A judge in Southern California with a home full of dozens of weapons shot and killed his wife — and then admitted to it in a text to court staff, prosecutors alleged in new charges reported by The New York Times on Friday.
The original report that a judge was accused of killing his wife was broken last week — but The Times reveals lurid new details of the incident and the judge's background.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, aged 72, has been charged with murder, personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury and death, and personal use of a firearm.
According to court documents, Ferguson and his wife got into an argument at a restaurant, which escalated at home. Ferguson mimicked shooting his wife with his fingers, to which she responded, "why don’t you point a real gun at me?" Ferguson then drew a pistol from a holster on his ankle, shooting her at close range in the chest. Their adult son called the police, who found upon arrival that he smelled of alcohol, was still wearing the empty holster, and his home had 47 weapons and 26,000 rounds of ammunition.
Shortly after the shooting, Ferguson reportedly texted his court clerk and bailiff, saying, “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry.”
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"Judge Ferguson had been a member of Orange County’s legal community for years," reported Remy Tumin. "While he was honored multiple times by various law groups over the years, his career was marred by admonishments from the California Commission on Judicial Performance. In 2017, the commission admonished him for posting a statement on Facebook about a candidate for judicial office with 'knowing or reckless disregard for the truth of the statement,' according to commission documents." The commission also reportedly flagged him for “being Facebook friends with attorneys who were appearing regularly before him in court.”
