Snapped: Women Who Murder - Angela Ferguson

Episode Date: May 9, 2021

When the body of a beloved aircraft machinist is found stuffed into the boot of his own car, investigators follow a trail of deception to a manipulative killer.Season 24, Episode 2Originally ...aired: August 26, 2018Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WsLCJWqmIeb See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wonder East Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Two happy parents, four stepchildren, and one well-loved daughter between them. They were the Brady bunch of Puyallup Washington. She was a great father. She was the loving housewife.
Starting point is 00:00:33 This appeared to be a perfect light. Until the faithful husband and father disappears without a trace. You're thinking he would never do this. He would never just leave. Will a devastating discovery bring a tragic end to this missing person's case? He stopped his car, went and looked,
Starting point is 00:00:54 and saw a vehicle down in a bank med. Why would somebody put bleach on the victim of a hijacking? As questions swirl, investigators must ask themselves, how had this devoted family man found himself in harm's way? And was this picture perfect family hiding a more scandalous secret? What is going on in his life that would want somebody to hurt him? Drugs, gambling, money. Is this a love triangle gone bad? It did make sense to us that a husband would allow another man to move his belongings
Starting point is 00:01:30 into his house. I think everyone looked at him as being in the primary suspect. We're very strong, possibility she was having an affair. I don't even really remember what I did. I just remember a lot of screaming and crying. -♪ -♪ March 23, 2006, Puyallup, Washington. 39-year-old Angela Ferguson arrives at the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, holding
Starting point is 00:02:11 a stack of homemade flyers with a picture of her husband, 45-year-old Randy Ferguson. Here's a good photo. The information had the vehicle information, his information, data birth, and what he was wearing. Angela tells police that her husband had disappeared on March 22nd, the previous evening. Angela first told us that they'd had an argument. They'd been arguing about things that day,
Starting point is 00:02:40 and that he stormed out. Sometimes when they would get in a fight, Randy would just take a drive. And then he would be gone for like hour and come back. However, Angela says that this time, Randy hadn't come back home. And when Angela called his immediate family, they hadn't heard from him either.
Starting point is 00:03:02 She said he was missing and was just confusing. And I was like, what do you mean? We lived like three or four minutes away from each other. So missing, I guess that just stands out. It just was like a bad movie. Pierce County detectives agreed to take the case, but Angela is way ahead of them. People may believe that the police aren't doing it
Starting point is 00:03:26 else and they want to, you know, do a little extra. My mom called his phone. She talked to a newspaper. My sister and my aunt were putting out flyers, missing person flyers, and she was calling his friends, his work, his family. You never expect something like that in your personal circle of friends.
Starting point is 00:03:50 Angela Phillips was born in September of 1966 into a strict military household. Though her family moved around for most of her childhood, they eventually settled in Fort Lewis, Washington, just in time for Angela to start high school. There, she fell in love with fellow student Claude Waltz III. Though they never married, the couple quickly got pregnant in 1984. After daughter Lisa Marie was born, three more children followed. twins Claude IV and Kristen in 1987 and son Burrell in 1988. Then tragedy struck the young family
Starting point is 00:04:29 when Burrell started having health problems. My dad, he doesn't like hospitals and stuff. And so I think that this stress of him not being a big support for my mom, they used to fight a lot. By the time Burrell' health improved in 1997, Claude had moved to Puyallup, Washington, and Angela had married a new man. However, Angela's rebound relationship
Starting point is 00:04:54 proved to be a mistake. They were splitting up, and my mom sent us down with my dad so we'd be safe. After divorcing her ex, Angela joined her kids in Puyallup, a peaceful town outside of Tacoma. I think the Pacific Northwest area in general is a great place to raise a family. It's kind of known as a family destination. A lot of families live here because they can afford to buy a house in a nice neighborhood.
Starting point is 00:05:22 Even with her ex-clawed helping out when he could, Angela still struggled to feed and house her brood in a modest duplex, especially as her kids entered high school. My mom was a really strong person, and when we were growing up, she showed us just... she didn't depend on anybody. A lot of our life, it was just her and us four kids.
