Wife Texted Friend She Wanted Ex-Husband 'Gone,' Say Police. Then He Was Killed in Front of His Daughter
Shanna Gardner is charged with murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child endangerment
Shanna Gardner, the woman accused of orchestrating the killing of her ex-husband, texted her friend that she wanted her husband “gone," police allege.
At a bond hearing earlier this week, Jacksonville Beach Police Detective Christopher Johns testified about alleged text messages dating back to 2015 between Shanna Gardner and a friend about her ex-husband Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan.
“I would love to see him get a lethal injection,” Gardner allegedly wrote, Johns testified, per CBS47. “I’m not even joking, I want him gone."
Gardner is accused of the killing of Bridegan, who was 33 when he was shot multiple times at close range on Feb. 16, 2022, after he stepped out of his black Volkswagen Atlas to move a tire lying in the middle of a Jacksonville Beach road.
Jacksonville Beach Police Department
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Police believed the tire was planted on the road so Bridegan would stop and get out of the vehicle.
The shooting took place in front of his 2-year-old daughter.
Soon after the shooting, local media started reporting on the contentious custody dispute between Bridegan and Gardner. They both remarried after their 2016 divorce, but were still battling over children and financial matters.
Related: Jared Bridegan Case: Ex-Wife's Husband Charged with Murdering Man in Front of His Toddler
Gardner’s estranged second husband Mario Fernandez-Saldana is also facing a murder charge in the alleged murder-for-hire plot.
"There were multiple conversations over a multi-year period, about Mario killing or finding people who could kill Jared," Johns testified, per FirstCoastNews. "There were times where he [Fernandez-Saldana] would watch [Bridegan’s] movements, or follow him and try to, you know, develop patterns of what he did, and where he went and what would be the best way to carry out some type of plan."
Authorities said Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana approached former tenant Henry Tenon about Killing Bridegan and Tenon agreed after being offered $150,000, FOX News reported.
Tenon allegedly received a $5,000 check on April 4, 2022, from Gardner's and Saldana's LLC, First Choice Home Rentals. Johns testified that the check read: "Kickstarter" and "Good luck!," per FOX News.
"Mr. Tenon stated that this was the first of many payments that were supposed to be an investment into his pallet company which was actually payment for the homicide," Johns testified Tuesday, per FOX News.
Related: Father of 4 Killed in Mysterious, Close-Range Shooting on Side of Fla. Road
Tenon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and has agreed to testify against the two, per FirstCoastNews.
Gardner's attorney Jose Baez said authorities didn't have any texts or phone calls linking Gardner to Tenon.
"Not a single text message between Shanna and Henry Tenon and no phone call records between the two," said Baez, per FirstCoastNews.
Both Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana have pleaded not guilty.
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