JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 250-page document has revealed new details about the investigation into the murder-for-hire of local St. Johns County Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan.
The documents detail interviews conducted by law enforcement as they attempted to piece together the case against Shana Gardner and her alleged co-conspirators.
She is accused of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband Jared Bridegan in 2022.
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A big focus of the new information is the search of the Washington state home Gardner traveled to after the murder.
One person in the home asked investigators if they were looking for “burner phones” and said their mom keeps all her “important” electronics in her bedroom closet.
Detectives found three computers, a tablet, an Apple watch, two cell phones, and a sim card.
They’re all items former FBI agent Dale Carson argued will be critical evidence.
“What hits me is the fact that it’s called a burner phone. Anyone who is a citizen is unlikely to have a burner phone unless you’re engaged in behavior you don’t want other people to know about,” said Carson.
Detectives also found heated emails Gardner sent to Bridegan related to their custody battle.
Prosecutors have suggested that a custody battle is a possible motive.
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Additional details in the new documents include how detectives pieced together the connection between gunman Henry Tenon, who has pleaded guilty, and the murder scene.
During a visit to a property Tenon was renting, detectives found a tire that was similar to the one left in the middle of the road that blocked Bridegan’s vehicle before he was shot and killed.
That property was owned by Gardner’s estranged husband Mario Saldana, who is also charged in connection with Bridegan’s murder.
Detectives later found the tire was manufactured at the same facility on the same week as the tire on the crime scene.
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“When they have time or the case is of sufficient merit to allow investigators to do what they do best, these kind of things always happen. You get these rather unique connections between individuals and the materials they used to commit the crime,” said Carson.
Additionally, detectives also matched the truck owned by Tenon to a vehicle captured around the crime scene by security cameras.
Tenon hid the truck at a friend’s house for several months after the murder.
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