Paul Ferguson

Case record: Paul Ferguson

Status / outcome

Paul Ferguson was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1969 and was paroled less than seven years later.

The offence

Ramon Novarro was murdered by two brothers, Paul and Tom Ferguson, whom he had hired from an agency to come to his Laurel Canyon home for sex. The prosecution in the murder case accused Paul and Tom Ferguson of torturing Novarro for several hours to force him to reveal where a large sum of money was hidden in his house. The prosecution asserted that the money did not exist.

During the attack, Paul Ferguson tortured Novarro for several hours with a silver cane, beating Novarro on the back, stomach and groin areas and leaving numerous black and blue bruises all over his body. The prosecution stated that Novarro died as a result of asphyxiation, choking to death on his own blood after being brutally beaten.

The prosecution stated that Paul and Tom Ferguson left with a mere twenty dollars taken from Novarro’s bathrobe pocket before fleeing the scene.

A phrase was scrawled on a mirror in Novarro’s bathroom with a grease pencil: "Us girls are better than those fagits" [sic].

Multiple accounts stated that a sex toy had been used in the case: one claimed that Novarro had been beaten to death with a silver lead dildo given to him by Valentino; other sources claimed the sex toy had been rammed up Novarro’s rectum; still others said it was shoved down his throat.

Investigation

After Novarro’s body was found the next morning, police discovered a call to Chicago in phone logs for Novarro’s home phone made the previous evening. Police contacted the number in Chicago and reached Tom Ferguson’s girlfriend, who told officers about the frightening phone call she received from her boyfriend.

The police found that Tom Ferguson had used Novarro’s telephone during the murder to call his girlfriend in Chicago. The call lasted nearly 40 minutes, and the girlfriend could hear Novarro’s screams in the background.

Police later compiled a list of phone calls made from Novarro’s home, including the call to Chicago made on the day of the murder. After the arrest, Paul Ferguson convinced his younger brother to confess to the crime.

Both men’s fingerprints were discovered in several locations throughout the house. Several witnesses came forward to testify that the men bragged about the murder.

Arrest

Police arrested Paul and Tom Ferguson after receiving information from Tom Ferguson’s girlfriend and after compiling evidence including fingerprints found throughout the house.

Trial

During the trial, Paul Ferguson convinced Tom Ferguson to admit to the murder. Paul Ferguson believed that Tom, as the younger brother who was only 17 at the time of the murder, would not face the death penalty because of his juvenile status.

Tom Ferguson confessed to committing the murders alone. The prosecutor moved to have Tom Ferguson tried as an adult rather than as a juvenile. When the court granted that motion, Tom Ferguson immediately recanted his confession.

During their joint trial, each Ferguson maintained that the other had tortured and killed Ramon Novarro.

Sentencing

Both Paul and Tom Ferguson were sentenced to long prison terms, including life imprisonment for their murder conviction.

Appeals

Paul Ferguson was paroled less than seven years later.

Paul Ferguson later received a separate sentence connected to another event described as a rape: in another state, while out on appeal for a Missouri sentence, he was accused of a second rape. His Missouri sentence was reduced to 30 years, and he served that sentence.

Aftermath / later events

Paul Ferguson eventually moved to Missouri in the Doniphan, Missouri area near the Arkansas border. He was described as being prone to swagger around and brag about being in San Quentin.

Paul Ferguson had business ventures, including a business involving construction and promoting rodeos.

The account described that around 1989 Paul Ferguson got drunk at a local bar, ran his car into a ditch, and walked to a nearby house to use the phone. The woman at the nearby house later testified that Paul Ferguson raped her with "vile details we won’t go into."

The account stated that Paul Ferguson’s age at the time of one later description was about 52 years old, and it stated that he had seven years served on the 30-year sentence.

The narrative stated that Tom Ferguson was released from prison after a few years and blended into American life, but the record stated that Tom Ferguson was later rearrested for unrelated crimes and served longer terms than for his murder conviction.

Other details

Ramon Novarro was murdered at his Laurel Canyon home after inviting two brothers, Paul and Tom Ferguson. Paul was 22 years old and Tom was 17 at the time of the murder.

The narrative stated that Novarro was 68-year-old and that during the beating Tom Ferguson called his girlfriend in Chicago, using Novarro’s telephone. The girlfriend could hear Novarro’s pitiful screams in the background.

The narrative stated that when police arrived they found Novarro’s bathroom with a phrase on a mirror made with a grease pencil: "Us girls are better than those fagits" [sic].

The narrative also stated that Novarro was later interred in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.