Starting point is 00:05:43 Then, in 2000, while picking up her mail at her mailbox, Angela, who was then 34 years old, struck up a conversation with her neighbor, Lisa Moore. She was just very boisterous and just happy and just over the top with everything. I would talk to her out the mailbox, just, hey, how are you doing? And kind of got to know each other a little bit. When talk turned to men, Lisa Moore mentioned her brother, 40-year-old Randy Ferguson. He was a machinist for Boeing, and he worked there
Starting point is 00:06:15 for almost 17 years. And he lived in like a fancy apartment above some people's garage and just saved all his money. Just a simple life. His family was very important. He was close with his sisters. You know, he would have dinner with him every Sunday. He was such a family-oriented person. We just knew he'd be such a great catch. Lisa explains to Angela that this was why she was stunned that her brother had never found the right woman.
Starting point is 00:06:46 He was a family guy and he just wanted a family of his own. He was 40 years old and he wanted that more than anything. I had told her what a wonderful person he was and how much he loved his family and what a wonderful husband that he would be. We wanted him to find love. For Angela, Randy sounded like exactly the type of man she wanted to meet. She just really wanted me to introduce her to Randy. So I invited her up for a barbecue at my house. When my mom first met Randy, she was really attracted to him,
Starting point is 00:07:22 and she thought he was really nice. They went for a walk, which I thought was funny, When my mom first met Randy, she was really attracted to him and she thought he was really nice. They went for a walk, which I thought was funny because my brother wouldn't walk anywhere. And she got him to go for a walk. And then they came back and I believe they were like holding hands. After that night, Randy and Angela were inseparable.
Starting point is 00:07:43 Randy had never been married. Didn't do a lot of dating, I understand. And so he was enamored with her. He was spending a lot of time down at the duplex. I'd go down there and see him with her. I mean, she was always hanging all over him, you know, which for sisters kind of uncomfortable. You know, it's like get a room or something,
Starting point is 00:08:05 but he was clearly smitten and happy with her. For Randy, the fact that Angela already had four children was a draw, not a downside. Here, he's in a relationship with a woman that has four kids, but I thought he embraced it fine. He wanted kids too, and she had four of them, so that worked out. When we first met Randy, we thought he was a good guy. I remember Angela's kids thinking very highly of Randy.
Starting point is 00:08:35 They said that Randy really accepted them. I mean, he welcomed them into the home. My mom and Randy were dating for like six months, and then they told us that we were all moving to a house together. He bought this beautiful home for her and her children. It's a safe neighborhood. I mean, you have several police officers living in the area.
Starting point is 00:08:56 There was a state trooper that lived in the cold sack behind them, and another officer that lived up the street. Then on July 4, 2001, less than a year after the couple had met, Angela made an announcement. My mom told us she was pregnant. Randy really wanted kids, so he was really excited. When she was pregnant, he would do random stuff. I could go out like random times in the morning
Starting point is 00:09:20 to get her food. The couple married in late September, and a few months later, they welcomed their daughter, Allison. Allison was just the true love of his life. He just loved her with every part of his being. It was all about their daughter, Allison. And Randy was a great father.
Starting point is 00:09:43 You know, Angela was the loving housewife. They'd all sit out on the porch, even the kids that Angela had with her ex. They would all sit out on the porch and just talk, hang out. That was kind of Randy's way of saying, you know, you're a part of our family. By him just incorporating us in everything that he did.
Starting point is 00:10:07 family, by him just incorporating us in everything that he did. By 2005, Angela's kids had almost flown the nest. 20-year-old Lisa Marie and 18-year-old Kristen were starting families of their own. And 18-year-old Claude was planning on joining the Marines. Randy seemed to think very highly of the kids, and they like that they have that security with Randy he would have done anything for them and I think they knew that. Meanwhile, Randy was working towards retirement at Boeing and as Alison got ready for kindergarten
Starting point is 00:10:36 Angela was dipping her toe back in the workforce, taking a job at a local warehouse. It seemed to blend all really well. The kids were always there and a part of the family. They seemed to be happy. All the joy and happiness the Ferguson's seem to have make Randy's sudden disappearance on March 22nd all the more disturbing. I called his cell phone, and it went straight
Starting point is 00:11:04 to voicemail. And my heart sunk from that moment because Randy's phone was never off ever. You're just like having an outer body experience because you just can't believe this is going on because he would never do this. He would never just leave. Coming up, investigators look to Angela for answers.
