After a mistrial was declared in March, a new jury found a former Orange County Superior Court judge guilty of second-degree murder in the 2023 fatal shooting of his wife.
Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was convicted on April 22 during a retrial over the death of Sheryl Ferguson, 65, in their Anaheim Hills, California home.
Ferguson, who was also found guilty of a felony gun enhancement, faces 40 years to life in prison.
On the stand, Ferguson said that after an argument about finances over dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Aug. 3, 2023, he accidentally shot his wife at home while watching “Breaking Bad” on television.
The couple had been drinking alcohol, according to Ferguson’s attorney, Cameron Talley, who vowed to appeal.
Ferguson’s sentencing is scheduled for June 13.
The office of Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer prosecuted the case. In a press release, prosecutors allege that instead of helping his wife after shooting her, Ferguson texted his court bailiff and clerk that he wouldn’t be in the next day because he'd just shot his wife.
After posting a $1 million bond, Ferguson was freed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department until, in September 2024, his bail was revoked when it was reported by his court-ordered alcohol monitor that he had consumed alcohol in violation of the terms of his release, prosecutors said.
A judge subsequently determined Ferguson had lied about his unlawful consumption of alcohol, but he was released a second time after posting a $2 million bond, according to prosecutors.
“The second he pulled the trigger and killed his wife, Judge Jeffrey Ferguson knew he was just like the violent criminals he has sent to prison and left his son to desperately try to pump the life into his dying mother’s body while he went outside to text his friends,” Spitzer said.
Ferguson previously worked for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office from 1983 until elected judge in 2015. He had adjudicated criminal cases until the shooting.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter presided over the case.
While arguing, Ferguson gestured toward his wife of 27 years as if he had a gun in his hand, prosecutors said, and Ferguson’s wife later chided her husband to point a real gun at her. He did, then pulled the trigger.
“This was not an accident,“ Spitzer said. ”Ferguson was trained to never point a gun at anything he didn’t intend to destroy. On Aug. 3, 2023, he took his gun out of his ankle holster and pointed it at exactly what he wanted to destroy—his wife of 27 years—and then he pulled the trigger and destroyed everything.”
On March 10, a previous jury deadlocked with 11 of 12 jurors voting for a guilty verdict, and as a result, Ferguson remained free on a $2 million bond after Hunter declared a mistrial.
But this week, Ferguson was handcuffed and taken into custody after hugging his 22-year-old son Phillip goodbye.
