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A Florida jury has convicted Mario Fernandez Saldana of murder in the 2022 ambush murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan.
The jury on Wednesday found the defendant, who is married to Bridegan’s ex-wife, guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony.
Investigators said Bridegan, 33, was shot to death at close range in February 2022 in Jacksonville Beach after stopping his car to move a tire left in the middle of a dark road.
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Mario Fernandez Saldana looks on during his trial at the Duval County Courthouse on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Jacksonville, Florida. (Corey Perrine/The Florida Times-Union via AP, Pool)
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His daughter, who was just 2 years old at the time, was sitting in the back seat during the shooting but was uninjured.
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Prosecutors argued the scene was a deliberate set-up stemming from a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife Shanna Gardner and her husband, Fernandez Saldana.
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Mario Fernandez, right, was arrested for the murder of Jared Bridegan, left. He’s the second husband of Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, far right. (GoFundMe/ Instagram)
Prosecutors allege the duo planned the hit by hiring Henry Tenon as the gunman. Tenon initially pleaded guilty before rescinding that plea.
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Fernandez Saldana was arrested in March 2023, followed by Gardner’s arrest in August. Both were indicted on the same charges in Bridegan’s killing.
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A judge ruled that Gardner and Fernandez Saldana would be tried separately with different juries.
An old booking photo of Henry Tenon who is charged with the Feb. 16 murder of Jared Bridegan. A family portrait of Jared and Kirsten Bridegan and their daughters Bexley and London. (Florida Department of Corrections/ Courtesy of Kirsten Bridegan)
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This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.