Balfour has been held at Illinois' Stateville Correctional Center since Oct. 26 on charges of parole violation stemming from a 1999 conviction on attempted murder.

At a parole hearing this morning—which could potentially have seen Balfour walk free—the Illinois Prisoner Review Board ruled there was reason to believe he had violated his parole for transgressions unrelated to the Hudson killings, including appearing in places where drugs were sold and, according to his girlfriend, being in possession of a gun that matches the description of the Hudson murder weapon.

"That's a very serious allegation," Prisoner Review Board Chairman Jorge Montes said. "If somebody's alleging they saw him with a gun that was used in the murder of three individuals, we would definitely hold him."

Another parole hearing has been set for Dec. 3.

As it is, today's hearing lasted just 35 minutes and featured some strong protests from Balfour.

"He seemed disturbed," Montes said, adding that Balfour "contested those allegations" about the murder weapon.

"He was protesting the introduction of that evidence and he denied it."