Shanna Gardner: Jacksonville Beach Ambush, Evidence, and Trial

Shanna Gardner is a Florida woman charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, and child abuse in the February 2022 shooting death of her ex-husband, Jared Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft executive killed in an ambush on a Jacksonville Beach street. Prosecutors allege she conspired with her second husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, to hire a gunman to carry out the killing. Gardner has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond in the Duval County jail. Her trial is scheduled to begin September 8, 2026.

The 2022 Jacksonville Beach Ambush

On February 16, 2022, Jared Bridegan was driving home after dropping off the twin children he shared with Gardner at her residence. Someone had placed a tire in the middle of the road along his regular route. When Bridegan got out of his Volkswagen Atlas to move it, he was shot multiple times and killed. His two-year-old daughter from his second marriage was in the back seat and was not physically harmed.¹ Bridegan, a resident of St. Augustine, was a father of four, the twins with Gardner and two younger children with his widow, Kirsten Bridegan.²

Investigators believe the tire was placed deliberately to force Bridegan to stop. Prosecutors have described the killing as a “planned and targeted ambush” and a “cold, calculated and premeditated” murder.³

Who Shanna Gardner Is

Gardner comes from a wealthy Utah family. Her parents, Sterling and Shelli Gardner, are co-founders of Stampin’ Up!, a Riverton, Utah-based arts and crafts company, and the family is prominent in the Mormon community. Divorce filings indicated Gardner and Bridegan received a monthly stipend from her family exceeding $8,500.⁴

She married Bridegan in 2010 after what she later described to investigators as a brief courtship of about two months, saying she was “desperate” at the time and later suspected Bridegan had “ulterior motives” related to her family’s wealth. The couple had twins, but the marriage deteriorated. Gardner told police she had an affair with a personal trainer she met at a Jacksonville Beach YMCA, calling it “the beginning of the end.” She filed for divorce in 2015, and the split produced a prolonged fight over custody and finances that continued in family court until Bridegan was killed.⁵

Gardner met Mario Fernandez Saldana in 2018 at a CrossFit gym where he worked as a maintenance man, and they married that year. She later told investigators the union was partly a marriage of convenience, saying Fernandez Saldana wanted to help with her children and marrying was the only way Bridegan would allow his involvement.⁶

The Alleged Murder-for-Hire Scheme

Prosecutors allege Gardner provided money to Fernandez Saldana, who in turn paid a third man, Henry Tenon, to carry out the shooting.⁷ The thread that first drew investigators to the group ran through a rental property. Tenon had been a tenant in a property managed by First Choice Home Rentals, LLC, a company listing both Fernandez Saldana and Gardner as authorized managers. Financial records showed payments from the First Choice account to Tenon, and cellphone data placed Fernandez Saldana’s device at Tenon’s property.⁸

Tenon was arrested in connection with the Bridegan murder in January 2023. In March 2023, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against Gardner and Fernandez Saldana in exchange for a sentence of at least 15 years to life, avoiding the death penalty. Fernandez Saldana was arrested and indicted for first-degree murder that same month.¹³

Gardner was the last to be charged. On August 17, 2023, a Duval County grand jury indicted her, and she was arrested the same day in West Richland, Washington, where she had moved into a home recently purchased by her parents. She was extradited to Duval County that October and has remained in jail without bond since.⁹¹⁰

Tenon has since complicated the state’s case. In February 2026 he withdrew his guilty plea and asked for a trial, effectively ending his cooperation agreement. He was re-indicted on charges of first-degree murder, child abuse, conspiracy to commit murder, accessory after the fact, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and has pleaded not guilty.¹¹¹²

The Evidence Prosecutors Have Against Her

Prosecutors have described Gardner’s role as “central and key.” The indictment alleges she had been plotting to kill Bridegan as far back as May 2015, the same year she filed for divorce.¹³

Investigative records from that period include statements from a former coworker who said Gardner relayed an offer from Fernandez Saldana to hire “four guys” to break into Bridegan’s home and “take care of him,” and a tattoo artist who said Gardner asked whether they “know anyone who shuts people up.”⁶ Prosecutors also point to text messages, including one in which Gardner wrote, “It gives me such great pleasure imagining slitting his throat.” The state says it has “direct evidence” of her intent through statements she made to various people about wanting to “take him out,” “get rid of him,” and “hire a hitman.”⁷

