California Judge Jeffrey Ferguson texted ‘I just shot my wife’ to staff after murder: prosecutors

The Southern California judge accused of killing his wife during a drunken rage texted his staff just minutes after the murder to let them know he wouldn’t be showing up for work the next day — because he’d be behind bars for the crime, prosecutors said Friday.

“I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry,” Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, allegedly told his court clerk and bailiff after gunning down wife Sheryl, 65, inside their Anaheim Hills home last week.

The court filing from Orange County prosecutors charging Ferguson with murder with weapons-related enhancements also reveals further details surrounding the domestic argument leading up to the fatal slaying.

The bickering started as the couple dined together at a restaurant on Aug. 3 and continued once they returned to their home in the upscale neighborhood, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in the court filing.

Sheryl Ferguson allegedly said something to the effect of, “Why don’t you point a real gun at me?” to her husband, who then whipped out a pistol from his ankle holster and shot her in the chest.

Their adult son reported the shooting to 911, saying his father had been drinking too much and shot his mom, the document says.

Ferguson also called 911 but refused to provide details and told the dispatcher he didn’t want to talk about the shooting when asked if he was the gunman.

The accused wife-killer allegedly implicated himself to responding officers, who said that the judge reeked of alcohol.

“Oh, man I can’t believe I did this,” Ferguson said, according to the document.

Investigators discovered 47 weapons — including the pistol allegedly used in the shooting — and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition inside the couple’s home.

All the weapons are legally owned, but one rifle registered in Ferhuson’s name is still missing, according to prosecutors.

He was taken into custody but freed a day later after posting a $1 million bail, but Orange County prosecutors are seeking new bail conditions after arguing the trove of weapons indicates he could pose a risk to public safety as well as a flight risk.

They want him to surrender his passport, wear an ankle monitor and possess no alcohol or firearms ahead of his Sept. 1 arraignment.

In spite of Ferguson’s two alleged admissions, his defense attorneys maintain that Sheryl’s death was the result of an “accident and nothing more.”

He and Sheryl were married in 1996.

Ferguson, who has been a judge since 2015, handles criminal cases in the Orange County city of Fullerton.

He has won various awards throughout his 40-year career within Orange County, including being named prosecutor of the year four times by the Orange County Narcotics Officers Association.

Ferguson was remanded in 2017 by the state Commission on Judicial Performance for making an inappropriate comment about a judicial candidate on Facebook and remaining “friends” on the social media platform with attorneys appearing before him in court.

His shocking arrest has left officials grappling with how to handle the case — a judge in neighboring Los Angeles County was elected to hear the case in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

With Post wires