| Former Spencer resident jailed in father's death has history of violence
By Kathryn Gregory
Staff writer
www.wvgazette.com
SPENCER, W.Va. - Almost three years ago, Dreu Ferguson Jr.'s sister worried that he might kill his father if he was released from a West Virginia prison.
Now her fears may have come true.
Ferguson, 33 (pictured left) a former Roane County resident, was charged with threatening to kill his father, Dreu Ferguson Sr., 58 on May 18.
He's also charged with burying his father's partially clothed body under a porch in Millville, N.J.
New Jersey police haven't charged the younger Ferguson, or anyone else, in the slaying. Cumberland County prosecutor Ronald J. Casella has classified the death as suspicious but hasn't been able to diagnose a cause of death.
"It can't be a murder until we find out how he died," Casella said Friday.
While Dreu Ferguson Jr. was in prison in West Virginia, his sister, Jennifer A. Kidwell, wrote a letter to David Nibert, the circuit judge who presided over her brother's trial.
She worried that if her brother didn't get aggressive treatment for his mental problems, he would still be a danger to others after he got out of jail.
"I beg you to hear me in this matter," she wrote. "Putting Dreu back on the street will be sacrificing another life. I can't live with that, nor anyone else, perhaps literally."
The first deaths
In 1997, Dreu Ferguson Jr. moved to Spencer from Millville with his pregnant wife, Jessica. Their son, Dreu III, was born in West Virginia. A second son, Shea, was born a few years later.
Shortly after he moved to Spencer, Ferguson confided in his sister that he suspected something was wrong with him mentally, but he didn't want to take any medication.
"He said he hated the thought of being addicted to medication," she wrote in her letter to the judge.
In June 2002, Jessica Ferguson brought Shea to Roane General Hospital. The 18-month-old boy was dead. The state medical examiner later determined that he had been killed.
Both parents were charged with child abuse/murder by a parent through physical abuse. The couple's older son, Dreu III, was taken from them and placed in the custody of Jessica's parents in Millville.
In 2003, while Dreu Ferguson was awaiting trial in his son's death, he shot and killed his neighbor, William Freas.
After the Fergusons, who had separated and then reconciled after their son's death, returned from visiting Kidwell, they found someone had broken into their house. Ferguson believed it was Freas, who lived across the street.
He took a rifle and confronted Freas on his porch. Ferguson fired a warning shot, and Freas advanced and told him to shoot him if he was going to do it. Ferguson did, and then fled. After a brief manhunt, he was captured in Indiana.
While in jail awaiting trial on Freas' killing, Ferguson finally stood trial for allegedly killing his infant son Shea. He was found not guilty, according to court records.
His first trial on Freas' slaying ended in a mistrial because a juror brought a law dictionary into the jury room. Eventually, his trial was moved to Mason County because an unbiased jury couldn't be found in Roane County. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Diminished capacity
While Dreu Ferguson Jr. was in prison for killing Freas, he was given multiple court-ordered psychiatric and psychological evaluations.
His lawyers asked the court to test him, saying he appeared to have "deteriorated mentally since his incarceration and subsequent trials."
The mental evaluations showed that he was able to stand trial. But Dr. Timothy Saar, a psychologist, testified in Ferguson's final trial that his "lack of capacity to form intent" in killing Freas indicated that he had psychological problems.
Nibert, the circuit judge, told the jury to disregard Saar's testimony because it "did not establish the existence of diminished capacity under West Virginia law," according to court documents. He further asked the jury to disregard all psychological testimony in the case.
In 2008, Ferguson's lawyers appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court. They argued that the inclusion of Saar's testimony would have lessened the sentence imposed on the defendant. The court agreed, overturned Ferguson's conviction and ordered a new trial.
Instead, Ferguson Jr. pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter on June 13, 2008. He was given credit for time served, starting on the date of his initial incarceration on June 13, 2003. He was released from prison on the same day as his plea hearing, having served five years.
A danger to others
According to Kidwell's letter, her brother mentioned while he was in prison for Freas' murder that a mental health evaluation "referred to schizoaffective disorder ... basically it is schizophrenia with periods of mania and/or depression." She said at least three Ferguson family members have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Ferguson's mental instability allegedly started to manifest itself when the two siblings were younger and living together in West Virginia in the summer of 1995.
"He channeled a lot of hatred toward me during that period ... I was scared of him," she wrote. "I honestly felt that he wanted to hurt or kill me. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and confronted him about my fears. He exploded.
"He kept screaming 'I hate you,' over and over again, each time getting louder and more vehement as he lunged toward me. Dreu then proceeded to tell me that he not only wanted to kill me, but he had already thought of how to do it.
"Dreu has treated several members of the family this way ... many of us have been the victims of his mistreatment," Kidwell wrote in the letter.
A family concern
During his time in prison, Kidwell asked her brother about his previous homicidal thoughts, "not only towards me, but also towards Mom, Don, your father and Jessica," she wrote. She asked why it was different with Freas, why he killed him.
According to Kidwell's letter, Dreu never said he was homicidal. "However, it was obvious to me by watching his mental tug of war."
Ferguson Jr. said he didn't kill those people, even if he wanted to, because "it would hurt someone specifically that he loved very much," according to the letter.
However, Kidwell did not trust her brother. She pleaded for him to get help.
Ferguson told her he wanted to move back in with his father and grandmother in New Jersey when he was released. Kidwell was worried because it was very close to Jessica and Dreu III.
She tried to reason with her brother about moving to New Jersey, but to no avail.
Kidwell tried to explain that he would have to go through proper channels to see his son, as he no longer had custody and his current guardians, Jessica's parents, might not want him to see his son.
"They WILL let me see my son," he said, according to Kidwell.
"I said 'Dreu, you shot and killed somebody. They are scared of you,'" she wrote.
According to her, he said, "They better be scared."
Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathryng@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5119.
www.wvgazette.com
See also ... Former Roane Man Charged In Connection With Father's Death
and ... www.nj.com - Millville Man Found Dead Tuesday Was An Accomplished Songwriter
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