Mario Fernandez Saldana Convicted in 2022 Jared Bridegan Murder-for-Hire Case
Updated
Updated · NBC News · Aug 26
Mario Fernandez Saldana Convicted in 2022 Jared Bridegan Murder-for-Hire Case
3 articles · Updated · NBC News · Aug 26
Summary
A Florida jury found Mario Fernandez Saldana, 38, guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation in the 2022 roadside killing of Microsoft manager Jared Bridegan in Jacksonville Beach.
Prosecutors said the plot grew out of a bitter custody fight with Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and that Bridegan was lured from his Volkswagen Atlas by a tire deliberately left in the road.
Jurors were shown three checks totaling $10,000 written to alleged gunman Henry Tenon after the shooting, while police said Tenon’s DNA was found on the tire rim.
Tenon, 65, had pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate before withdrawing from that deal; he is now set for trial next year, while Gardner’s trial is scheduled to begin in September.
Bridegan was shot twice in February 2022 after returning his twins to Gardner’s home, a killing that initially baffled investigators because he appeared to have no obvious enemies.