In the latest in the murder plot to kill former Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan’s, his ex-wife Shanna Lee Gardner, has been charged in the ambush death that took place in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
On Thursday, State Attorney Melissa Nelson said that prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Gardner. She faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse. They are the same charges her now-husband Mario Fernandez Saldana faces in the case.
“For 547 days we hoped and prayed that this day would come,” said Kristen Bridegan, Bridegan’s widow, whose case was featured again on “Dr. Phil” this week. “Shanna’s arrest ends one horrific chapter of our pursuit of justice for Jared and now we open a new one.”
Authorities have not discussed motive, but an arrest warrant states that “the investigation into Bridegan’s background revealed a highly acrimonious divorce from his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and a contentious relationship with both Gardner and Fernandez Saldana.”
Saldana’s arrest came the same day Nelson announced that Henry Arthur Tenon, 62, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting and was the triggerman. He was the first one charged in the case on Jan. 25.
Nelson said her office and law enforcement would not relent until uncovering the truth.
What are the accusations? How was Bridegan killed?
Fernandez Saldana and Tenon are accused of orchestrating the attack on Bridegan, who was shot on Feb. 16, 2022, after dropping off twin kids off at Mario and Shanna’s Jacksonville Beach home.
Bridegan was on his way home to St. Augustine, Florida, with his 2-year-old daughter when he stopped due to a tire on Sanctuary Road. Early in the investigation, police said they didn’t think the tire on the road was an accident. It was a dark, residential road that Bridegan routinely took to get to Butler Boulevard. When he turned his hazard lights on and exited the car to move the tire, he was immediately gunned down, police said. The toddler was unharmed in her safety seat and nothing appeared to be stolen.
In 2018 Fernandez Saldana married Gardner, whose parents recently said they have been estranged for some time. Gardner, who moved to Washington state with her children after intense media coverage of the case, in June said she wanted people to know where she was coming from considering all of the attention
