A prosecutor asserted during a court hearing on Wednesday that Jennifer Hudson’s estranged brother-in-law murdered three of the Academy Award-winning actress’ relatives because he was irritated over the fact that his wife, Julia Hudson, was involved in a relationship with another man.

LuAnn Snow explained that 27-year-old William Balfour visited the family’s South Side residence early on October 24 in order to discuss with Jennifer Hudson’s elder sister.

Although the two left the house together, William Balfour allegedly returned to the home, where the bodies of the actress’ 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, and 29-year-old brother, Jason Hudson, were discovered later that day. The remains of Julia Hudson’s 7-year-old son, Julian King, were found in an abandoned SUV belonging to one of the victims after three days.

In spite of the fact that authorities had only identified William Balfour as a “person of interest” in the murder case, he was not arrested for the shooting deaths of Jennifer Hudson’s relatives until Monday. In addition, he was formally charged on Tuesday with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion.

Judge Raymond Myles rejected William Balfour’s request for bail on Wednesday and scheduled his next court date for December 30.

When he was detained for slaying three of Jennifer Hudson’s family members, William Balfour was in custody for parole violation. His legal representative, Joshua Kutnick, challenged the charges brought against his client, citing the lack of clear forensic evidence such as fingerprints and blood.

He said that police had no sufficient evidence so as to prove that William Balfour committed the crimes, adding that his client’s girlfriend was “highly suspect” for claiming that William Balfour had confessed.

William Balfour listened quietly as LuAnn Snow described how he allegedly murdered his stepson, mother-in-law and brother-in-law. She said that while he was visiting the Hudson family’s residence, he saw a gift and immediately built more or less plausible correlations. He believed that the present had been offered to Julia Hudson by a boyfriend he had threatened her about earlier that month at her workplace.

Despite the fact that William Balfour threatened the wellbeing of her family, Julia Hudson did not expect her estranged husband to carry his intention to completion, as he “had not followed through on any of those threats” before, LuAnn Snow said.

The prosecutor said there was evidence connecting William Balfour to the murders, including gunshot residue on the steering wheel of his vehicle.

In addition, William Balfour has allegedly lied with regard to his movements on the day of the murders. For instance, he claimed that he had employed a transit card so as to embark on a train from the Hudson house to his home. However, the card “was last used two days before the murders,” according to LuAnn Snow.

The prosecutor said that while the defendant claimed he arrived at his West Side house at 10 a.m. on October 24, cell phone records prove that he was not home until 1 p.m.