A California judge has been recently charged with drunkenly killing his wife with a gun he kept in an ankle holster allegedly texted a colleague after the shooting to say “I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody.”
The court’s findings indicated that Judge Jeffrey Ferguson had a significant arsenal of firearms along with 26,000 rounds of ammunition at his residence. Upon police arrival, his wife was discovered deceased due to a gunshot wound to the chest.
Prosecutors said Ferguson, (72), who sits on Orange County Superior Court, smelled strongly of alcohol when he was arrested and told police, “Well, I guess I’m done for a while.”
During a court session in Los Angeles, it was disclosed that an altercation transpired between Ferguson and his wife, Sheryl, commencing at a restaurant near their affluent Anaheim suburb residence on August 3.
Throughout this altercation, the judge reportedly gestured toward his wife in a manner resembling firearm use, according to Orange County Deputy District Attorney Christopher Alex.
The argument continued at home, where Sheryl Ferguson, 65, said “words to the effect of: ‘Why don’t you point a real gun at me?'”
In response, Ferguson retrieved a pistol from his ankle holster and fired at her chest from close range.
Ferguson called 911 and asked for a paramedic, saying that his wife had been shot.
Alex told the court that, when a dispatcher asked if he had fired the weapon, he told them he did not want to discuss the issue at the time.
Ferguson texted his court clerk and bailiff to say, “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry,” Alex said.
A subsequent search of Ferguson’s residence unveiled 47 legally owned firearms.
Ferguson, who has been a judge since 2015, denied having committed murder when he appeared in court.
Lawyer Paul Meyer told reporters outside court that, “We want to be clear this was an unintentional, accidental shooting and not a crime.”
Ferguson was released on bail under the condition of abstaining from alcohol consumption. He is scheduled to reappear in court on October 30.
