Hudson kin killer's trial opens in Chicago
Source: Agencies |
April 24, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A GIFT of balloons. That, prosecutors contend, is what sent Jennifer Hudson's then brother-in-law into such a jealous rage that he shot dead her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew in a horrific act of vindictiveness in the home in Chicago where the Hollywood star grew up.
A prosecutor is expected to tell jurors that yesterday, during opening statements at the trial of William Balfour - charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the October 24, 2008, slayings that generated headlines across the US because of Hudson's fame.
The estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Balfour believed the balloons he saw at the Hudson home came from Julia Hudson's new boyfriend; driving away for her job as a school bus driver, she glimpsed Balfour in her mirror still lingering outside, prosecutors have said.
They say Balfour went back inside the three-story house around 9am and used a .45-caliber handgun to kill Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 59, in the living room - then shot her brother, Jason Hudson, 29, twice in the head as he lay in bed.
He allegedly drove off in Jason Hudson's SUV with Julia Hudson's son, Julian King, inside. Authorities say he shot the boy nicknamed Juice Box in the head as he lay behind a front seat. His body was found in the abandoned vehicle miles away after a three-day search.
There are no known witnesses to the slayings.
Court records indicate the now 34-year-old Julia Hudson's divorce from Balfour was finalized last year.
If convicted of at least two of the murder counts, the 30-year-old Balfour, on parole at the time of the killings after serving nearly seven years for attempted murder and vehicular hijacking, would face a mandatory life sentence.
A prosecutor is expected to tell jurors that yesterday, during opening statements at the trial of William Balfour - charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the October 24, 2008, slayings that generated headlines across the US because of Hudson's fame.
The estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Balfour believed the balloons he saw at the Hudson home came from Julia Hudson's new boyfriend; driving away for her job as a school bus driver, she glimpsed Balfour in her mirror still lingering outside, prosecutors have said.
They say Balfour went back inside the three-story house around 9am and used a .45-caliber handgun to kill Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 59, in the living room - then shot her brother, Jason Hudson, 29, twice in the head as he lay in bed.
He allegedly drove off in Jason Hudson's SUV with Julia Hudson's son, Julian King, inside. Authorities say he shot the boy nicknamed Juice Box in the head as he lay behind a front seat. His body was found in the abandoned vehicle miles away after a three-day search.
There are no known witnesses to the slayings.
Court records indicate the now 34-year-old Julia Hudson's divorce from Balfour was finalized last year.
If convicted of at least two of the murder counts, the 30-year-old Balfour, on parole at the time of the killings after serving nearly seven years for attempted murder and vehicular hijacking, would face a mandatory life sentence.
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