Police in Chicago investigating the triple murder of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew have arrested William Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, who was previously only held as a 'person of interest'.
As previously reported, the bodies of Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were found at the family's Chicago home on 24 Oct. The singer's seven year old nephew, Julian King, was discovered to be missing, and a reward was offered for his safe return. Sadly, his body was found three days after the initial shooting, in an SUV abandoned on the city's West Side.
Balfour was, of course, taken into custody the same day that the first two bodies were discovered, and held for 48 hours, which is the longest period he could be held without charge. He was subsequently handed over to the Illinois Department of Corrections because of a suspected parole violation. He has been held in prison over the parole violation ever since, but was arrested at the Stateville Correctional Centre on Monday and released to detectives, the implication being that he will be charged with the murders. He still hadn't been charged by mid-afternoon on Monday, however, according to a spokesman for the state attorney's office.
Balfour's mother Michelle maintains her son's innocence, but his alleged refusal to co-operate with authorities - he declined to take a lie detector test, anonymous sources say - won't be helping his case, nor is the fact that he's already served a seven year sentence for attempted murder. The police have found the gun that they believe was used in the killings, in a vacant lot not far from where little Julian King's body was found.