JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Action News Jax is learning new details in the alleged murder-for-hire of local Microsoft executive and father of four Jared Bridegan.
A 250-page document details interviews conducted by law enforcement as they attempted to piece together the case.
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Action News Jax’s Jake Stofan has been digging through those files and found some shocking details about the first time detectives went to the home in Washington state, where Bridegan’s ex-wife Shanna Gardner stayed after his murder.
According to the report, detectives entered the home and spoke with several people inside, including Gardner’s grandmother.
When they said they were looking for phones, one of the people – likely one of Gardner’s children – provided an interesting response.
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The unidentified individual asked detectives if they were looking for “burner phones.”
That person also said their mom keeps all their “important” electronics in her bedroom closet.
Detectives executed a search warrant and collected three computers, a tablet, an Apple watch, two cell phones, and a SIM card.
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Additional details in the new documents include how detectives pieced together the connection between gunman Henry Tenon, who has already pleaded guilty, and the murder scene.
During a visit to a rental property owned by Gardner’s estranged husband Mario Fernandez Saldana, which Tenon was renting, detectives found a tire that appeared similar to the one left in the middle of the road that blocked Bridegan’s vehicle before he was shot and killed.
Detectives later found the tire was manufactured at the same facility on the same week as the tire found at the crime scene
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Additionally, detectives also matched this truck owned by Tenon to a vehicle captured around the crime scene by security cameras.
Gardner and Fernandez Saldana are both charged with plotting Bridegan’s murder.
Action News Jax is still going through these documents and Stofan will have the latest updates starting on FOX30 Action News Jax at 10.
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The crime
Bridegan, a St. Johns County father of four, was gunned down Feb. 16, 2022, in Jacksonville Beach. He had just taken his twins he shared with Gardner, and his then-2-year-old Bexley, his daughter with second wife Kirsten Bridegan, to dinner.
The software engineer had just dropped off the twins at Gardner’s house when he encountered a tire on Sanctuary Boulevard, a one-way road. He was headed home to Kirsten Bridegan, with whom he shared children Bexley and London.
Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith said during the announcement of the first arrest in January 2023, that “the tire was purposely placed there to make him stop which he did.”
JUNE 2022 INTERVIEW: ‘Wish it weren’t like this’: Ex-wife of Jared Bridegan, father killed in Jacksonville Beach, speaks
“Tragically he began to exit his vehicle to move the tire and he was gunned down in cold blood,” Smith said.
Bridegan was shot several times while Bexley was still strapped into a car seat in the back seat of his car.
The arrests
Fernandez Saldana was arrested in March 2023 on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, child abuse, and solicitation to commit a capital felony.
The arrest of Tenon in connection to Bridegan’s murder was announced in January 2023. He was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, accessory after the fact to a capital felony, child abuse, and second-degree murder.
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Tenon agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder. That means Tenon faces 15 years to life in prison, but not the death penalty.
Gardner was arrested in August 2023 in Washington and is facing charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit murder, and child abuse.
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