Arkansas Trooper’s Ex-Wife Apparent Suicide

SHERWOOD, Ark. — The ex-wife of a state trooper who is a co-defendant in a sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton died in an apparent suicide.

Kathy Ferguson, 37, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the right temple early Wednesday at the home of her boyfriend, said Mark Malcolm, chief deputy coroner for Pulaski County.

Her death was being investigated as a suicide, said Ray Snider, a police spokesman.

A note apparently written by Ferguson was found near her body. It indicated problems in her relationship with her boyfriend, Sherwood Police Officer Bill Shelton, Malcolm said. Another note, apparently from Shelton to Ferguson, questioned her relationship with another man, Malcolm said.

There was no known connection between her death and her ex-husband. Trooper Danny Ferguson said the two had been divorced for about four years.

Danny Ferguson is named in a lawsuit by Paula Corbin Jones, a former state employee who alleges that then-Gov. Bill Clinton made unwanted sexual advances to her in 1991. Her lawsuit said the trooper invited her to the meeting with Clinton. The White House said there was no sexual harassment.