The Murder of Randy Ferguson
For this case, I watched an episode of American Monster. It’s season 8 episode 8, titled ‘Put Yourself Out There.’
A loving family man disappears after a fight with his wife.
Background
Randall ‘Randy’ Ferguson was born in 1960, in Detroit, Michigan. He was the oldest sibling, and had three younger sisters. Randy was very protective of his sisters, and very close to his entire family.
Randy was described as an introvert and a homebody. After graduating high school in 1979, he joined the Navy as an aircraft mechanic. He was in the Navy for 5 years, and then went to work at Boeing as a machinist.
Randy Ferguson
The Missing Piece
By the summer of 2000, Randy was just a few months away from turning 40. He had always wanted to get married and raise a family of his own.
Randy was especially close to his sister, Lisa, and brother-in-law, Aaron, and his two nieces. Lisa, and their other siblings really wanted Randy to find someone. They told him many times to just put himself out there.
One day, Randy spotted one of Lisa’s neighbors outside in her front yard. Lisa said she met the neighbor, and said her name was Angela Phillips. Angela had told her that she was a single mother of 4, and worked as a nurse.
In July 2000, Lisa and Aaron had a barbecue at their house, and took the opportunity to introduce Randy to Angela. It seemed like it worked, and the two really hit it off and began dating.
Red Flags
In September 2000, Lisa received a letter in the mail. The author of the letter claimed that they were a private investigator, and were looking into Angela. This private investigator didn’t leave their name, number, or address.
The letter went on to say that Angela preyed on men who were 40 and older. The letter claimed that Angela had committed some crimes involving fraud, and that she was a pathological liar.
Lisa said she and her mom spoke to Randy about it, and that he insisted it was probably an ex-boyfriend of Angela that wrote it.
Lisa continued to do her own research on Angela. She discovered she hadn't graduated from where she claimed she had gone to school. Randy told Lisa that he asked Angela about it, and could over look the little things.
Randy purchased Angela a beautiful two-story house in South Hill, Washington. In the summer of 2001, Randy and Angela announced that she was pregnant. They got married, and their daughter, Alison, was born in February 2002.
It seemed like things were finally falling into place for the couple, but we never truly know what’s going on behind closed doors.
A Declining Marriage
Aaron said he began to notice some tension in Angela and Randy’s relationship. A neighbor named Chris Martin, also said they were constantly fighting.
Chris said that Angela would talk about how Randy spent more time with Lisa and Aaron than with them. Angela spoke about how they weren’t sleeping together anymore, and that Randy thought she was spending too much money.
Lisa said that Randy took pride in saving his money, and being financially stable. Most of the arguments were because Angela was messing with Randy’s credit. Once Randy took care of the debt, the fighting seemed to happen less, but Randy’s family could tell he wasn’t happy.
In February 2006, Randy went to the Super Bowl in Detroit with his dad. Randy was so excited, but he had no idea what was going on back at home.
The Disappearance
On Thursday, March 23, 2006, Angela called Lisa, and said Randy was missing. Angela told her that she last saw Randy the night before, and said that he left after they had an argument.
Lisa said she tried contacting Randy, but his phone went straight to voicemail. Lisa said it wasn't like Randy. She said he always had his phone on, and he’d even try to answer the phone when he was at work.
On March 24, Angela went to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department in Puyallup, Washington, and reported her husband missing.
Later that same day, a car was found 20 miles away in Gig Harbor. The car, a maroon Dodge Intrepid had rolled down an embankment. The keys were found in the ignition, but no one was around. The police used the keys to unlock the trunk, and found the body of a male. The victim had been shot twice in the head.
The Investigation
The police ran the car registration, and the car came back as belonging to Randy Ferguson.
The police contacted Lisa. Lisa told the police that Randy had tattoos, and often wore a t-shirt and flannel. It matched the description of their victim, and he was positively identified.
The police went to Randy and Angela’s house, and told Angela that Randy was dead. They described her as being devastated about the news. They asked Angela if Randy had any enemies, but she said no.
