Balfour Remains in Custody -- Still Not Charged

46. Mindy:

Regarding the girlfriend, perhaps her original attitude was one of loyalty and support, so she had no problem telling police that William was at her house by mid-morning on Friday (as his cell phone records confirmed). Note that she didn't change this story, and come out with all this stuff about William having "told her" that he was involved in the murders, until after William's mother did the CNN interview with Nancy Grace, in which she named William's TWO girlfriends, but also stated that she still saw him as "together with Julia" in a way because they were still married and William still loved her. Also remember that we heard nothing about her having said she saw William with a gun until AFTER police had already recovered the weapon, and it had been described and shown on local news. So, anyone in Chicago could have pretty much described that type of gun.

I don't think the police are looking for *William's* DNA evidence, since, as you state, they'd expect to find it around the Hudson home and vehicles anyway. The same would be true for Julia. I'm thinking that they are looking for a match for something else - likely related to evidence they found related to Julian's killing - maybe to determine if whoever was involved in the home invasion was also personally responsible for his murder. Police have already determined that the same *gun* was used on all three, from ballistics evidence, but they would still want to try to determine if it was the same *person* who fired all the shots. It is also possible that some DNA evidence was found on Julian's remains (a victim may have some traces on hands or under fingernails if there was any kind of physical struggle), on the curtain which covered his body, or on the pizza box in which the gun was found.

It is my understanding that the typical tests for having recently fired a handgun (checking for minute traces of the gunpowder residue on hands or clothing) were performed on William immediately after he was taken into custody. Had any such residue been found on the person of someone who stated that he had been present at the home of two people found murdered later in that day, that would have be sufficient evidence to charge him, so his status would have been changed to "suspect" at that time, pending further investigation. Since that didn't happen, I assume that the test was negative. Theoretically, I guess one could work around the tests by wearing gloves while firing the weapon, changing clothes, or whatever. But that would require some level of premeditation and planning, which is not consistent with William's other behaviors on that day. He wasn't "hiding" from anything; he was at a familiar place where he could easily be located by family, friends, and even his parole officer; he chatted on the phone that day with mother, sister, and parole officer, so certainly wasn't acting like someone who had just committed multiple homicides and was trying to cover his tracks.

I actually think the police *do* have most of the information in place to solve this case. Our Superintendent of Police has made statements to this effect within a day or two of finding Julian's remains and the murder weapon. The delay in the public announcement of charges may not be the result of lack of evidence. Depending on where the trail leads, there may be considerable legal, financial, and political ramifications to be considered and negotiated.

42. southside:

Interesting take on the girlfriend. I think you may be on to something. If she was truly eager to see justice served and the guilty be caught, why didn't she call the cops to begin with? I'm absolutely amazed that her name is out there and public.

Since there is reason for his DNA to be all over the house, car, and perhaps the gun, I wonder what sort of evidence the prosecutor would want in order to bring charges? I know they have some sort of test to see if you have recently fired a gun, but I wonder if there is some sort of time limit or way to wash it off?

I do think they are waiting for people to let their guard down and start talking. The more time passes, the more likely they are to do that.

Having said that, it doesn't appear they really have much at this point. Very sad.

Posted at 12:22AM on Nov 11th 2008 by mindy

Posted at 1:39AM on Nov 11th 2008 by southsidechicago

47. I still have questions about julia...

if you look at the pictures she posted up that were taken on the day of the funeral, jennifer is NOT included in any of these pics. at first I was fooled into thinking that the girl with the black shirt was jennifer, but it seems this is a family member with somewhat of a resemblance to jen. i googled "jennifer hudson no makeup" and found a few pics which i compared to these funeral day pictures. if you put them side-by-side it is clear as day that this person is not jennifer hudson (lips and smile look very different). THIS was a shocking revelation for me...

i remember thinking to myself on the day of the memorial service (before julia posted these pics on myspace) that i wonder whether the media would release pictures of jennifer on the day of the funeral. i also thought pictures of julia MIGHT be included... THEN julia releases these pictures of herself (AND ONLY HERSELF!) on her myspace page. she has one picture with fantasia in which she says "who's the star me or tasia"? omg! not ONE mention of what they were doing in that pic (GETTING READY TO GO TO THE FUNERAL OF HER 7 YEAR OLD SON WHO WAS SHOT TWICE IN THE HEAD AND OF HER MOTHER AND BROTHER WHO WERE BRUTALLY MURDERED) nope... just who's the star? she also has another pic with a guy she apparently works with saying "i like when he looks at me like this." really? so you're on your way to the funeral of practically your whole family, and you're concerned with your new love interest and smiling from ear to ear? to not have included any pictures of jennifer makes me think julia must have been uber jealous of her... i'm sorry to break this to you julia, but if your family was killed and your sister was not jennifer hudson, fantasia would NOT be at the funeral. i'm sure there were pictures with fantasia, julia AND jennifer... but for some reason julia chose not to include those. julia does not want her sister to take the attention away from her. sorry to break it to you julia, but jennifer is prettier, skinnier, more talented than you'll ever be! she is the star! and you are a fat slob of a bus driver who kicks it with gang bangers and drug dealers and will take ANYTHING from ANY man because you are riddled with low self-esteem. throw the box of dunkin donuts away! next time you go to mcdonald's order a fruit and yogurt parfait instead of the mcflurry! order a salad for once in your life! get to the gym!

