William Balfour, the estranged husband of actress Jennifer Hudson’s sister Julia and the sole known suspect in the Hudson murder case, will remain in custody until a December 3 hearing, the prison board decided Monday.

The 27-year-old estranged husband of Julia Hudson and step-father to the late Julian King, one of the three victims in the tragic Oct. 24 killings in Chicago, remains in custody at least through the month as the Illinois Prisoner Review Board heard Monday morning evidence which determined the prison officials to order the extended detention.

William Balfour has been held on a parole violation since Oct. 26, two days after police officers found the lifeless bodies of Darnell Donerson, 57, and Jason Hudson, 27, mother and brother respectively, to actress Jennifer Hudson, in their Chicago home. They had been shot to death.

Julian King, 7, the Academy Award winner’s nephew, was missing. An Amber Alert was issued for the child and Hudson also offered a $100,000 reward for his safe return. To no avail though, as the little boy was found three days later in an abandoned SUV in Chicago’s West Side. He too had been shot to death.

William Balfour was named a “person of interest” from the very beginning. It was reported in the media that he had initially been cooperative with investigating officers, only to ultimately refuse to take a polygraph test.

Balfour is a convicted felon, who was released in 2006 after serving a seven-year sentence for attempted murder and vehicular hijacking. He has told officers handling the case that he had a good relationship with the Hudson family yet his current girlfriend has shared information with authorities that does little to help him.

The Chicago Tribune reported Monday, quoting law enforcement sources, that the girlfriend had told authorities he admitted being at the Hudson family home the morning of the slaying and also admitted he was involved in the murders.

The same source reported Tuesday that the Prisoner Review Board was presented evidence which showed Balfour owned a gun matching the weapon used in the slayings. The .45-caliber weapon was found several days after the triple homicide, in an alley just a block away from where Julian King was discovered in the back seat of an abandoned SUV. The ammunition recovered from the gun matched shell casings found at the murder scenes.

The board also said he had violated parole by being in locations where drugs were sold. Balfour has not been charged with any crime yet.

A private funeral service was held in memory of Jennifer Hudson’s murdered mother, brother and nephew at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago’s South Side on Monday, Nov. 3. A public memorial was attended by hundreds of friends and fans of the Oscar-winning actress the previous Sunday.