Florida jury deliberates in the alleged murder-for-hire killing of a Microsoft manager

A man accused of orchestrating the fatal shooting of Microsoft design manager Jared Bridegan on a Florida highway was found guilty on Wednesday in a murder-for-hire scheme that stemmed from years of a contentious child custody battle between Bridegan and his ex-wife. The alleged conspiracy involved hiring an individual to ambush Bridegan while he was removing a tire from the road in Jacksonville Beach.

Prosecutors believe the attack was motivated by ongoing disputes between Bridegan and his former wife, Shanna Gardner, over the upbringing of their twins. Mario Fernandez Saldana, 38, was convicted of first-degree murder and solicitation of murder and is currently married to Gardner. The trial for Gardner is scheduled for September.

Prosecutors claimed Fernandez Saldana hired Henry Tenon, a homeless individual living with Fernandez Saldana's former tenants, to carry out the ambush. Tenon received three checks totaling $10,000 from Fernandez Saldana in connection with the murder, which were marked as payments for handyman work and a business idea. Defense attorney Jesse Dreicer argued that Fernandez Saldana had no motive to kill Bridegan, as the former CTO of Clean Simple Eats and Microsoft employee had no personal grievances.

Gardner, the daughter of the co-founder of Stampin' Up!, moved to Washington state following the murder and was arrested in 2023. The prosecution described Tenon as a "basically homeless, squatting on people's couches with overdrawn bank accounts."