Prosecutors Rest At Trial Of Man Accused Of Killing Hudson Family Members [UPDATED]

By Samantha Abernethy in News on May 8, 2012 6:45PM

Prosecutors rested their case today at the trial of William Balfour, the man accused of the 2008 murder of Jennifer Hudson's mother Darnell Donnerson, her brother Jason Hudson, and her nephew Julian King. Defense attorneys are expected to present a brief case focusing on a lack of physical evidence to link Balfour to the murders and Jason Hudson's drug activity. Closing arguments could begin as early as tomorrow.

Witness Quincy Brown, a friend of Balfour, testified Monday that Balfour called him in a panic on the afternoon of the murders to ask him to move his car to the West Side. The Tribune writes:

While they were talking, Brown said, Balfour took another call. When he came back on the line, Balfour said his estranged wife, Julia Hudson, was with the police and asking why he killed her mother and brother.

"I said, 'Are you for real? Why would she blame you of all people?' " Brown testified. "And he said, 'Because I got into it with that (expletive),' " making a crude reference to his wife's brother, Jason Hudson.

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"Then I asked him boldly, did he do it?" Brown testified. "He said, 'It's bigger than me,' and that's when he hung up the phone."

Brown also told the jury that three days before the murders, Balfour had pulled out a .45-caliber pistol while ranting about how he hated Jason Hudson. Also on Monday, the jury watched video from the 45-minute interrogation of Balfour by Wentworth Area Detective Thomas Kelly, in which Balfour denied knowledge of the slayings or the location of Julian King. The Tribune writes:

"Oh, here we go with this," Balfour sighed after the detectives again pressed him about the boy. "I don't know. … I last saw him a week or two ago."

"Let me tell you something: If that little boy turns up D-E-A-D somewhere, you're gonna have a problem," Kelly retorted as he stood in front of Balfour, jingling the coins in his pocket incessantly.

"What you mean, I'm gonna have a problem?" Balfour asked.

"Just what I said," said the detective, still rattling his change.

The Sun-Times writes that Balfour acted confused at the start of the interrogation, but he later became chatty. He told detectives that Jason Hudson had a lot of enemies and that “It was a drug house. What do you expect?” Other witnesses have also testified to drug activity at the family's Englewood home.

Balfour also denied there was "bad blood" between he and Jason Hudson. "Naw, ain't no bad blood! He just don't want nobody around," Balfour said."

UPDATE 5:45 P.M. -- The defense rested its case this afternoon, calling two police detectives as witnesses to emphasize the lack of physical evidence. Balfour did not take the stand. Closing arguments will start Wednesday morning, then the jury will start deliberations.