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The ex-wife of a Florida Microsoft executive who was gunned down in front of his 2-year-old daughter last year has been arrested in Washington state and charged in connection with the killing — and prosecutors said they plan to seek the death penalty in the case. Long a suspect in father-of-four Jared Bridegan’s brutal Jacksonville Beach slaying, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez was collared after a grand jury handed down a first-degree murder indictment Thursday morning. “Shanna Gardner’s indictment acknowledges her central and key role in the cold, calculated and premeditated murder of Jared Bridegan,” State Attorney Melissa Nelson said at a press...

Jacksonville, Fl — A man accused of killing former Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan in Jacksonville Beach in February 2022 faces a possible death sentence if convicted. The State Attorney’s Office says it will seek the death penalty against Mario Fernandez Saldana. He is charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse. Bridegan, a father of four, was murdered in Jacksonville Beach in front of his 2-year-old daughter. Police say he was shot execution-style after he had stopped to move a tire from the road. Fernandez Saldana is married to...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jared Bridegan’s ex-wife has been charged in his February 2022 murder, State Attorney Melissa Nelson announced Thursday. The State Attorney’s Office said it would announce “a significant development” in the investigation. State Attorney Melissa Nelson, Jacksonville Beach Police Department Chief Gene Paul Smith, and ATF Special Agent Bob Bryson appeared at the news conference, along with Bridegan’s brother and widow. Bridegan was gunned down Feb. 16, 2022, in Jacksonville Beach after taking his twins he shared with ex-wife Shanna Gardner Fernandez, and his then-2-year-old Bexley, his daughter with wife Kirsten Bridegan, to dinner.

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. - A West Richland woman could face the death penalty in Florida after being accused of murdering her ex-husband, a former Microsoft executive. Shanna Gardner-Fernandez was taken into custody Thursday morning, Aug. 17 at her home on Laurel Drive by ATF agents from Yakima and Jacksonville and later booked into the Benton County Jail for her alleged role in the February 2022 murder of Jared Bridegan in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Authorities say Bridegan was shot several times on a one-way road while heading home. The man accused of shooting him has since been arrested. Mario Fernandez Saldana...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – State Attorney Melissa Nelson and Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith announced Thursday the arrest of Mario Fernandez in the murder case of Jared Bridegan. Fernandez is the husband of Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez. He’s charged with second degree murder with a weapon, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse.

The 61-year-old felon arrested for the murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan rented his Jacksonville home from Bridegan's ex-wife's new husband. Henry Tenon is in custody on charges of second degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for Bridegan's killing on February 16. *** Police however said at a press conference on Wednesday that he did not act alone, and that they continue to investigate. Tenon rented his home from Mario Fernandez, the new husband of Bridegan's ex-wife Shanna. The couple sold the house in October 2022 - eight months after the murder, and three months after Tenon was arrested...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mario Fernandez has been found guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the February 2022 ambush shooting of Jared Bridegan. Fernandez was charged with arranging the fatal shooting of the father of 4, who worked for Microsoft The deadly shooting has been described as a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by Fernandez and his wife, Shanna Gardner, who was Bridegan’s ex-wife. Gardner faces her own trial in the case, with jury selection scheduled to begin on Monday. Fernandez, 28, is charged with first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the Feb....

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jury deliberations started Wednesday morning in the murder-for-hire trial of Mario Fernandez-Saldana. He’s accused of hiring alleged hitman Henry Tenon to kill Jared Bridegan in 2022. Mario Fernandez Saldana, Gardner’s estranged husband, was arrested in 2023 on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, child abuse, and solicitation to commit capital felony. He’s accused of hiring Henry Tenon to kill Bridegan. In July 2026, two of the charges Fernandez Saldana was facing, child abuse and conspiracy to commit murder, were dropped. He has pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges he’s facing. His trial begins...