Jennifer Hudson's Brother-in-Law to Stay Behind Bars

Suspect in murder of Oscar winner's relatives ordered to remain in custody as investigation continues

William Balfour isn't going anywhere.

The 27-year-old "person of interest" in the slayings of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew has been ordered to remain in prison while police continue to investigate the murders.

Balfour has been held at Illinois' Stateville Correctional Center since Oct. 26 on charges of parole violation stemming from a 1999 conviction on attempted murder.

At a parole hearing this morning—which could potentially have seen Balfour walk free—the Illinois Prisoner Review Board ruled there was reason to believe he had violated his parole for transgressions unrelated to the Hudson killings, including appearing in places where drugs were sold and, according to his girlfriend, being in possession of a gun that matches the description of the Hudson murder weapon.

"That's a very serious allegation," Prisoner Review Board Chairman Jorge Montes said. "If somebody's alleging they saw him with a gun that was used in the murder of three individuals, we would definitely hold him."

Another parole hearing has been set for Dec. 3.

As it is, today's hearing lasted just 35 minutes and featured some strong protests from Balfour.

"He seemed disturbed," Montes said, adding that Balfour "contested those allegations" about the murder weapon.

"He was protesting the introduction of that evidence and he denied it."

Balfour has not been charged in the Oct. 24 Hudson family murders but has so far been the only publicly named "person of interest" in the case and was questioned by Chicago police for 48 hours before being turned over to prison officials for parole violation.

At today's hearing, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board was tasked with determining whether Balfour would continue to be held behind bars, which would require evidence or probable cause that Balfour in fact committed a crime or somehow otherwise violated his parole.

Darnell Donerson, 57, Jason Hudson, 29, and Julian King, 7, were all declared dead of multiple gunshot wounds. While Donerson and Hudson were found shot in their Englewood home on Oct. 24, King's body was discovered three days later in an abandoned SUV.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the current girlfriend of Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister and Julian's mother Julia, confessed to her that he was involved in the shootings.

On Friday, Julia posted a message on her MySpace page reading, "Happy Birthday Mama!!!!" It would have been her mother's 58th birthday.