Illinois - Deliberations Begin in Case of Killings of Actress's Relatives - NYTimes.com Jurors in the case of the man accused of killing relatives of the Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson began deliberations on Wednesday after prosecutors trying to counter defense claims of a weak case insisted that "a tsunami of evidence" linked him to the crime. The defense told jurors during closing arguments that prosecutors had failed to prove that Ms. Hudson's former brother-in-law, William Balfour, was the killer. The actress and singer bent forward, her head on her knee, and sobbed as prosecutor Jennifer Bagby described what she called "the execution" of Ms. Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew in October 2008. Prosecutors contend that Mr. Balfour killed them in an act of vengeance against Ms. Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson, his estranged wife at the time.