Randy’s car was taken to the police station, and was examined. The police knew that Randy had been killed somewhere else, as there was very little blood in the car and trunk. The drivers seat was also pushed almost all the way up to the steering wheel. Randy was a big guy, and was about 6’3,” so he hadn’t been driving.
A Possible Motive
Two days after Randy was found, the police canvassed the neighborhood where the Ferguson’s lived.
A neighbor told the police that while Randy was in Detroit for the Super Bowl, Angela had another male over to the house. The neighbor said the man returned again just a few weeks later, and again on Thursday morning. He found this to be important, so he recorded them. The neighbor said that Angela had told his wife that she was having an affair.
The man was identified as a man named Lawrence. He was interviewed by the police on March 27. Lawrence told the police that he met Angela a few months earlier, and that she told him she was going through a divorce from Randy.
Lawrence said he had been at the house on Wednesday, and had moved some of his things in. Lawrence said he was only there for a few days, but a note was delivered to him from Claude, Angela’s son. Angela told him to leave because of the police.
The police determined that Lawrence wasn’t involved in Randy’s murder, and had no prior knowledge that the crime was going to happen.
Accident or Premeditated Murder?
Claude Walz, Jr., was interviewed on March 28. Claude said he spent some time at his mom’s house on that Wednesday, and over the weekend. He said he had overheard his mom and Randy fighting. He said he heard the door slam, and that his mom said Randy had left.
The police believed that Claude was lying and knew more than what he was saying.
While Alison, Randy’s daughter, was spending time with her grandparents, aunt and uncle, she told them that a bad person killed her dad with a gun. Lisa said Alison had let out a horrible cry that day. She was only 4 years old at the time.
Alison was interviewed at the police station. In this episode, she said she only remembers hearing the gunshot, and crawling out from behind the couch.
A search warrant was obtained for the Ferguson home.
“It Just Went Off”
At first glance, there was no obvious signs that a crime had occurred. But, the police did notice that there were several bottles of bleach around the home.
Claude was interviewed for a second time. He finally admitted that his mom had told that “the gun had just went off.” He said his mom and Randy were fighting about head lice, or something to do with Alison. He said he went up to his room, and was woken up by his mom, who was crying.
Claude said he saw Randy just sitting in the computer chair. The police at the station told the investigators to check the office. A shell casing was found, and a large blood stain was found after the carpet was pulled back.
Angela was questioned again. She admitted that she shot Randy, but that the gun just went off while they arguing. The police told Angela that Randy was shot twice, but Angela said she didn’t think that she shot him twice.
After Randy was killed, Angela and Claude carried Randy to the car. Angela drove the car to Gig Harbor, and called her daughter, Lisa Marie, to pick her up. Angela then cleaned the house.
Lisa Marie admitted that the gun was hers. She had borrowed her mom’s car, and left the gun inside. Lisa Marie also told the police that Angela had asked her once before if she had a gun, but she didn’t know why. The police knew that the crime was probably premeditated and intentional.
The Convictions
Claude and Lisa Marie Walz were charged with rending criminal assistance. They were convicted of this charge in the first degree, and sentenced to 10 months of community service.
In October 2007, Angela pled guilty to first degree murder. She was sentenced to 26 years and 8 months.
It seems like Angela’s motives were money and maybe wanting to be with her new boyfriend.
Angela Ferguson
Other
Alison was raised by Aaron and Lisa Moore.
Lisa is a volunteer victim advocate. She started a support group for men who are victims of domestic violence. She said:
“Women are way more abused. I’m not denying that. But we have to acknowledge that men are victims also. A lot of them are losing their lives.”
FINAL THOUGHTS
All Randy wanted was someone in his life, and a family of his own. He finally got that, but Angela was demeaning and manipulative. If Angela wanted to be with Lawrence, she could’ve just divorced Randy. Instead, she killed him while their children were at home, and asked them to help her. It’s sickening, and she deserves a lot longer sentence. I hope she’s rotting in prison.
Sources
https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-angela-ferguson-now/
https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/5-things-know-randy-ferguson-murder-case
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2007/oct/20/wife-given-long-sentence-for-murder/
https://darik.news/washington/what-happened-to-randy-ferguson/676148.html