Starting point is 00:11:28 I said, please come over. He said, I'll be home in a little while. And while the search for Randy continues, investigators make a disturbing discovery. A morning commuter has saw this exhaust coming up off the side of the road. The car is running. no one's in it. The car's running, no one's in it. The car's running, no one's in it.
Starting point is 00:11:50 The car's running, no one's in it. The car's running, no one's in it. The car's running, no one's in it. The car's running, no one's in it. In March 2006, after four and a half years of marriage, Angela and Randy Ferguson seemed to have everything, a healthy marriage, a happily blended family, and a beautiful four-year-old daughter, Allison.
Starting point is 00:12:14 They lived in a very nice neighborhood. They had a nice home. It seemed like from the outside looking in a good family. People can see themselves living that life, living that life of Randy Ferguson, and Angela Ferguson. Then on March 23, 2006, 39-year-old Angela Ferguson reported Randy missing.
Starting point is 00:12:37 Determined to unravel this mystery, Pierce County Sheriff's deputies sit down with Angela to get more details about the night that Randy disappeared. She indicated that they had had an argument on March 22, 2006. Allison had had lights to go. That's why it was a pest. He saw when she was getting in his car. And I was bitchin' at him and hollering at him. And he said he was gonna leave.
Starting point is 00:13:02 Then I told him to go ahead. And then he left. You told us he did call after he left Wednesday evening. No one's. And what did he say when he called? I said, please come home. And he said, it'll be over in a little while. Struggling to hold back tears, Angela
Starting point is 00:13:22 says that the argument was a blip on an otherwise perfect marriage. She told Detectives that they had no issues whatsoever. They had a happy marriage and she loved him. This is a nice guy, you know. And he was dedicated to a worker, dedicated to his family and his daughter, Allison. Angela was a greeting wipe, you know, one of her husband is.
Starting point is 00:13:45 So you guys will look for it. Yes. We'll start to contact this other... Yeah. We're all in here. They contacted Boeing. They talked to Boeing about what Randy's reputation was there. They weren't made aware of any red flags from work.
Starting point is 00:13:59 You've been there for many years. It was a great job. Well, paying job. They can understand what was going on. years was a great job, well-paying job. They can understand what was going on. Meanwhile, Angela and Randy's close-knit family searched the county for any trace of the loving father. Angela called the newsroom where I was working
Starting point is 00:14:16 at the Koma News Tribune, and she called our tip line, wanting us to do a story about her missing husband. Me and my sisters, we went, and we were going to hang up flyers along his work route to Boeing. Just to see if anybody had seen him. My mom had called me and said, Kristen Rennie's missing, and he didn't come home. It was just like, you didn't want to believe it,
Starting point is 00:14:42 because that just don't happen to you. It was just hoping that he would come back and hoping that he would be fine. Roughly 24 hours after Angela reports her husband missing, Sheriff's deputies are called to an area known as Gig Harbor, 30 minutes away from Puywala. A morning commuter driving to work down the road, a road that he drives every day saw this exhaust coming up off the side of the road. It's probably a good 15-20 feet down off the embankment. The car is running, no one's in it. A patrol deputy, the very first thing he is going to do is just to check to make sure
Starting point is 00:15:19 the car is not stolen. That would probably be the most common thing, especially in an area that's kind of off the beaten path. The runs in and comes back. The vehicle had been associated with Randy Ferguson a missing person. They found several items. They found a bleach bottle that was down there,
Starting point is 00:15:37 and they found the faceplate of the stereo system down by the car. However, deputies see no sign of Randy Ferguson. But there is one area they haven't searched. The trunk of Randy's car. They know there's always a possibility of something being in the trunk, but they just think they're looking at a car
Starting point is 00:15:55 that was abandoned. The deputy that arrived initially took the vehicle keys out, opened the trunk. They opened it up, and they have an overwhelming smell of bleach. And at that point, they find, open the trunk. They opened it up and they have an overwhelming smell of bleach. And at that point, they find Randy in the trunk of the car. I can't imagine what the deputy thought. I think the last thing he was expecting
Starting point is 00:16:16 was to find a body in a trunk. The deputy immediately just closed the trunk and requested detectives. Once the car is transported back to the station, Pierce County detectives, CSI agents, and the medical examiner begin processing the evidence. When he was removed from the trunk, we were also now able to identify what
Starting point is 00:16:39 appeared to be the manner of death. We had discovered that Brandi had not only been shot once, but he had been shot twice in the head. Once the blood is wiped away from his head and his face, you can clearly see both shots one to each temple. There was no tie to Brandi and Gig Harbor, you know, that we knew of.
