Relative arrested in Hudson killings

William Balfour was Jennifer Hudson's brother-in-law.

CHICAGO - Police arrested the estranged brother-in-law of Jennifer Hudson yesterday in the deaths of the entertainer's mother, brother, and young nephew, taking him from a prison where he had been held on a suspected parole violation.

William Balfour was arrested at Stateville Correctional Center and released to detectives as he awaited formal charges in the shooting deaths of relatives of Hudson, a singer and Oscar-winning actress, said Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond.

Until yesterday, police had identified Balfour, 27, only as a "person of interest" in the investigation. He had not been charged by late yesterday afternoon, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state attorney's office.

The bodies of Jennifer Hudson's mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were discovered Oct. 24 at the family's home on the South Side of Chicago. The body of 7-year-old Julian King was found three days later in a sport utility vehicle on the West Side. All three had been shot.

Police took Balfour into custody the day the bodies of Donerson and Jason Hudson were discovered. After 48 hours - the longest police can hold a person without charges - he was taken into custody by the Illinois Department of Corrections on the suspected parole violation.

Balfour - Julian's stepfather and the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's older sister, Julia Hudson - served seven years for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction.

Telephone numbers for Balfour's mother and sister were disconnected yesterday.

Balfour had refused to take a lie-detector test and stopped cooperating with detectives in the case, a police official, who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, has said.