Mario Fernandez Saldana: Man found guilty of Microsoft manager's Florida murder; could he get death penalty?

Mario Fernandez Saldana has been found guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the shooting death of Jared Bridegan, a Microsoft design manager. Bridegan was shot in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, in 2022, while driving home with his 2-year-old daughter after having dinner with his twins. According to CBS News, the attack was part of a murder-for-hire scheme fueled by a stormy child custody arrangement between Bridegan and his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner.

Prosecutors argued that Bridegan was killed in a targeted ambush hatched by Gardner and Saldana, who is married to Gardner. The motive was reportedly years of post-marriage strife over religion and how to raise their twin children. Saldana's trial resulted in a guilty verdict after nearly four hours of jury deliberation.

Gardner's trial is set to start in September. Saldana faces possible sentencing, but it is not specified if he will receive the death penalty.

Brief written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times - World News, CBS News, Global News — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.