Starting point is 00:16:57 I had no idea why he would be there, why his vehicle would be there. So I think initially we were thinking that some type of robbery or something gone bad and that's where he was left. However, when the detectives take a closer look at the car, that theory falls apart. There wasn't a lot of blood.
Starting point is 00:17:15 A head wound normally would have a lot of blood. And that wasn't so in this case. It obviously being cleaned up. He was dressed in blue jeans that had obvious bleach stains on him. Smell of the bleach, the odor was very strong. Most robbers wouldn't take the time out to clean a victim. Why would somebody put bleach on a victim of a hijack? They don't usually stop and do that.
Starting point is 00:17:36 It was fairly obvious that whatever happened to Randy did not happen there. He was killed somewhere else and put in his trunk of his vehicle. There is also the position of Randy's vehicle. The hood of the car was into a tree, but there was very slight damage to the hood of the car, which indicates it wasn't coming down off the roadway at a high rate of speed. It was clear that the car was pushed over
Starting point is 00:17:59 instead of driven down. Somebody took a great deal of effort getting this man into the trunk of his car, and then abandoning the car and making it look like something that it clearly was not. They have certainly spoke to you that this wasn't so random. Who would want to kill Randy in such a violent way? It's like a train wreck.
Starting point is 00:18:24 You don't want to look at it, but you have no choice, but you do look at it. And it's crazy. On March 25th, investigators arrive at the home of 39-year-old Angela Ferguson to inform her of Randy's death. It was fairly late, chance of the door. And wanting to know if we had found Randy yet,
Starting point is 00:18:45 we told Angela that we had recovered Randy's body. I think Karen it was the worst part when they said, oh, we found his body. It didn't feel like it was real that he was gone. My mom was crying. She was pounding on the pavement and just made a dramatic emotional yelling that he was going to come back. She's telling them, oh, he can't be dead.
Starting point is 00:19:10 Pierce County detectives promise Angela that they won't stop until they find out who is responsible. Investigations are about ruling theories out. If it's not a car jagginggy what else could it be? Randy was a normal, everyday type person, and so it was kind of, you know, perplexing that, you know, we couldn't figure out a motive. Coming up, police begin to hear whispers of marital discord. Angela's neighbors noticed things weren't going right. And a young witness points investigators towards their first suspect.
Starting point is 00:19:44 Allison had to Alusa, that the bad man shot her dad. Summer is finally here, which means the great outdoors are hotter, more humid, and filled with bugs. Actually, come to think of it, there's no better way to spend the summer than an air-conditioned comfort while listening to your favorite podcasts. Discover the summer of podcast with two months free of Wondery Plus. With Wondery Plus, you get early and ad free access to your favorite podcasts. You can also listen to our entire library of award-winning binge-worthy shows.
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Starting point is 00:20:48 It's been less than 24 hours since the body of Randy Ferguson was found in the trunk of his car on a remote stretch of highway. Investigators in Pierce County, Washington have yet to zero in on a suspect. Hoping to get some more information, police asked Angela if their family was having any financial problems. Angela tells police that if there was a problem,
Starting point is 00:21:22 she wouldn't know about it. Randy was a little bit controlling with money. If they went shopping somewhere, that she would go in and he would kind of follow and just pay at the till. Randy controlled me the household money. She was happy to be a wife. So it seemed to work for them. She didn't make the relationships sound unhappy.
Starting point is 00:21:44 for them, she didn't make their relationships sound unhappy. Pierce County investigators, Sapina Randy's bank records, but it leads them to a dead end. He didn't have debts that were out there, outstanding debts or weren't any financial issues for him that we were made aware of, or that law enforcement uncovered. There is no evidence available
Starting point is 00:22:03 anyone else that wanted to or had any motive to her Randy or murder him. Later that same day, March 25th, investigators receive a phone call from several of Angela's neighbors. They say that Angela has just told them the grim news. They were crying when they found out that Randy was dead. They couldn't believe it.
