Celebrity Justice
Chicago PD Pursuing Car Dispute Theory

Law enforcement sources now tell TMZ they are indeed looking into what appears to be a dispute over a car in the investigation of the murders of Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother.

As we reported below, Julia, the estranged wife of suspect William Balfour, complained that Balfour wrongfully sold a car, causing her to hitch a ride with brother Jason, one of the victims.

Several neighbors last night talked about a recent dispute over stealing a car, in which an unnamed family member promised "revenge."

TMZ has spoken with several other neighbors this morning who say Julia complained to them that William Balfour sold one of their cars without permission. One neighbor told TMZ the dispute got so heated William threatened to "kill Julia's family" but she didn't report it because she didn't take it seriously.

As for the dispute over the car being the trigger, our sources say cops are pursuing the lead but are looking at everything.

And our law enforcement sources say people other than Balfour have been interviewed as well.

UPDATE: WFLD in Chicago has confirmed the FBI is now assisting the search for Julia's 7-year-old son, Julian King.



Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Jennifer Hudson


Reader Comments

(Page 1 of 4) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

1. This is horrible....

Posted at 11:16AM on Oct 25th 2008 by ibsexy

2. This is so horrific it defies words!...but my question is where is Julia Hudson? They keep saying Julian is missing and have an Amber Alert for him, but no mention of Julia, his mother. The only mention so far is she worked her her shift at the bus company and hasn't been seen since??? Is she another victim or anothr suspect???????

Posted at 11:21AM on Oct 25th 2008 by puzzled

3. Other sites are now reporting that it was Julia that found her mother after she came home from work. I hope she is okay, as well as her son.

Posted at 11:26AM on Oct 25th 2008 by Bells

4. How dare you-truthteller- use this horrible tragedy as a means to vent your closed minded opinions. People like you should be locked up and the key thrown away! This is not a race issue! This is a horrible thing that could have happened to anyone! Are you perfect? I'm sure not! DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 11:28AM on Oct 25th 2008 by Zutti

5. To me, that was a dumb move on Julia's behalf, if he had threatened to kill her family when he has a record of attempted murder, EVERYTHING should be taken seriously. More than likely she didn't report it because she loved him to the point where he thought he would change when he obviously hasn;t by attempting to steal cars and selling cars and now could have possibly killed her family. This is such a devastating time for JHud and God pray that little boy will be found.

Posted at 11:32AM on Oct 25th 2008 by 1f-LooksCuldKill

6. @TruthTeller

...oh really? So how would that explain other crimes and killings committed by all races? If we shunned and tossed aside every race that committed serious crimes, guess what? It wouldn't be a WHITE house -- it would be an EMPTY house.

Posted at 11:37AM on Oct 25th 2008 by shagginabit

7. What a revolting family.

Posted at 11:38AM on Oct 25th 2008 by She

8. This girl just lost 2 family members and you (TMZ) are making a mockery of this tragic ordeal. You are a bunch of shameless children. What are you trying to say they got what they had coming? You people are shameless monsters.

Posted at 11:45AM on Oct 25th 2008 by Prince Von A-Hole

9. To TMZ-
You need to moderate these forums.
The comments by Truth Teller are disgusting.
Please remove that comment.
Truth Teller is a loser racist.

Posted at 11:52AM on Oct 25th 2008 by loki

10. Does she not talk to the family? Surely she had to have been aware they were all sharing one freakin car! What? she couldn't buy her mom and sis a car??!! She just left them far behind when she got famous. She has their blood on her hands. She is selfish and cold. She isn't even a very good singer.

Posted at 12:20PM on Oct 25th 2008 by Myers

11. "thuglife" at its finest! ...or was there a McCain/Palin sticker on the car?

Posted at 12:25PM on Oct 25th 2008 by MP

12. On Julia's my space page it says that she last logged in today (10/25)....or was that the MY SPACE administration...logging in...but WHERE is JULIA...she says William is "her man"....and aint she lucky....um...not so much. Poor Family. God Bless!

Posted at 12:29PM on Oct 25th 2008 by Phil N ATL

13. THis entire scene is so tragic - i'm sure all our hearts go out to the family. As far as Balfour is concerned - his family is freaking nuts I think - CNN is reporting that "Davis-Balfour (suspect's mom) said she had asked police to allow her 15-year-old daughter, Sensuous, to talk with William Balfour, but said authorities would not let her speak to him. " What sort of mother names her daughter "Sensuous". How the Hudson's got hooked up with these people I'll never understand.

Posted at 12:38PM on Oct 25th 2008 by cantbelieve

14. Nobody cares about this nobody and her family. She isn't a star and has no talent. She bought her award so she could feel better about herself. It happens all the time in Hollywood, I would know, I've sent checks to the acadamy.
Isn't Brittney going crazy somewhere?? Go cover her. This in not "celeb" news.

Posted at 12:45PM on Oct 25th 2008 by infamous

15. How could such discriminating comments even be allowed to be shown on here, it worries me to think you really thought these racial comments were acceptable and should be shared. Stop encouraging these outdated brainwashed people to think they are right by allowing them to share their distorted thoughts, they are murderers by mouth and should not be allowed on any public blog. Please keep them locked up for life and out of these places, these thoughts do not belong in society. This just goes to prove why racism has to still be brought up this day and age, thank you, you have just shown why the minorities still need to be protected, awareness is important. What a shame there are still ignorant people out there that have no idea that they too are not all white, they could try to hide under the white cover all they want, but I hate to break the news to those people , but in the end everyone is connected, their skin just happens to be lighter, but obviously they have bigger issues to deal with that go deeper below their skin that they were born with and need to be dealt with. Hopefully, the people controlling this blog will be open minded enough to also allow this one to be shown too. I just feel bad about this tragic story and for Jennifer Hudson, no one deserves to die that way and I know she will be hounded by the media through it all. I hope the child is found and is safe, this is what matters. We all sooner or later have tragedy in our lives, so stop being such miserable people and enjoy the peaceful moments you do have instead of using that time to be so negative.

Posted at 1:00PM on Oct 25th 2008 by wow!

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments