John Errol Ferguson: The Carol City and Hialeah Murders
Background
John Errol Ferguson was an American serial killer and mass murderer whose crimes took place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, during the late 1970s. Born on February 27, 1948, Ferguson had a long history of violent behavior, arrests and severe mental illness. He was ultimately convicted of murdering eight people: six victims killed during a home invasion in Carol City on July 27, 1977, and two teenagers murdered near Hialeah on January 8, 1978.
Ferguson had been examined by mental-health professionals years before the murders. Some psychiatrists described him as dangerous, homicidal and unlikely to recover sufficiently to live safely outside a secure institution. He was repeatedly hospitalized but escaped several times. In 1976, he was considered competent to face criminal charges and was later released from custody. Within approximately one year, he participated in one of the worst mass killings then recorded in Miami-Dade County.
The Carol City Home Invasion
On July 27, 1977, Ferguson went to a house in Carol City with Marvin Francois, Beauford James White and getaway driver Adolphus Archie. The residence belonged to Livingston Stocker, a 33-year-old Vietnam veteran who sold marijuana. Ferguson disguised himself as an employee of Florida Power & Light so that he could enter without immediately alarming the people inside.
Margaret Wooden, who was at the house, opened the door. After pretending to inspect the building, Ferguson produced a weapon, restrained Wooden and allowed Francois and White to enter. The armed men searched the house for drugs, money and other valuables. As additional people arrived, the intruders captured them one by one, searched them, tied their hands and covered their eyes.
Eight captives were eventually held inside the residence. Most were placed together in the living room, while Wooden and Michael Miller were kept in a bedroom. The robbery became a mass murder after Francois's mask slipped and one or more captives saw his face. According to the evidence presented in the resulting cases, Ferguson announced that the witnesses would have to be killed.
Francois used a shotgun against the captives in the living room. Ferguson went into the bedroom and shot Wooden and Miller. Six people died, while Wooden and Johnnie Hall survived despite being seriously wounded. Their survival provided investigators with crucial eyewitness evidence about the attack.
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