Jealousy a Possible Motive in Jennifer Hudson Family Slayings

By Mike Fleeman

12/03/2008 at 03:05 PM EST

William Balfour was held without bail Wednesday in the slayings of Jennifer Hudson's family, and prosecutors suggested jealousy as a possible motive.

Balfour, facing first-degree murder charges for three killings, had threatened the family with harm if his estranged wife Julia Hudson – Jennifer's sister – continued to date another man, prosecutors alleged at a bond hearing in Chicago.

Prosecutors said Balfour also had gone to Julia's workplace in October to complain about her seeing the man, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Judge Raymond Myle denied bond for Balfour, 27, who was arrested this week for the October murders of Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson, 57, brother Jason Hudson, 29, and his own stepson, Julian King, 7.

At the bond hearing, Balfour's attorney, who has said his client did not commit the murders, told the judge that there were no witnesses to the fatal shootings and no evidence linking Balfour to the gun.