Starting point is 00:22:23 She's saying all these things. I love him. I smell him on me. Don't sit in his chair. He's coming back. And you know that they're false. It was like an over-dramatized reaction. Angelo's neighbors, you know, some of them were fairly close to up to Randy or to her.
Starting point is 00:22:41 And they noticed things weren't going right. We'd sit out on summer nights, we'd sit around drink beer, talk, and have a good time. As time progressed, we would see a lot less of Randy, a lot more of Angela. Whenever there was any kind of family drama, she would arid to everybody. So a lot of people knew what was going on in the house
Starting point is 00:23:00 as far as marriage wasn't working. They weren't sleeping together. And she said that she told Randy she wanted a divorce. was going on in the house as far as the marriage wasn't working. They weren't sleeping together. And she said that she told Randy she wanted a divorce. Several neighbors say that when Randy would leave the house, another man would come to visit. There was a couple of times where she would be seen getting in the car with him and leaving.
Starting point is 00:23:24 Neighbors tell detectives that Angela had introduced the man as Lamont, a friend that she had met through work. However, neighbors say that they suspect that Lamont is much more than just a friend. It was a very strong possibility she was having an affair with another man. And now we're wondering if, okay, is this a love triangle gun? Add is Lamont involved in this somehow. Anytime you're looking at suspects for who would have killed the husband, you're gonna look at the lover.
Starting point is 00:23:55 So Lamont was a prime suspect. Before police can track him down, they receive a disturbing phone call from Randy's sister, Lisa Moore. Lisa tells police that she has been taking care of Randy and Angela's daughter, four-year-old Allison, to help out Angela during this difficult time. She didn't want Allison to be around all that, so Lisa came in and got her out of the situation really fast and took really good care of her. However, Lisa states that Allison has been saying
Starting point is 00:24:28 some very unsettling things since her father's death. Sometimes I'd write stuff down on napkins or whatever was available because I just found it really odd. She had come into the home crying and said that there was a bad man in a gun. Allison had told Lisa that a bad man shot her dad. The family was very concerned that she may have either witnessed or heard something.
Starting point is 00:24:55 Could 40-year-old Allison be the key to unmasking the killer's identity? We needed to speak to her. So we took her to our children's center, and she spoke with a professional child interview. Alison talked about with the interviewer was that daddy was up in heaven and that a bad person had shot him. But we asked did she see that? Alison made a statement that she was in bed. It didn't sound like she actually saw anything.
Starting point is 00:25:23 While Alison's story isn't enough for police to pinpoint a suspect, it does suggest Randy was murdered in his own home. That's when detectives shift the line of questioning to Angela's paramour Le Mans. And she talked about him being at the house sometimes, but not when dad was there. And that dad wasn't supposed to know that he came there.
Starting point is 00:25:49 She used some fantastical language. She did say, it's a secret that I have to eat. I have to eat that secret, and I can't talk to certain people about it. And I can only talk to my mom about it. Allison says that Lamont has always been very nice to her. In fact, Allison says that a few days before her daddy died, Lamont told her another secret just before he left the house. She said that Lamont hugged her and said that he was going to take care of her and her mother.
Starting point is 00:26:17 There was a lot of red flags here about what his role was with the disappearance of Mr. Ferguson. Could Lamont be the person that detectives have been looking for? I think everyone looked at him as being the primary suspect. Before Pierce County investigators can bring Lamont in, they receive a call from Claude Waltz III, Angela's ex, and the father of her son, Claude IV. Claude III says that his 19-year-old son has taken Randy's death hard. Claude was supposed to go in the military, and he really looked up to Randy and Randy
Starting point is 00:26:55 really thought a lot of Claude. Suddenly, everything is flipped over on itself and everything is kind of overwhelming for him. It was definitely scared and ejected. However, Claude III tells investigators that he suspects his son's behavior is more than just grief. Do you think Claude was afraid tonight? That Claude was really afraid tonight.
