Florida jury deliberates in the alleged murder-for-hire killing of a Microsoft manager

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida jury began deliberations Wednesday in the shooting of a Microsoft design manager who was gunned down in what prosecutors allege was a murder-for-hire scheme hatched by his wealthy ex-wife and her husband.

Jared Bridegan was shot four years ago after he got out of his SUV to remove a tire from a road in Jacksonville Beach. The attack stumped police for months as they struggled to understand why someone with no apparent enemies would be killed while his daughter sat nearby in her car seat.

Prosecutors believe he was killed over a longstanding joint custody dispute with his ex-wife and other parenting issues involving their twins.

“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," Assistant State Attorney Christina Stifler said during closing arguments.

Mario Fernandez Saldana, 38, is charged with first-degree murder and solicitation of murder. He's married to Bridegan's former wife, Shanna Gardner, whose trial is set to start in September.

Defense attorney Jesse Dreicer told jurors that Fernandez Saldana had no motive to have Bridegan killed. Fernandez Saldana and Gardner are estranged, with Gardner moving to Washington state after the killing.

“He certainly gained no benefit from the death of Jared Bridegan," Dreicer said, noting there was no testimony that Fernandez Saldana told anyone that Bridegan “deserves to die.”

The alleged gunman, Henry Tenon, had no personal connection to Bridegan, but he was a former tenant at Fernandez Saldana’s rental property in Jacksonville. Jurors saw three checks totaling $10,000 written to Tenon after the homicide, marked as payments for handyman work and a business idea.

Tenon’s DNA was identified on the rim of the tire that was intentionally placed in the road, police said.

Tenon, 65, initially pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Fernandez Saldana, but he later backed out of the deal and will stand trial next year.

Gardner, 39, is the daughter of the co-founder of Stampin’ Up!, an arts-and-crafts company based in Utah.

Bridegan was shot twice when he stopped his Volkswagen Atlas to remove a tire from the road. He had just returned two children to Gardner's home after a “date night” meal with the twins. At the time of his death, he was married to Kirsten Bridegan and they had two children.

Kirsten Bridegan told the jury that the post-divorce relationship between her husband and Gardner was “pretty terrible,” adding that there was “absolutely no trust."