November 10, 2008

Hudson Family Murder Suspect To Face Parole-Violation Hearing Monday

By Jennifer Vineyard (MTV.com)

Although police are investigating the possibility of an accomplice, thus far William Balfour is the only suspect named in the murders of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew. Since that night, Balfour has been in custody on a parole violation. So what might happen at his hearing regarding that violation?

According to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Monday's court date is but a preliminary one, in which hearing officer Jeanetta Cardine will determine whether or not there's probable cause to move on to a larger, full-blown hearing at a later date.

Though it's been reported that Balfour was being held only on the parole violation concerning his missed anger-management classes, Montes said that they'll also discuss his missed appointments for substance-abuse counseling and his June arrest for cocaine possession. The process should take an hour to an hour-and-a-half.

"There is a chance," Montes said, "if there is no probable cause, that he'll be let go."

The Cook County state's attorney's office had no comment on the hearing, since it's not directly related to the Hudson murder case, but it's to their advantage that he remain in custody - the longer he is, the more time they have to build a case, should they decide to arraign him on the homicide charges.

"We can't get into the nuts and bolts of our investigation right now," a rep for the Chicago police department told MTV News. "Our investigation is continuing."

Balfour was out on parole from the Illinois River Correctional Center on attempted murder, carjacking and stolen-property charges, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. He was sentenced to serve seven years in 1999. Balfour was paroled in 2006; he was set to be discharged from that parole in May 2009.