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Hudson Hears Painful Testimony About Slain Family

Posted: 11:14 AM Apr 24, 2012
Reporter: AP

CHICAGO (AP) - The trial of the man charged with murdering three
of Jennifer Hudson's family members resumed Tuesday with the
Oscar-winner shutting her eyes as a police officer described
finding her dead family members and later leaving the courtroom
before photos of their bodies were shown.

Hudson watched must of the testimony before getting up and
leaving shortly before prosecutors displayed pictures of her mother
and brother's bloodied bodies. Prosecutors often let family members
know when they will be showing unsettling evidence.

A day after Hudson offered emotional testimony, prosecutors
began shifting their focus to presenting crime scene evidence in
the case against her former brother-in-law, William Balfour.

Balfour was estranged from his wife, Hudson's sister, at the
time of the killings. He has pleaded not guilty to murdering
Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

Several of the photographs showed Hudson's mother, 57-year-old
Darnell Donerson, sprawled face down on the floor, with blood
staining her white nightgown. Donald Fanelli, the forensics expert
who was on the scene the day of the killings, testified that
Hudson's mother may have used a broom by her hand in one picture to fend off the attacker.

Other photos showed Hudson's 29-year-old brother, Jason Hudson,
with a gunshot wound hear his ear, his head still on his pillow as
he lay in bed.

Earlier in the day, Hudson hung her head and shut her eyes as
Chicago police Sgt. David Dowling described finding her mother's
body in the living room with gunshot wounds through her back.
Dowling described finding Jason Hudson dead in his bed, with the
sheets pulled up as if he had been sleeping.

Jennifer Hudson, wearing a black top and green skirt, sat in a
fourth row bench well within view of jurors for much of the day
Tuesday.

Another officer testified about the frantic search for Hudson's
nephew, Julian King, who was found in an SUV three days later.
Prosecutors also played a surveillance video showing Balfour
getting out of a car at a gas station near the Hudson house on
Chicago's South Side before the killings. Prosecutors are trying to
show he was in the area at the time - something Balfour has denied.

As the video played on a courtroom screen, Hudson rested her
head on her knees for several minutes.

Prosecutors created a buzz Monday by calling the Oscar winner
and "American Idol" finalist as their first witness, but on
Tuesday they began getting down to the nitty-gritty of their case.

With no surviving witnesses to the murders, prosecutors must
offer overwhelming circumstantial evidence that Balfour committed
the grisly crime on Oct. 24, 2008. One challenge will be tying
Balfour to the alleged murder weapon, a silver and black
.45-calibre handgun.

Prosecutors claim Balfour targeted the family in a horrific act
of vindictiveness against his ex-wife. They believe he became
enraged by balloons he saw at the home that he thought were from
her new boyfriend.

Defense attorneys have said the killing could be connected to
alleged drug dealing by Hudson's brother.

Prosecutors contend Balfour went inside the three-story house
around 9 a.m. and shot Hudson's mother and brother. Investigators
allege he then drove off in Jason Hudson's sport utility vehicle
with 7-year-old Julian inside, and later shot the boy in the head
as he lay behind a front seat.

Jennifer Hudson took the witness stand for about 30 minutes
Monday in sometimes tearful, gut-wrenching testimony. Hudson, who
was in Florida at the time of the shootings, spoke of her family
and her reaction to her sister, Julia Hudson, telling her in 2006
that she was marrying Balfour.

"None of us wanted her to marry him," the 30-year-old said,
her voice cracking as she struggled to hold back tears.

Later, Julia Hudson described how Balfour repeatedly threatened
her and her family after she rejected his pleas in May 2008.

If convicted of at least two of the murder counts, Balfour would
face a mandatory life sentence.