then held for a possible parole violation. The hearing officer considered multiple allegations against Balfour, including a past drug arrest.
But the girlfriend's statements about the gun were the most serious.
"She described the gun as silver, same make as the gun recovered by the Chicago Police Department," Illinois Parole Board Chairman Jorge Montes said.
Earlier Monday, Montes said that since Balfour is not charged with the murders, he could have gone free today.
"Being a person of interest is not a violation of parole, we would not determine that to be a reason to actually bring somebody back and violate his parole," Montes said. "People should be hesitant to draw conclusions until a hearing that's held in the board makes any determination that he is either guilty of his parole violation. And that in no way means that he's guilty of the actual crime he is being suspected of."
The parole board was to consider whether Balfour failed to attend anger management and a substance abuse program, according to his parole report.
Chicago Police say that Balfour is still merely a "person of interest" in the Hudson case. He has not been charged with any crime.
Balfour will be held at the Stateville Correctional Center until his next parole hearing on Dec. 3. If he is charged with the Hudson murders, he'll stay there.
Balfour's parole was not revoked. It goes on to the next stage where he faces a three-panel board. The board says that Balfour was disturbed by these new allegations and he contested them, but he did not have a lawyer.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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