Jury begins deliberations in the alleged murder-for-hire killing of a Microsoft manager in Florida

Jury Weighs Fate of Ex-Spouse’s Husband in Florida Roadside Shooting

Goldlaner.com – A Jacksonville Beach jury entered the deliberation room Wednesday to decide whether a 38-year-old man orchestrated the fatal shooting of a Microsoft design manager who was gunned down while trying to clear a stray tire from a public roadway. The case, which has consumed months of courtroom time, centers on allegations that the killing was commissioned by the victim’s wealthy ex-wife and her then-new husband as part of a bitter custody battle over their twin children.

Jared Bridegan, a design manager at Microsoft, was struck twice in February 2022 when he stepped out of his Volkswagen Atlas SUV to lift a tire off the asphalt. His infant daughter was seated in a car seat nearby at the moment the shots rang out. Investigators spent months trying to piece together why a man with no known enemies, no criminal record, and no visible conflicts would be targeted in broad daylight on a coastal road.

The Custody Dispute at the Center of the Case

Prosecutors built their theory of the crime around a protracted joint-custody fight between Bridegan and his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, 39. The twins from that marriage were at the heart of ongoing parenting disagreements. On the day of the shooting, Bridegan had just dropped the two children back at Gardner’s residence following a “date night” dinner with the twins, according to testimony presented to the jury.

At the time of his death, Bridegan was married to a second wife, Kirsten Bridegan, and the couple had two children of their own. Kirsten Bridegan took the stand and described the post-divorce dynamic between her husband and Gardner as “pretty terrible,” adding that there was “absolutely no trust” between the two former spouses.

Gardner, who moved to Washington state after the killing, is now estranged from Fernandez Saldana. Her own trial is scheduled to begin in September. She is the daughter of a co-founder of Stampin’ Up!, a well-known arts-and-crafts company headquartered in Utah, a detail prosecutors used to underscore the family’s considerable wealth and the alleged motive to eliminate a financial obligation tied to the custody arrangement.

The Alleged Gunman and the $10,000 Trail

The man prosecutors say pulled the trigger was Henry Tenon, 65, a former tenant of a rental property owned by Fernandez Saldana in Jacksonville. Tenon had no prior personal relationship with Bridegan. Police identified his DNA on the rim of the tire that had been deliberately placed in the roadway — the very object that lured Bridegan out of his vehicle.

After the homicide, three checks totaling $10,000 were written out to Tenon. They were annotated as payments for handyman services and a business idea, a characterization that prosecutors argued was a transparent cover for a hit fee. Tenon initially entered a plea deal and agreed to testify against Fernandez Saldana, but he later withdrew from that agreement and will face his own trial next year.

Closing Arguments and the Defense Case

Assistant State Attorney Christina Stifler painted a vivid picture of the moment Bridegan became exposed to gunfire:

“He was unarmed, unaware, exposed, vulnerable. He couldn’t have known, on that cold asphalt in February of 2022, the architects of his murder had been making preparations for his death for months.”

Defense attorney Jesse Dreicer countered that Fernandez Saldana had no motive to want Bridegan dead. Dreicer pointed out that no witness testified that Fernandez Saldana ever told anyone the victim “deserves to die.” He emphasized that Fernandez Saldana “certainly gained no benefit from the death of Jared Bridegan,” and stressed the couple’s current estrangement as evidence that Gardner’s actions, if any, were independent of her husband’s will.

What the Verdict Means

Fernandez Saldana faces charges of first-degree murder and solicitation of murder — the latter carrying its own substantial penalty if the jury finds he hired or directed another person to commit the killing. A conviction on both counts could result in a life sentence, while a solicitation conviction alone would still carry a lengthy prison term under Florida’s penal code.

The case has drawn attention to how custody disputes, particularly those involving high-net-worth families, can escalate into violence. Murder-for-hire schemes tied to family-law conflicts are uncommon but not unheard of, and prosecutors in Florida have increasingly used financial records, rental-property histories, and DNA evidence to connect alleged principals to hired shooters. The deliberation that began Wednesday will determine whether the jury accepts that chain of evidence or finds reasonable doubt in the defense’s argument that Fernandez Saldana was merely a bystander to his ex-wife’s vendetta.

Gardner’s September trial will revisit the same facts from her perspective, and Tenon’s separate proceeding next year will test whether the physical evidence — the tire, the DNA, the checks — holds up under independent scrutiny. Until all three proceedings conclude, the full architecture of what prosecutors call an “elaborate plot” will remain incomplete in the public record.