Starting point is 00:27:18 Could you tell why? He just said he was scared. At one of the points during the conversation with Claude's father, he tells him that Claude makes the statement that snitches belong in ditches. A person that has no information doesn't use the word snitch. When you start talking about snitch,
Starting point is 00:27:33 that means, OK, you know something. Do you think you know something? I think he does, but he says he knows, but I'm fine. I'm fine. You home? Could Angela's son be a witness to the crime? And could he be convinced to tell his side of the story?
Starting point is 00:27:51 Pierce County detectives ask Claude to come down to the station. He was scared. He didn't want to tell us much. Claude knows something. It's clear that Claude knows something. Investigators then ask Claude about his mother's friend, Lamont. I guess my mother Lam friend, Lamont. I guess my mother and my wife are going to go find clients, whatever they don't.
Starting point is 00:28:10 I don't know. Okay. Anything else unusual happened during the week there? Mm-hmm. Nothing's normal. Just normal. Okay. Is there anything else you want to add to this statement before we enter right now? Has someone threatened Claude to stay quiet? Or is he trying to protect someone?
Starting point is 00:28:33 Investigators aren't sure, so they have no choice but to release Claude back to his father. Coming up, detectives bring Lamont in for questioning. He did confirm that him and Angela were having an affair. And one of Angela's children reveals a jaw-dropping secret. I was sitting there freaking out, and Randy's just laying there like he was sleeping. In 2006, Randy and Angela Ferguson of Puyallup, Washington, looked like they had created a happy and successful blended family. However, after Randy is found shot to death
Starting point is 00:29:25 in the trunk of his car, Pierce County Sheriff's detectives discover that Angela has a secret, a boyfriend named Lamont. Lamont was witnessed come over to Randy's house and stay the night by one of the neighbors. We didn't know what if any participation he had in Randy's murder. On March 27, 2006, Pierce County detectives
Starting point is 00:29:49 cornered Lamont in the parking lot at his work and arrest him for an outstanding warrant. He was pretty forthcoming with law enforcement that he was willing to answer their questions. He was willing to meet with him. He did confirm that him and Angela were having an affair. They were mutually attracted to each other. In the Monts-Stand they had been together intimately over 15 times
Starting point is 00:30:10 and gave the hotel that they went to and things of that nature. It was his impression that his belief that him and Angela were then going to move in with each other. In the Monts-Stand actually moved almost all of his belongings I believe into their garage. Then you knew that Angela was married to Randy. I knew they were married, but she told me they were going through a divorce. But then she told me that they were postponing the divorce for six months. And then he was signing the house over to her
Starting point is 00:30:41 and the rights of Alice and over to her. And he was going to pay the house over to her and the rights of Allison over to her and he was going to pay the house mortgage to bill whatever. Okay. And what did you think the living arrangement was going to be one year or there? What's Randy? Well, I was told he had an apartment. That's what I was told.
Starting point is 00:31:02 That's when investigators tell LeMont the truth. Angela and Randy were not going through a divorce, and Randy was still living at the house at the time of his death. He was surprised. He said he had nothing to do with it. He didn't know anything about it. He was forthcoming. It didn't appear like he was trying to cover anything.
Starting point is 00:31:20 After their interviews with him, they had a pretty strong indication that he was not involved in the murder. Which left just one person with the opportunity to kill Randy. We're pretty sure that Angela is not the loving wife that she tried to portray herself as. Why would Angela want Randy dead? Why not just get the divorce that she had been talking about with Lamont and her neighbors?
Starting point is 00:31:47 To answer these questions, police call Randy's sister, Lisa Moore. Lisa tells investigators that it only took a couple of months for her to regret introducing Randy and Angela. Every time her lips were moving, she was lying, but even when it was right in front of them, he still just would overlook it. Lisa says that after the marriage, Angela's behavior only got worse. She was the head of the household, and if things didn't go our way, she can make life
Starting point is 00:32:19 miserable. She's just nasty and mean and that just wasn't who Randy was. He didn't like confrontation at all. He was soft spoken and I just think she manipulated him. However, Lisa says that in early 2006, something changed. He had started talking to his family about possibly leaving her and he was in a fight for custody of Allison. He would call me and say, you know, could you try to find me some lawyers that had a specialty
Starting point is 00:32:53 with getting custody for men. Lisa says that if Randy divorced Angela and got full custody of Allison, then Angela would lose the ability to control Randy and his money. Angela probably felt threatened to the point where she wasn't gonna let Randy win. I told them that I thought she was involved. I didn't know how, but I just felt like she was. Pierce County investigators suspect that the answers they need can be found at the Ferguson home. At 1 p.m. on March 28, 2006, Pierce County detectives arrive at Angelus House with Washington
Starting point is 00:33:33 State CSI teams and a search warrant that allows them to enter the home without Angelus being present. We knew there had to be blood. We knew from the injury, so where is it in the home? While investigators are scouring the house for clues, detectives finally get a break in the case from an unlikely source. Angela's sister, Ursula. The sister had contacted us, and she told us that Angela had confessed to her.
