Shanna Gardner: Mom-of-four got ex-husband killed in front of their toddler after affair with gym trainer

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FLORIDA: A Florida woman accused of plotting the murder of her Microsoft executive ex-husband, Jared Bridegan, broke up their marriage by having an affair with her personal trainer who she later married.

As per recent court documents, according to Daily Mail, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez also accused her former spouse of eyeing her family’s wealth. 

How was Jared Bridegan killed? 

On February 16, 2022, the Microsoft executive had just dropped off his twins at Gardner's Jacksonville Beach, Florida, residence.

Bridegan, 33, stopped his car when he noticed a tire in the middle of the road while returning to his own home. Four bullets were fired at the father-of-four as he exited his SUV to remove the tire from the pavement.

Bridegan was struck by two shots, and his car was punctured by two more. Inside the car with him was his two-year-old daughter, who witnessed the entire event.

As per The US Sun nearly 800 pages of court documents released revealed that she described the horror to the police. "Daddy opened my car door and I heard a boom,” she said, according to the police docs.

She said she saw her father on the ground, telling investigators that “daddy was sick.”

Shanna Gardner-Fernandez was having affair with her trainer

From a rich Mormon family, Gardner told police she was "desperate" and only had a passing interest in Bridegan, so after two months of courting, they got married.

"She stated looking back she wonders if Jared had ulterior motives, knowing she came from money,” according to the court document.

Gardner fell for her personal trainer, Mario Fernandez Saldana, at a YMCA near their home in Jacksonville Beach. "She met a trainer at the gym and became emotionally involved with him,” the papers state.

"This made her realize she had greater feelings for the trainer than she did for her husband. She stated, ‘this was the beginning of the end.’"

Gardner-Fernandez described Bridegan as a “hermit” during their marriage, and said he “only wanted to hang out with her or play with his ‘toys."

"She stated that they did not know each other very well when they were married,” according to the documents.

Fernandez Saldana is also accused of capital murder in connection with Bridegan's death. According to the prosecution, he hired a renter in one of his Jacksonville rental properties for the shooting.

Gardner, who recently retained Casey Anthony’s former attorney Jose Baez, has pleaded not guilty in the case.

When police found key information about Bridgan's death

On July 18, 2022, cops took a tire they found at Saldana's rental properties back for testing.

Police arrested Henry Tenon in August after the tire turned out to be identical to the one that was discovered at the murder scene and linked him to a blue Ford pickup truck they were looking into. His cellphone records also indicated Tenon was near Jacksonville Beach at the time of the murder.

He first denied any involvement in the murder and placed the blame on a friend who he claimed had stolen his truck the night before. But on October 14, when authorities managed to obtain Tenon's bank records, they discovered three checks totaling $10,000 from Fernandez and Gardner's company, First Choice Home Rentals LLC. 

He received three different checks that were all signed by Fernandez, the court documents say.

In January 2023, Tenon was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, child abuse, and accessory after the fact to a capital felony. Tenon has admitted he was, in fact, the shooter, State Attorney Melissa Nelson said.

 

She also mentioned that Tenon had agreed to a plea agreement with the police and would help with the investigation. He consented to testify against Gardner and Fernandez, as well as anyone else thought to be involved in the murder-for-hire scheme.

In March 2023, Fernandez was taken into custody. He is suspected by the police of planning the scheme that resulted in Bridegan's demise.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder with a weapon, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, and child abuse.

Gardner was arrested on August 2023 and faced the same charges as her husband.