Southern California’s Orange County Judge Jeffrey Ferguson and his wife, Sherrill, were eating at a restaurant when they got into an argument over the man’s excessive drinking. Just for fun, the lawyer pointed the outstretched thumb and forefinger of his right hand to his wife to indicate that he would shoot her.
Arriving at the house and still arguing, Sherrill Ferguson told the judge, according to the investigation file: “Why don’t you take this seriously and shoot me with a real gun.” Ferguson is said to have taken a revolver and shot his wife in the chest. She bled to death.
The son became a witness and alerted the emergency services. The intoxicated gunman said, “Oh man, I can’t believe I did that.” There were 47 live weapons and 26,000 rounds of ammunition in his house safe. Judge was released on $1 million bail and was allowed to await trial at home with an ankle bracelet. He is expected to be charged with murder in early September.
