William Balfour, the convicted felon suspected in the Chicago murders of Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew was arrested on a drug charge in June, but authorities did NOT return him to prison on what was a CLEAR parole violation. Under the strict rules of the state’s parole program, Balfour could have gone back to prison JUST for the arrest.
The AP reports that officials who reviewed the cocaine-possession case against William Balfour, determined “the evidence that was presented during that time wouldn’t have necessarily warranted a violation.” WTF?! Cocaine possession! We’re not talking about a first-time offender here! Yep, they let him just waltz out of it.
Balfour missed a meeting with his parole officer on the day that the murdered bodies of Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother were found. Balfour reportedly told the agent he was “baby-sitting on the West Side of Chicago.” The agent said he thought he heard a child in the background during the call. Balfour was taken into custody later Friday.
Balfour’s parole records indicate a parole supervisor declined to issue a warrant to revoke Balfour’s parole after Chicago police arrested him June 19 for possession of cocaine. “Per supervisor … no warrant. Agent to monitor offender, impose sanctions.” Great monitoring.
In Balfour’s case, a violation could have locked him up until May 2009. Even minus a day off for each day of good behavior, he still wouldn’t have been out before mid-December at the earliest.
The parole history report on Balfour also shows that a woman at Balfour’s home refused to open the door during an agent’s visit on Aug. 27. The woman told the agent during the 8:30 a.m. visit that Balfour was at work but Balfour’s boss told the agent he wasn’t due until noon. The report said: “Agent heard other people inside the host site and suspected maybe suspicious activities going on,” Agent will be following up for a possible warrant on parolee.” Guess what. No warrant for parole was issued.
So basically, the authorities had at least 2 CHANCES to put William Balfour back in prison, for good reasons. They failed to do so. If they HAD, 3 beloved people might be alive today. Balfour is the only person of interest in the slaying of Darnell Donerson, Jason Hudson, and Julian King…Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother, and 7 year old nephew. Nice work, guys.