Police find gun used in Hudson family killings

Police in Hudson family killings probe claim to have found a gun used to kill Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and young nephew.

Chicago police said they have found the gun in a vacant lot around the corner from where the body of seven-year-old Julian King was found inside an SUV on Monday.

The weapon has been sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab for forensic testing.

According top the deputy police chief, Nick Roti, a few other small bits of evidence were recovered in an empty trash-strewn lot on 14th Street between Kildare and Kolin Avenues on the city's West Side. "People have to be interviewed and we can't give out details," he said.

Jennifer Hudson's family tragedy happened last Friday, when her 57-year-old mother, Darnell Hudson Donnerson, and her 29-year-old brother, Jason S. Hudson, were discovered shot to death in their Englewood home.

When Julian was declared missing from the scene, the ‘Dreamgirls’ star offered a $100,000 dollar reward for the safe return of her missing nephew.

But, a day later on Monday morning, Chicago authorities found Julian's body in an abandoned SUV parked on the 1300 block of South Kolin Avenue. According to an autopsy released by Cook County Medical Examiner Dr. Nancy Jones on Tuesday, Julian had died of multiple gunshot wounds.

"The cause of death is multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death is a homicide," said Sean Howard, a spokesperson for the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Police over the weekend nabbed Julia's estranged husband, William Balfour, as the person "of most interest" in the triple-homicide of Hudson's mother, brother and nephew. Balfour, 27, was romantically involved with the Hudson’s sister Julia, who too has identified him as her husband on her MySpace page.

Meanwhile, some media reports have surfaced saying that William Balfour has refused to take a polygraph. He has denied his involvement in the killings of Hudson's mother, brother and nephew.

Police have named Balfour a person of interest, and no one has been charged with the killings.

Balfour served seven years in prison for attempted murder and vehicular hijacking. Records show that in 1998, he hijacked a Chevrolet Suburban which he then smashed into a light pole, fence, and iron gate with its owner still hanging to the top.

A warrant was issued by the Illinois Department of Corrections on Saturday for his parole violations and for not attending programs for anger management and substance abuse.

Balfour’s parole violations can keep him in jail for the remainder of his parole, which is until May 2009 minus a day off for every day good behavior. He could be released in mid-December at the earliest. He is being held at Stateville Correctional Center on an unrelated parole violation.