Jared Bridegan’s ex-wife Shanna Gardner appears in her mugshot after pleading not guilty to multiple charges related to her ex-husband’s murder.
The ex-wife of murdered Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan told her best friend she would “happily” watch her ex-husband receive “a lethal injection” and celebrate his death with a casserole of “funeral potatoes”, DailyMail can reveal. com. .
According to prosecutors who read the chilling text messages in Duval County court on Wednesday during a bond hearing, Shanna Gardner had been planning her death for years, repeatedly asking her friend how she could find a hitman to “work magic.” and “make it disappear.” ‘
Bridegan was shot to death on February 16, 2022, in what prosecutors allege was a murder-for-hire plot masterminded by his ex-wife, her husband and their tenant.
Gardner, 36, who moved to her home state of Washington after the slaying, was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital crime and child abuse last November and extradited to Florida, where he remains. custody.
Her husband, Mario Fernández Saldaña, 35, was accused of the same crimes while her former tenant, Henry Tenón, 62, already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on his part.
On Wednesday, prosecutors rejected Gardner’s latest attempt to post bail by calling Jacksonville Beach Police Department lead detective Chris Johns to the stand.
Jared Bridegan was shot multiple times at close range in what police described as an “ambush” and “targeted” attack on February 16, 2022, in front of his two-year-old daughter in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
A bond hearing was held Wednesday for Shanna Gardner, who was an attorney for Jose Baez, who previously represented Casey Anthony and Aaron Hernandez.
Shelli Gardner, Shanna’s mother, was seen arriving at court for her daughter’s bond hearing on Wednesday.
Johns told the court that Gardner was motivated to plot to kill her ex by “hatred” of him after their bitter divorce in 2015, a desire to have sole custody of their twins and a hunger for control over a trust fund. created for her. by her parents, something conditional on her “not having any legal entanglement” with Bridegan.
According to Johns, text messages exchanged between Gardner and her best friend Kim Jensen over a period of years show her constantly talking about ways to “destroy” the man she referred to as “stupid.”
Shanna’s husband, Mario Fernandez Saldaña, 35, was charged with the same crimes.
He said: ‘This included feeding him things to give him a heart attack. He also said that the best time for “magic” would be when they are friendly.
Shockingly, Johns also revealed that Gardner had pointed a suspicious finger at Bridegan’s widow Kirsten, with whom he has two young daughters, suggesting they should investigate her as a suspect after her death.
But despite her efforts to supposedly deceive them, the detective revealed that investigators had quickly eliminated everyone but Gardner and Fernandez from their long list of suspects.
And he claimed that Tenon, who is cooperating with prosecutors, had provided a statement saying that Fernandez had offered him $150,000 in the form of an investment in his popsicle company in exchange for killing Bridegan.
According to Johns, Tenon initially rejected the request, but agreed once the amount was set. He said: ‘He said that in exchange for the money Mr. Fernández would give him a firearm.’
He told officers the initial plan was to kidnap Mr Bridegan, take him somewhere else and murder him.
According to his statement, this conversation took place in late 2021, but the detective said: “After returning from a trip to Hawaii in February, Mr. Fernandez approached Mr. Tenon and told him this was supposed to happen this week.” . If he didn’t do it, his marriage was going to end.
Bridegan was killed four days after Gardner and Fernandez returned to Florida.
Shanna appears at a previous court hearing where she pleaded not guilty along with her powerful lawyer José Báez.
Alleged gunman Henry Tenon, 62, (left), has said he is willing to testify that Mario Fernandez Saldaña, 35, (right) and his wife hired him to kill Jared.
Jared is seen with his widow Kristen, his two daughters, and the twins he shared with Shanna.
According to the detective, there were times when Fernández followed Bridegan trying to identify the ‘best moments’ when he could hurt her. He said Gardner told Jensen: “There were times when Mario was so close to him that he could have reached out and grabbed Jared and caused his death.”
Gardner remained impassive as the detective described what he presented as her motivation and her role in the conspiracy to murder her ex-husband.
She had entered the courtroom in handcuffs, the jingling of her ankle shackles clearly audible, and she had winked at her mother, Shelly, in the public gallery.
Her hair fell in long waves down her back and was partially pulled back into a half ponytail. The former Cross Fit fanatic who has been in custody since last October looked noticeably slimmer when she was photographed by DailyMail.com shortly after the murder of her ex-husband in 2022.
Later, he wore a T-shirt that said, “I’m fine/It’s fine/Everything is fine.” Today he changed his orange prison jumpsuit for gray pants, a maroon blouse and a black cardigan.
Bridegan’s widow, Kirsten, took her seat in room 308 shortly before 1 p.m. She wore a cornflower blue dress and carefully avoided looking toward the opposite side of the courtroom from where the Gardners were sitting.
Kirsten has repeatedly begged the Gardners to allow her to contact the Bridegan twins, Liam and Abbie. They have custody of the children, stepchildren whom Kirsten loved and whom she effectively lost the day her husband was murdered.
After Bridegan’s murder, he wore a T-shirt that said, “I’m fine/It’s fine/Everything is fine.”
As Kirsten sat in a packed supporters’ section, the Gardners seemed relatively isolated, hidden at the end of a bench accompanied only by a handful of family and friends.
Kirsten cried as prosecutors rehearsed the scene in which her husband was shot on February 16, 2022, while her daughter Bexley, then 2½ years old, sat a few feet away in her car seat.
Bridegan, 33, was driving home after dropping off his twins from his first marriage at his mother’s Jacksonville Beach home when he stopped to move a tire that police believe was deliberately placed in the road to attract him. outside your vehicle.
He was shot dead at point-blank range while his young daughter Bexley, then just two years old and one of two children from his second marriage, was strapped into her child seat in the back of the car.
Bridegan was shot dead in what police described as a “targeted attack” as he took his usual route home after dropping off the twins he shared with his ex-wife at what was then their home.
As part of the controversial custody agreement following Bridegan and Shanna’s divorce in 2016, the exes had a one-week-off, one-week-off agreement with the twins, Abbie and Liam, now 10.
The parent who didn’t have the kids in a given week took them to dinner that Wednesday.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for both Gardner and Fernandez, who have pleaded not guilty. Tenon is cooperating with prosecutors and faces a sentence of at least 15 years.