Starting point is 00:34:04 That she had shot her husband and that her son helped her move the body. Once we had that information, I grabbed a troll deputy and we went to Claude's house. There wasn't any denying or anything like that. Claude confessed to being involved and moving Randy's body. Claude says it all started months earlier when his mother approached him asking a favor. She asked me to, like, shoot Randy like before.
Starting point is 00:34:43 Like, I didn't think she was serious. I thought she was just joking. Claude tells investigators that he found out how serious his mother was on March 22, 2006, a night when he happened to be staying at his mother and stepfather's home. Claude said that he could hear them arguing and the clock says he goes back to sleep. His mother wakes him up and she's screaming and she's yelling and she's frantic and she's saying that she accidentally shot him. I was sitting there freaking out and my mom, I looked out and Randy's just laying there like he was sleeping. Was he laying on the floor?
Starting point is 00:35:27 No, he was in a computer chair. What else did you notice about him? His nose was bleeding. His mom sent you near to his help to move Randy. And his mom started selling him. He's going to get in trouble for this too because he was there. This is his mom asking slash demanding his help and he's kind of between a rock and a hard place. My mom had a way of convincing you to do stuff that you want you to do. So when Randy shot and my mom's looking at you like, hey, I need you.
Starting point is 00:35:58 My brother did what my mom told him to do because that's what we're supposed to do. They get the body to the edge of the stairs, still in the computer chair, and the body goes down the stairs. And then they take the body from down the stairs into the trunk. He followed his mother and took the car to an apartment complex and parked it in a parking lot there. I honestly believe that Claude Wally was telling us this was remorseful.
Starting point is 00:36:24 He liked Randy. He wished this hadn't happened. Pierce County investigators arrest Claude for criminal assistance, and radio and update to the CSI teams. I recall calling to Texas Sergeant Berg and telling her, okay, this happened upstairs right in front of the computer desk. She had cleaned up pretty well because that carpet was almost white. It was a very light, light beige. It wasn't until I just cut the carpet
Starting point is 00:36:51 and pulled it back, and then we saw the blind. Everything had been cleaned up, done with peroxide, and she thought that she was going to get away with this. Coming up, detectives talk to Angela to get her side of the story. I think that she was going to use my brother and I think she was gonna try to blame on him.
Starting point is 00:37:14 Will this finger pointing lead to swift justice or only more pain for a grieving family? You said the thing no turning back now. March 28, 2006. It's been four days since the discovery of 45-year-old Randy Ferguson. His stepson, 19-year-old Claude, has just confessed to helping his mother, Angela, move Randy's dead body. Pierce County investigators confront Angela while she is shopping at a local pharmacy. They were able to contact without any trouble, and she got into the car willingly and taken
Starting point is 00:38:04 back to our headquarters to be interviewed. We confronted Angela. We knew that Randy had been killed with a gun. We knew he'd been shot twice. She said that the first shot was accidental. Angela's story on this whole thing was that her and Randy were arguing. And he wasn't taking her seriously.
Starting point is 00:38:36 She pulled out a gun and was waving it around. She didn't know what she was going to do with the gun. She'd never fired again before. She said that while she's arguing with Randy, it accidentally goes off. He said, but there's no turning back no more, no more, no more, no more. You have to do it again. I was back in it. Can you do it?
