Orange County Superior Court judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, arrested Thursday ‘for shooting his wife dead’

Police responded to reports of a shooting at his upscale Anaheim home where they found his wife, Sheryl Ferguson, 65, dead

Police removed huge cache of high powered weapons from the couple’s home

Judge Ferguson who is being held on $1 million bail, has not been charged and will reappear in court on Monday 

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson [photo], was arrested Thursday after police responding to reports of a shooting at the home found his wife with gunshot injuries. Sheryl Ferguson was pronounced dead at the scene 

A septuagenarian Southern California judge has been arrested for allegedly shooting his wife in the couple’s home, authorities said Friday. Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson was arrested late Thursday after police received reports of a shooting at the $1.4 million Anaheim Hills home.
Responding officers found the judge’s wife with gunshot injuries.
Sheryl Ferguson, 65, was declared dead at the scene in the upscale neighborhood, said Anaheim police Sgt. Jon McClintock. Ferguson, 72, is being held on $1 million bail, but has not yet been formally charged. He is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Sgt. McClintock said one other person was at the home at the time.

Crime scene: The Ferguson’s $1.4 million home in Anaheim Hills, CA, has been cordoned off by police tape as officers investigate

An Orange county police officer is seen removing multiple firearms from the Fergusons home after Thursday’s shooting 

Police were seen removing a huge cache of high-powered weapons from Judge Ferguson’s home

Ferguson serves as a judge handling criminal cases in a courthouse in the Orange County city of Fullerton. He previously worked in the Orange County District Attorney’s office, and prosecuted drug cases, according to the North Orange County Bar Association.
During his time as a prosecutor, he was honored as an ‘attorney of the year’ by the association. He served as its president from 2012 to 2014.
‘This is a very tragic situation for all involved,’ Lorrie A. Walton, a current member of the association’s board, said in an email.
Ferguson took a seat on the bench in 2015. Two years later, he was admonished by the Commission on Judicial Performance for posting a statement on Facebook about a judicial candidate ‘with knowing or reckless disregard for the truth of the statement’ and for being Facebook friends with attorneys appearing before him in court, according to a copy of the agency’s findings. 

Jeffery Ferguson’s marriage to Sheryl was his second marriage. He was elevated to the bench in 2015., but was admonished in 2017 by the Commission on Judicial Performance for posting a statement on Facebook about a judicial candidate and for being Facebook friends with attorneys appearing before him in court

Ferguson said on his Facebook page that he grew up in a military family and traveled throughout Asia as a child. He went on to attend college and law school in California. He and his wife were married in 1996.
He was previously married to another woman and they had a son. He and Sheryl Ferguson have another son together, said Juli Mitchell, the sister of his ex-wife.
On Friday, the Orange County Superior Court declined to provide additional information about the allegations.
‘Although no case has been filed with our Court, when appropriate we will take all necessary steps to ensure full compliance with our legal and ethical obligations,’ Orange County Superior Court Presiding Judge Maria Hernandez said in a statement.