It has been 1,636 days since Jared Bridegan stopped his car to move a tire from the road after a planned custody visit with his twin children and was shot and killed. It has been 1,243 days since Mario Fernandez Saldana became the second of three arrests in the murder-for-hire plot to kill his wife’s ex.
A little more than 50 court motions have been filed in his case, and beginning Monday, Aug. 10, attorneys will evaluate about 250 potential jurors to determine who will decide the 38-year-old’s fate.
Following is a summary of the case per court records.
What is Mario Fernandez Saldana charged with?
Fernandez Saldana was initially charged with first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, conspiracy to commit murder and child abuse. The latter two have since been dropped. Prosecutors also opted to no longer seek the death penalty, so if convicted, he would be sentenced to up to life in prison.
When do Shanna Gardner and Henry Tenon go to trial?
The other defendants are Fernandez Saldana’s estranged wife, 39-year-old Shanna Gardner, and former tenant Henry Tenon, 65. Jury selection for Gardner is scheduled to begin Aug. 31 and then Tenon next year on March 29.
What are they accused of doing to Jared Bridegan?
Mario Fernandez Saldana is led into a Duval County courtroom for his arraignment Tuesday, April 4, 2023. He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse in the Jared Bridegan murder case in Jacksonville Beach.
Fernandez Saldana is accused of conspiring with Gardner to hire Tenon to permanently dispose of Bridegan due to a long and bitter divorce and custody dispute. They knew exactly when and where he would be the night of Feb. 16, 2022, returning to St. Augustine after dropping off his 9-year-old shared-custody twin son and daughter at Gardner and Fernandez Saldana’s home in Jacksonville Beach.
Not far from the home, someone in a truck belonging to Tenon placed a tire that had Tenon’s DNA on it in the middle of the isolated road Sanctuary Boulevard. Bridegan stopped and put his hazard lights on and got out to move the tire and was shot multiple by times. His 2-year-old daughter, Bexley, was still in the backseat but unharmed.
She told Child Protection Team investigators that a man came up to the car, she heard “boom, boom, boom,” and then “Daddy hit the ground.”
This crime scene image shows the tire investigators believe was placed on the road to force Jared Bridegan to stop on the Jacksonville Beach street near where he had just left his ex-wife’s home to drop off their twin children on Feb. 16, 2022. He was then shot and killed.
Video evidence from the State Attorney’s Office show a man believed to be Henry Tenon walking away from the Jared Bridegan crime scene shortly after the murder, meaning that another individual was driving the truck also captured on video.
That man is believed to be Tenon, who previously pleaded guilty but later retracted his testimoney and was granted a separate trial. He also is believed to be the man seen on video leaving the scene on foot while someone else left in the truck also seen on video released to the public.
What other evidence is there against Mario Fernandez Saldana?
An arrest warrant states that Tenon’s financial records from his bank showed three handwritten checks from Fernandez Saldana in October 2022. Phone records also showed Tenon and Fernandez Saldana had communicated 35 times that February, 30 in March and five to nine in May and June.
A close friend of Gardner’s, Kim Jensen, also implicated Fernandez Saldana through her frequent contact with Gardner. As did a pair of jail inmates who told detectives he discussed the case with them. The prosecution also has mounds of documents to support its investigation, but the defense has plenty to counter with too.
Who is expected to testify in Mario Fernandez Saldana’s trial?
Shanna Gardner’s good friend Kim Jensen is interviewed by detectives on May 6, 2022, in Gardner’s ex-husband Jared Bridegan’s shooting death.
The aforementioned Jensen and jailhouse snitches have been the topic of recent motions as to whether they should be able to testify about certain events, as well as one of the Bridegans’ twin children, Abby, who overheard her mother and stepfather talking about how her father would be better off dead. The other twin, Liam, also could be called and Bridegan’s widow, Kirsten.
Investigators, forensics experts, family members and friends will be heavily on tap. Also on the witness list is John Biggerstaff, a friend of Fernandez Saldana’s who was a former reserve officer with the Sheriff’s Office but also served time as a convict. His name comes up in some of the evidence and also is likely redacted from some.
Several media also are on the list.
Tenon and Gardner are off limts, and Fernandez Saldana would be a surprise.
How long is the Jared Bridegan trial expected to last?
Jury selection could last all week and then the trial another couple of weeks.
Where did Mario Fernandez Saldana say he was when Jared Bridegan was killed?
In Fernandez Saldana’s voluntary interview with detectives on March 1, 2022, he said Bridegan arrived to pick up kids at 6:30 p.m. and sent a text message saying “here.” They were returned at the agreed-upon time of 7:45 p.m. He said didn’t see the kids come in but heard them and that Gardner greeted them.
He advised he was “racked out” on the couch. Once the children came in, he stated he went upstairs and took a shower. Fernandez Saldana continued that he was “really out of it” due to taking Galvapentine, a nerve blocker he uses for pain and headaches.
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He said the kids told them they went to Bearded Pig and that their father was on the phone for a while before they went inside the restaurant. After the children went to sleep, Fernandez Saldana did laundry while Gardner completed chores around the house. The two were getting ready for bed when detectives arrived to inform Gardner of Bridegan’s death. Fernandez Saldana advised when detectives arrived, he thought it may have been because of an ongoing dispute over animals in the neighborhood.
What is Mario Fernandez Saldana’s past?
Fernandez Saldana has a military background and had family in Orlando. He managed rental properties and also worked as a maintenance man at a gym. He had a clean criminal record in Duval County.
However, he did have a run-in with a neighbor who called police stating he was intimidating her because she feeds stray cats that he didn’t like. She said he intentionally walked his pit bull right up to where she was feeding them, according to the 2018 incident report.
When did Mario Fernandez Saldana marry Shanna Gardner?
The couple met while he was working at Black Hive CrossFit gym in Jacksonville Beach in 2018 and they married that same year. Fernandez Saldana explained they “sealed the deal” very quickly so he could have a role with the children.
Murder for hire: Here’s what Shanna Gardner told police in her first extensive interview after ex’s death
Jensen said the two were “super-great friends,” and he adored the kids and they loved him.
How was Mario Fernandez Saldana’s relationship with Jared Bridegan?
Fernandez Saldana said he made an effort to speak with Bridegan once they married but got no response. The conversations between the two families were usually conducted by text message and email. He described the conversations as pestering and that Bridegan was rude and had very rigid rules. He wouldn’t shake his hand or let him knock on the door when they came to pick the kids up; they had to text they were there.
What did Mario Fernandez Saldana think happened to Jared Bridegan?
Fernandez Saldana was asked what he thought happened to Bridegan. He said there was a lot of speculation but a lot of people didn’t like him.
Who are the judges and attorneys in the Jared Bridegan murder trial?
Judge London Kite, a well-respected veteran on the bench, will be overseeing the the Bridegan trials.
For the state, the lead attorneys are Assistant State Attorneys Christina Stifler, Alan Mizrahi and Stephen Siegel.
For the defense, the lead attorneys are Jesse Dreicer, James Hill, Shannon Day and Frank Tassone.
Scott Butler has been an editor/reporter specializing in public safety coverage for 26 years with The Florida Times-Union. He can be reached at sbutler@jacksonville.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Your guide to Mario Fernandez Saldana’s trial in Bridegan murder
