Tri-Cities woman may fight extradition. Florida prosecutors want death penalty
The attorney for a West Richland woman tied to a murder plot to kill her ex-husband is preparing to fight extradition to Florida, where she could be facing the death penalty.
Spokane attorney Andrew Wagley said his client, Shanna L. Gardner, 36, was considering fighting being returned to Florida.
She has been indicted with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder and child abuse for the February 2022 murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for her and her husband Mario Fernandez-Saldana. Both are charged in the plot.
Gardner was arrested at her $1 million West Richland home on Thursday, and booked into the Benton County jail where she is being held without bail.
West Richland police helped federal agents and the Jacksonville Beach, Fla. police with serving the search warrant. She was brought to the police station for questioning, and then to the jail, according to court documents.
She had the option of waiving the extradition process, but Wagley said they weren’t going to agree to that at the moment.
She does have the right to challenge her detention and demand a warrant from the Florida’s governor’s office. Deputy Prosecutor Josh Lily said they’ve already been in contact with the prosecutor’s office in Duval County and are working on getting the warrant.
Another hearing in Benton County was set for Sept. 14.
Murder accusation
Gardner, who grew up in Utah, married Jared Bridegan in 2010 after initially meeting him during a vacation in Florida, according to reports.
The couple’s troubled marriage ended in a contentious divorce that started in 2015. According to court documents, she started considering the murder as early as then.
Then in 2018, she met Fernandez-Saldana.
Fernandez-Saldana is accused of recruiting Henry Tennon, who rented property from him, to shoot Bridegan.
On Feb. 16, 2022, Bridegan dropped off the couple’s 9-year-old twins at Gardner’s house and was driving home with his 2-year-old daughter still in the car.
A tire was in the middle of a dark road and when Bridegan got out of his vehicle to move it he was shot, according a state’s attorney release.
Tennon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his role in the shooting. Fernandez-Saldana is awaiting trial after being indicted for murder and conspiracy earlier this year.