Ex-wife of Microsoft exec Jared Bridegan arrested for his murder
A grand jury in Florida has indicted the ex-wife of slain Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan on charges of murder and child abuse.
Shanna Gardner-Fernandez was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation of a capital crime, and child abuse for a scheme that saw her ex-husband shot and killed on a Florida roadway 18 months ago.
‘We promised at the outset of this investigation we would not relent until we uncovered the truth of Jared’s murder, the whole and entire truth,’ Florida State Attorney Melissa Nelson on Thursday.
Bridegan was killed by a gunman in front of his two-year-old daughter on February 16, 2022.
The 33-year-old tech executive was driving on a roadway in St Augustine, Florida when he came upon a tire placed in the middle of the street.
When Bridegan exited his car to remove the tire from his path, a gunman opened fire and killed him ‘execution-style.’
Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith called the attack ‘a planned and targeted ambush and murder.’
Bridegan’s daughter was not physically injured during the attack, but each person implicated in the scheme has since been charged with child abuse for placing her in a dangerous situation.
In January, authorities arrested 61-year-old ex-convict Henry Tenon for the killing.
‘We know Henry Tenon did not act alone,’ State Attorney Nelson said at the time of the arrest.
Since then, authorities have now implicated both Gardner and her new husband, Mario Fernandez, in a murder-for-hire scheme.
Bridegan and Gardner divorced in 2015, but they fought for years over custody of their two children.
Tenon, who was Fernandez’s tenant at a rental property he owned, confessed to this role in the scheme shortly after his arrest.
Fernandez was charged with first-degree murder, solicitation of a capital crime, and child abuse in March. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Gardner was taken into custody by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) at her home in West Richland, Washington shortly after the indictment was filed.
Authorities are now in the process of extraditing her to Florida to face the charges.
State Attorney Nelson also announced that her office intends to seek the death penalty for Gardner, as they are also doing for Fernandez.
‘Henry Tenon did not act alone, Mario Fernandez did not plan alone, and Shanna Gardner’s indictment acknowledges her central and key role in the cold, calculated, and premeditated murder of Jared Bridegan.’
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