Starting point is 00:39:11 Angela says her son took the gun from her and pointed it at his stepfather. She said Claude actually shot him killing him finally. Who helped you put him in the trunk of a car? A car just pushed us there and it caught us. It caught us from our own. You didn't need to crawl. You know you need to do something. Angela confirms that Claude helped her move Randy's body to the car.
Starting point is 00:39:39 But she claims that her oldest daughter, 21-year-old Lisa Marie, is the one who picked her up after Angela dumped Randy's car in Gig Harbor. So what was the truth? Had Angela's 19-year-old son fired the final shot that killed Randy Ferguson? Or was Claude simply a pawn? When police bring 21-year-old Lisa Marie Waltz
Starting point is 00:40:02 in for questioning, she admits, like her brother, to assisting her mother after the shooting. You remember your mother or anybody else, don't think, from the vehicle? I just remember going there to street and seeing better than my teeth. There's some statements that she dumped bleach on the body and dumped peroxide on the body. My understanding is everything that the kids did was at the mother's direction, including cleaning up of the home.
Starting point is 00:40:27 She used her children to help her commit a murder and then try to hide the murder. As a parent, I just, I can't believe that. After hearing Lisa Marie's account, detectives feel certain that Angela Ferguson fired the two fatal shots that killed her husband. I don't think Angela did snap. Angela premeditated this murder.
Starting point is 00:40:47 This wasn't a split-second decision for her. She planned this. My mom was selfish. When my mom and Randy were talking about divorce, he would get Allison and he told her that he would fight for Allison. And my mom did not want him to get custody of Allison. And she also wanted. he had a retirement plan. He had been working at Boeing for a really long time,
Starting point is 00:41:10 and she wanted the money when he died. Like her 19-year-old brother, Lisa Marie is charged with rendering criminal assistance, but have police put a stop to Angela's manipulation? Or will her children still suffer the consequences of their mother's actions, especially Angela's son, Claude? You're looking at your mother, who's supposed to protect you, and she is throwing him under the bus.
Starting point is 00:41:39 Angela is facing a minimum of 20 years behind bars for the murder of her husband, Randy. On October 17th, 2007, Angela surprises everyone by pleading guilty to first degree murder. I think someone like to believe that she did it so that her children wouldn't have to go through a testimony or anything. I think she's a little bit too selfish for that.
Starting point is 00:42:03 Angela's action showed that she didn't put her kids first. If she had put her kids first, she wouldn't have involved them. A judge sentences Angela to 26 years and eight months in prison. For Randy's family and neighbors, that isn't nearly enough time. She took a plea deal. I was angry about that because she's
Starting point is 00:42:22 going to get out way too soon. I think she deserves everything she gets. I think she should stay there. Anybody who's willing to involve your kids doesn't deserve to be let out. Claude and Lisa Marie Waltz plead guilty to rendering criminal assistance in November 2007. Under Washington State law, Angela's son and daughter are both given suspended sentences and community service for assisting their mother after the fact. The status of the law at the time that they were charged included that if you render criminal assistance
Starting point is 00:42:54 and you were relative, then it's a gross misdemeanor. To this day, they're just walking around in the world. Never being held accountable for their horrendous part in my brother's murder. It's just unjust. You go, wow, we need to do something about that. And that's exactly what I did. And fought for almost four years to get Randy's law passed.
Starting point is 00:43:19 She was like a bull in the China store. When it came to getting what they referred fruit to as Randy's law changed. To now, they can be charged with rendered criminal assistance up to 10 years in prison. Even with a new statute on the books, Lisa Moore says she can't forget the terrible tragedy that Angela brought into her family's life. I feel like I fed him to her on a silver platter. My brother was a good
Starting point is 00:43:46 person and he didn't deserve any of this. Alison no longer has a father. She no longer has a mother. There's just really no excuse for this. It's just cruel. And it hurt so many people. My mom. I mean, it's for like, like you won't worth it. What value do you have if your mom could kill somebody in and hope that you take the blame for it? Angela is just an evil person and don't really know how else to describe her. In 2010, Angela filed formal documents accusing her son, Clause, of murdering Randy.
Starting point is 00:44:26 Despite a guilty plea, she maintains her innocence. Angela will be released in 2032, she will be in her mid-60s. Allison, now 19 years old, was raised by her aunt, Lisa. For more information on snapped, go to oxygen.com.

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