another thing... i am not a friend of hers on myspace, BUT someone who is a friend of hers told me that someone just recently left a comment on her page (after she posted the pics of the funeral day) saying something like, "you're right... you are getting a comment almost every minute on TMZ." WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! she is reading these posts about her on tmz and has joked to someone that she is a "celebrity" now and is getting so many comments. she loves how much time everyone is spending talking and blogging about her... this is typical narcissistic behavior that she has displayed (common amongst serial killers and murderers). everything is about me me me! even in the press conference they asked her what happened and she said "well, thursday was my bday. i know, happy bday to me..." always turning everything around and making the situation about her. poor julia that she has to deal with her family being murdered on HER BDAY! not poor mom, brother, and missing nephew... no, poor julia!

JULIA! IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU ARE NOT FAMOUS FOR ANYTHING GOOD! YOU ARE FAMOUS BECAUSE EVERYONE THINKS YOU KILLED YOUR FAMILY!!! ONLY A PSYCHO WOULD BE HAPPY ABOUT FAME THEY HAVE GAINED IN THAT WAY!!! STOP BLOGGING!!!

now... the fact that they are taking so long charging william with the murders just makes me think that 1) he was not involved OR 2) he was involved but he was not alone. SO WHOM ELSE WAS INVOLVED? Hmmm???????? I wonder...

JULIA!!!

Posted at 1:32PM on Nov 11th 2008 by interested

48. Sorry my comment affected you ao much Sam. It felt like you were about to pop. Hope you're ok

Posted at 12:29AM on Nov 12th 2008 by Cindy

49. You know shocked 22- I know my posting is a little late in the hour, but I haven't forgotten this case.
I just wanted to respond to your post & tell you I feel the same way. That boy is innocent.
Granted, he made some stupid decisions when he was 17, they cost him alot of his freedom, but what teenager doesn't make mistakes in their choices in life?
The point is he paid for those mistakes. From all that I've read about him and seeing his mothers pain on national television, I can see that this young man knew he had made some serious mistakes in choices, and was trying to correct that.
He could have turned complete thug, not got a job, lived off his mom, robbed stores etc. But he didn't.
He got married to an old childhood friend. Before Jennifer Hudson became well known. If what I've read about him, he took the boy on father son days out, he did things for Julia that showed he cared.
Yes he had an anger problem. And you know what? 95% of teenagers/young people have anger problems.
That doesn't justify it, but anger is an emotion that alot of people have, that some have learned how to manage or control and some have not.
It takes skill to control anger & its a learned skill. This doesn't happen over night.
He sounds to me like a regular kid who tried to do some things he knew he shouldn't do when he was younger, like most boys do & the things he did got him noticed by the law.
He paid a very high price for those past crimes. He did alot of time, but I really don't believe he has a murders heart.
A murderer on the other hand does not have a kind action in their body. They are ruthless and cold.


I was saddened to read on a blog (crimefilenews.com) authored by a former chicago police officer by the name of Paul Huebl (also a private investigator) that the police will have more time to build a case against him. (Balfour)
If they are trying to "build" a case against him that means they are trying to find anything they can use to "pin" on him.
I think that is just as wrong as wrong can be, and I too am hoping that his mother is paying very close attention because he is going to need her help if they persist.
I am all for punishing those who do the crimes, but only when its proven they have really done the crime.
Sadly there are too many in our society who have been falsely accused and are doing time for something they did not do, but it was "pinned" on them because they seemed to be the most likely culprit and the PD didn't have the time or manpower or inclination for whatever reason to look deeper into the crime.
I don't believe in falsely accusing someone just to get an arrest, or close the case and get the pressure off & I'm hoping this is not the case here.

I've heard stories of corrupt police departments and I would hope that Chicago PD is not one.
I am sure there are other leads that show this case can go in another direction other than Balfour, but it seems from what I've read that the CPD is not interested in spending the time it takes to get to the bottom of it.
I read something else extremely disturbing yesterday that a poster somewhere wrote, and they said that there are many murders on the south side of chicago that go unsolved, and they alluded to the police not caring. This would fit in with the puzzle of why people in that neighborhood didn't call the police when they first heard the shots the morning the Hudson murders occured.
Maybe they have no faith or trust in the police dept there. If this is the case, that is most terrible indeed.
If the people in that state work, they have the right to expect the police to do their job, and if the police are not doing their job, they need to take the proper action, get a petition going and have everyone in the neighborhood to sign it or take their complaints in an orderly fashion up the chain, starting with the chief of police first, then the mayor, the governor, all the way to the senator if need be.
While others may have gone on with their lives and pushed this case to the back of their minds, it is still in the forefront of my mind & I have not forgottten or been content to let it slide into the cold case files.
Of course because I am not a citizen of that city or state I am limited in what I can do. But there are things they can do even if they cannot move.
The reason I cannot be content to let this case be forgotten is because it was so savagely committed.
And I feel it is very urgent to get the person or persons who did this off the street.
The nature of the crime shows that the person or persons who did this are extremely dangerous.
Anyone who could put a gun to a childs head without any reservation and pull the trigger needs to be taken off the street immediately. They are a threat to public safety.

Posted at 1:16AM on Nov 17th 2008 by Very Aware