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Trial begins in fatal ‘targeted ambush’ of Microsoft manager driving home with daughter in backseat
The Independent • • nation
Key Points:
- Jared Bridegan, a Microsoft design manager, was fatally shot in a targeted ambush on a Florida road, allegedly orchestrated by his ex-wife Shanna Gardner and her husband Mario Fernandez Saldana as part of a murder-for-hire plot.
- The murder occurred after years of acrimony between Bridegan and Gardner over the upbringing of their twins, including disputes about religion and parenting decisions.
- Fernandez Saldana, an Army veteran, is on trial for first-degree murder and solicitation of murder, accused of hiring a gunman who shot Bridegan; Gardner faces trial later this year.
- Evidence includes DNA linking a former tenant, Henry Tenon, who was paid $10,000 by Fernandez Saldana and charged as the gunman, though he has withdrawn a guilty plea and will face trial in 2027.
- Prosecutors allege Gardner gained full custody of the children and relocated to Washington state after the killing, while Fernandez Saldana moved to Orlando; the case highlights a bitter post-divorce conflict culminating in violence.
