Southern California judge who killed his wife sentenced to 35 years to life for murder

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California judge who shot and killed his wife during an argument over family finances was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years to life in prison. The case roiled the legal community in California's Orange County where many had known or worked with him for decades.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, wearing a green jail jumpsuit in court, was sentenced for the second-degree murder of his wife, Sheryl, and felony gun enhancements.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter, who presided over the case to avoid a conflict of interest in Orange County, said the evidence against Ferguson was “absolutely overwhelming” including a text message he sent to court staff immediately after the shooting saying “I just lost it” and video recordings of him speaking extensively while in custody.

Hunter said she would shave five years off the maximum potential sentence of 40 years to life due to Ferguson’s lack of a criminal record and support from Sheryl Ferguson’s family members, among other factors, but that Ferguson had repeatedly shown he doesn’t believe the rules apply to him by drinking while carrying a weapon — even while he was out on bond even though he was barred from doing so.

“Mr. Ferguson believes the rules just do not apply to him,” Hunter said.

Ferguson, 74, has claimed the 2023 shooting was accidental, but District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the evidence showed it was “cold-blooded murder.”

“He most likely, with this sentence, will never see freedom as a result of his age,” Spitzer told reporters after the hearing.

In court, Ferguson said he loved his wife and was looking forward to spending his life with her and their family.

“I understand the jury’s verdict but it was a horrific accident,” Ferguson said, his voice cracking. “I have enormous grief not for myself alone but for my son, Phillip, and Sheryl's brothers.”

Prosecutors said the longtime judge and former criminal prosecutor pulled a gun from his ankle holster in August 2023 and fired the fatal shot after he had been drinking and arguing with Sheryl over family finances at a restaurant and later while watching “Breaking Bad” in their Anaheim Hills home.

The case roiled the legal community in Orange County where many have known or worked with Ferguson for decades, including Spitzer. The county is home to 3 million people between Los Angeles and San Diego.

During the sentencing hearing, Sheryl’s brother, Larry Rosen, and other relatives asked the judge for leniency. Rosen said he believes the shooting was an accident and worries about Ferguson’s adult son, Phillip.

“My nephew has lost his mom and you are going to take away his dad,” Rosen said, sobbing. “I understand there is culpability but I don’t think it is to the level that’s been raised here.”

In March, an initial jury deadlocked on the case and Hunter declared a mistrial. In April, a second jury convicted Ferguson of second-degree murder and the gun enhancements.

During the trial, prosecutors said Ferguson had been drinking before he made a gun-like hand gesture toward his wife of 27 years while arguing with her at a Mexican restaurant on Aug. 3, 2023. Prosecutors said the quarrel continued at home while the couple was watching TV with Phillip, and Sheryl Ferguson challenged her husband to point a real gun at her. He did, then pulled the trigger, prosecutors said.

Ferguson, who had experience and training in firearms, testified that he was removing the gun from his ankle holster to place it on a table cluttered with other items when he fumbled it due to an injured shoulder, and it went off.

Immediately after the shooting, Ferguson and his son called 911, and Ferguson texted his court clerk and bailiff saying, “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry,” according to a copy of a text message shown to jurors.

Ferguson spoke with police outside his home and while in custody. In video shown at trial, he was seen sobbing and saying his son and everyone would hate him, and pleading for a jury to convict him.

After Ferguson’s arrest, authorities said they found 47 weapons, including the gun used in the shooting, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition at his home.

Ferguson began his legal career in the district attorney’s office in 1983 and went on to work on narcotics cases, winning various awards. He became a judge in 2015 and presided over criminal cases in the Orange County city of Fullerton, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the court where he was sentenced.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson reacts as he listens to victim impact statements while appearing for sentencing after his second-degree murder conviction for shooting his wife, at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson is removed from court after being sentenced to 35 years to life in prison after his second-degree murder conviction for shooting his wife following an hours-long argument at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif. Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson reacts as he listens to victim impact statements while appearing for sentencing after his second-degree murder conviction for shooting his wife following an hours-long argument at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson listens to his lawyers as he is sentenced to 35 years to life in prison after his second-degree murder conviction for shooting his wife following an hours-long argument at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

A photo of Sheryl Ferguson, the wife and son Phillip Ferguson of Orange County Superior Judge Jeffrey Ferguson is displayed as Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, left, and Senior Deputy District Attorneys Seton Hunt speak to the media after Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison after his second-degree murder conviction for shooting his wife, at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

A photo of Sheryl Ferguson, the wife and son Phillip Ferguson of Orange County Superior Judge Jeffrey Ferguson is displayed as Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer speaks to the media after Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison after his second-degree murder conviction for shooting his wife following an argument at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Eleanor J. Hunter, judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, speaks as Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson appears for sentencing after his second-degree murder conviction for shooting his wife following an argument at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson appears for his sentencing after a murder conviction for killing his wife Sheryl in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson appears for his sentencing after a murder conviction for killing his wife Sheryl in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson appears for his sentencing after a murder conviction for killing his wife Sheryl in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

FILE -Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson walks out of court after attending a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes), File)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Vote counting was underway Friday in Uganda’s tense presidential election, which was held a day earlier amid an internet shutdown, voting delays and complaints by an opposition leader who said some of his polling agents had been detained by the authorities.

Opposition leader Bobi Wine said Thursday he was unable to leave his house and that his polling agents in rural areas were abducted before voting started, undermining his efforts to prevent electoral offenses such as ballot stuffing.

Wine is hoping to end President Yoweri Museveni's four-decade rule in an election during which the military was deployed and heavy security was posted outside his house near Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after the vote.

The musician-turned-politician wrote on X on Thursday that a senior party official in charge of the western region had been arrested, adding there was “massive ballot stuffing everywhere.”

Rural Uganda, especially the western part of the country, is a ruling-party stronghold, and the opposition would be disadvantaged by not having polling agents present during vote counting.

To try to improve his chances of winning, Wine had urged his supporters to “protect the vote” by having witnesses document alleged offenses at polling stations, in addition to deploying official polling agents.

Wine faced similar setbacks when he first ran for president five years ago. Museveni took 58% of the vote, while Wine got 35%, according to official results. Wine said at the time that the election had been rigged in favor of Museveni, who has spoken disparagingly of his rival.

Museveni, after voting on Thursday, said the opposition had infiltrated the 2021 election and defended the use of biometric machines as a way of securing the vote in this election.

Museveni has served the third-longest tenure of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military, which is led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station, during the presidential election, in the capital, Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Election officials count ballots after the polls closed for the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

An election official holds up unmarked ballots during the vote count after polls closed for the presidential election, at a polling center in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A political representative speaks as he works to observe and verify the counting of ballots after polls closed in the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A supporter of leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine cheers while watching election officials count ballots, after polls closed at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)