Jared Bridegan Murder: Witnesses Begin to Testify in Mario Fernandez Saldana’s Trial
Prosecutors say he helped plan a murder-for-hire plot, and jurors heard that the killing was a targeted ambush with no robbery motive.
- On Monday, August 17, 2026, the murder trial for Mario Enrique Fernandez Saldana began in Jacksonville, Florida, with opening statements addressing allegations he orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot targeting Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan.
- Prosecutors claim Fernandez Saldana and his estranged wife, Shanna Gardner, hired gunman Henry Arthur Tenon to kill Bridegan following a bitter custody dispute and divorce, with the motive rooted in contentious disagreements over their shared children.
- Evidence includes handwritten checks totaling $2,000, $3,000, and $5,000 to Tenon, plus phone records showing 35 communications in February alone; Bridegan was ambushed February 16, 2022, after stopping to move a tire, with his 2-year-old daughter Bexley in the vehicle.
- Defense attorney James Hill argued there is no evidence connecting Fernandez Saldana to Tenon's actions, asserting the burden of proof rests entirely on prosecutors to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
- Gardner's trial begins August 31, 2026, while Tenon is scheduled for March 29, 2027; if convicted, Fernandez Saldana faces up to life in prison under remaining charges of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit capital felony.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Murder trial of Jacksonville, Florida’s Mario Fernandez Saldana starts
Mario Enrique Fernandez Saldana is a US Army veteran. He and his wife Shanna Gardner Fernandez are accused of orchestrating the murder of her former husband Jared Galen Bridegan. After divorcing Shanna, Bridegan married Kristen Bridegan. When Mario's murder trial started on August 17, 2026, Kristen was one of the witnesses.
He’s the first to face trial in Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case. What do we know about Mario Fernandez?
As the trial of Mario Fernandez in the murder of Jared Bridegan begins with opening statements on Monday, News4JAX is taking a look at everything we’ve learned about Fernandez since his arrest in March 2023.
Murder for hire trial begins for Mario Fernandez Saldana in death of Jared Bridegan
The murder trial for Mario Fernandez Saldana is underway in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Fernandez is charged with first-degree murder in the 2022 shooting death of Jared Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft senior design manager and father of four. Prosecutors allege Fernandez helped orchestrate a murder-for-hire plot targeting Bridegan and that Henry Tenon, Fernandez’s former tenant and […] The post LIVE UPDATES | Murder for hire trial begins for Mar…
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