In a recent bond hearing, a witness testified that Shanna Gardner, the former spouse of the late Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan, inscribed "good luck!" on a check allegedly issued to the hitman she is accused of hiring to execute Bridegan's murder in 2022.
The bond hearing, held in a Duval County, Florida courtroom, saw multiple witnesses testify in the case against Gardner, a mother of two. She is facing charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, and child endangerment.
Gardner, along with her current husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, is alleged to have offered $150,000 to Henry Tenon, a former tenant of Fernandez-Saldana, to execute the murder. A check for $5,000, dated April 4, 2022, issued from Gardner's and Saldana's LLC, First Choice Home Rentals, bore the words "Kickstarter" and "Good luck!," according to Det. Chris Johns of the Jacksonville Beach Police Department.
"Mr. Tenon stated that this was the first of many payments that were supposed to be an investment into his pallet company which was actually payment for the homicide," testified Johns, the lead detective on the Bridegan murder case.
The prosecution painted the arrangement between Gardner, Saldana, and Tenon as a "contract killing of Jared Bridegan," who had two children with Gardner and two with his wife, Kirsten Bridegan. Saldana is facing identical charges as Gardner in relation to Bridegan's murder.
On February 16, 2022, Bridegan was fatally shot in front of his car on a secluded road in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, after encountering a tire in the middle of the road, a scenario prosecutors believe was a setup. His daughter, aged two and a half at the time, was in the back seat.
Johns recounted that after Bridegan was shot, traffic built up behind his vehicle. Good Samaritans approached the vehicle, removed the toddler, placed her in another vehicle, and provided her with a blanket. The toddler later described hearing a "boom boom" and said her "daddy was sick" after the shooting, Johns testified.
Following the shooting, Johns questioned Gardner twice, asking her if she had any theories about what might have happened to her ex-husband. Gardner allegedly suggested it could have been a drug deal gone wrong or a gang initiation, claiming that Sanctuary Blvd., where Bridegan was shot, was a known drug-dealing location in Jacksonville. Johns testified that he had never heard of such a claim.
Johns also detailed the alleged multi-year plan by Gardner and Saldana to murder Bridegan, involving various scenarios and plans for Saldana to execute the act. Saldana allegedly came within "arm's reach" of Bridegan multiple times but failed to carry out the murder, referring to these instances as "missed opportunities," according to Johns.
Johns added that the couple's alleged plans to murder Bridegan often arose when Gardner "would be upset about some type of custody issue" with Bridegan and their two children. "Marios solution was always to take care of Jared," Johns said, clarifying that "take care of" meant to "kill Jared Bridgen."
Both Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana have pleaded not guilty in connection with Bridegan's murder. They are accused of hiring Tenon, Fernandez-Saldana's former tenant, as a hitman. Tenon has pleaded guilty to pulling the trigger and has agreed to testify against the other suspects.
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