A judge in Southern California was charged with murder in the shooting death of his 65-year-old wife at their Anaheim Hills home, prosecutors announced Friday.
Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, was charged with one felony count of murder and one felony enhancement of personal use of a firearm and one felony enhancement of discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury and death. Ferguson faces a maximum sentence of 40 years to life if convicted on all counts.
Police responded at about 8 p.m. Aug. 3 to the couple's home following a report of a shooting at the residence. Officers found 65-year-old Sheryl Ferguson suffering from at least one gunshot wound inside the home, police said.
She died at the scene.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
The couple's adult son called 911 to report the shooting. A court filing from prosecutors said Ferguson texted his court clerk and bailiff minutes after the killing: “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry.”
Ferguson was arrested at the location in the 8500 block of East Canyon Vista Drive. He posted bond and was released from custody the next day.
County prosecutors filed a bail motion asking for arraignment to be scheduled for Tuesday. Prosecutors are seeking non-monetary bail conditions, including that Ferguson be required to surrender his passport.
U.S. & World
"Among the People’s concerns is the fact that a .22 rifle legally registered to Ferguson remains unaccounted for despite police recovering 47 other weapons – including rifles, shotguns, and handguns, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition – from his home during the execution of a search warrant," according to a statement from the Orange County District Attorney's office. "Another rifle, initially missed by police, was subsequently located in the home and turned over to police by defense counsel, but the whereabouts of the .22 rifle remain unknown."
Neighbors said the couple had lived at the home for years.
The shooting happened after Ferguson and his wife argued at a restaurant on Aug. 3, the Orange County district attorney's office said in the court filing. The argument continued when they returned home, where his wife said something to the effect of “why don’t you point a real gun at me?” and he pulled a pistol from his ankle holster and shot her in the chest, the court document said.
When officers arrived, Ferguson smelled of alcohol and told them, “Oh man I can't believe I did this,” according to the document.
Ferguson has been a judge in Orange County Superior Court since 2015. He began is legal career in 1983 as an Orange County Deputy District Attorney. He was named prosecutor of the year four times by the Orange County Narcotics Officers Association.
Ferguson earned a bachelor's degree from UC Irvine and his law degree from Western State College of Law in Irvine.
Ferguson’s attorneys, Paul Meyer and John Barnett, issued a brief statement.
“This is a tragedy for the entire Ferguson family. It was an accident and nothing more,” they said.
