California Judge Arrested on Suspicion He Killed His Wife
Bewildered neighbors said Jeff Ferguson and his wife Shirley were often seen out walking their dog together.
Anaheim Police Department
Shocked neighbors and scores of cops reportedly descended upon the Anaheim Hills home of Jeff Ferguson on Thursday night, where police arrested the Orange County Superior Court judge on suspicion he shot and killed his wife.
Officers responded to Ferguson’s subdivision home around 8 p.m. to find Sheryl Ferguson, 65, dead from a gunshot wound, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Curious neighbors reportedly swarmed the home in bewilderment, wondering how a seemingly happy couple in their mid-60s, who they regularly saw walking a dog together, could be at the center of such a tragedy.
John Poulter, a neighbor, told the Times the shooting was a “shock.”
“So many people in the neighborhood flooded the street and just kept repeating, ‘There’s no way he could have done this,’” he said.
Cops said Ferguson was arrested without incident and booked into the Orange County Jail. Details about the shooting, including a potential motive, were not released by Friday morning.
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Ferguson had been a judge in Orange County since 2015 after more than three decades at the Orange County district attorney’s office, according to the North Orange County Bar Association. He was the bar association’s president from 2012 to 2014.
A campaign bio for Ferguson said his wife previously worked for the Orange County and Santa Barbara probation departments.
Colleagues who spoke to the Times were equally shocked as those who lived next to the couple.
“Absolutely shocked,” one reportedly said. “I had them sit on my couch. I would never have thought this for a minute.”
Susan Kang, a former chief of staff for Orange County’s district attorney, told the paper that she’s “always known Jeff to be someone who was devoted to his wife and his sons.”
“To be shocked to hear Jeff was arrested for murdering Sheryl would be an understatement,” she told the Times. “I cannot wrap my mind around it. I am brokenhearted.”
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