Wiretaps are another major piece of the case. In January 2023, a judge authorized wiretaps on the devices of Gardner, Fernandez Saldana, and two associates, followed by a second wiretap in February 2023 on a cellphone belonging to Gardner’s sister after intercepted calls suggested Gardner might use that line. Her defense moved in April 2026 to suppress the wiretap evidence, arguing the supporting affidavits relied on speculation rather than concrete evidence tying her to the murder.¹⁴ On June 3, 2026, Judge London Kite denied the motion and ruled the wiretap evidence may be used at trial.¹⁵

The defense also tried to disqualify the Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office entirely, alleging prosecutors improperly accessed privileged materials from Gardner’s iCloud account, including emails with her attorney and a recorded call with counsel. Judge Kite denied the disqualification motion, finding no misconduct but describing the state’s handling of the materials as “poor judgement.” She ruled that text messages between Gardner and her attorneys were “not privileged information” but ordered them suppressed anyway, barring their use at trial.¹⁶¹⁷

Where the Case Stands

Gardner and Fernandez Saldana were originally expected to be tried together, but on April 9, 2026, Judge Kite granted separate trials with separate juries. Fernandez Saldana goes first: jury selection begins August 10, 2026, with the trial running August 17 through 28. Gardner’s jury selection follows from August 31 through September 4, and her trial is set for September 8 through 25, 2026.¹⁸

State Attorney Melissa Nelson initially announced she would seek the death penalty against both Gardner and Fernandez Saldana.¹⁹ On November 21, 2025, prosecutors took the death penalty off the table for both defendants, a decision made with the support of Bridegan’s widow and family.¹⁵ All three defendants have pleaded not guilty.²⁰

What Happened to the Twins

The murder case set off a parallel fight over the twins Gardner shared with Bridegan. After his death the children moved to Washington state with Gardner, and when she was arrested in August 2023, her parents, Sterling and Shelli Gardner, took over their care.²¹

Bridegan’s parents, Gaylord and JoAnne Bridegan, sued for visitation and later sought guardianship, alleging the Gardners were keeping the twins isolated from their paternal family, including Kirsten Bridegan and the children’s half-siblings, and accusing them of helping Shanna flee Florida after the murder.²²

In December 2024, a confidential agreement resolved the dispute. A court awarded guardianship to Sterling and Shelli Gardner, finding it was in the children’s best interest to stay in Washington where they had lived for nearly two years, with visitation provisions for the Bridegan grandparents.²² Kirsten Bridegan wrote publicly: “This isn’t what Jared would have wanted and this isn’t what I want, but some things are out of my control.”²¹ Sterling and Shelli Gardner have publicly denied their daughter’s involvement in the murder, saying through their attorney after her arrest, “Words cannot accurately express the depth of our sadness. Family is our top priority.”²³

1
CNN. Jared Bridegan Murder Ex-Wife Indicted
2
NBC News. Ex-Wife Charged in Murder of Jared Bridegan
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ABC News. Wife of Slain Microsoft Exec Jared Bridegan Charged With Murder
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Jacksonville.com. Jared Bridegan, Shanna Gardner, and Mario Fernandez Murder Case
5
New York Post. Jared Bridegan Ex Admitted Affair to Police After His Death
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Court TV. Blame Game: What the Suspects Told Police About Jared Bridegan’s Murder
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Court TV. Defense Teams Fight to Suppress Key Evidence in Jared Bridegan Killing
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Court TV. Microsoft Exec’s Accused Killer to Stay Jailed Despite Alleged Gunman’s New Story
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Office of the State Attorney, Fourth Judicial Circuit. Gardner Indicted, Arrested for Murder of Ex-Husband Jared Bridegan
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Jacksonville.com. Jared Bridegan’s Family Sues Shanna Gardners for Child Visitation
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WOKV. Man Who Once Admitted Killing Jared Bridegan Doesn’t Want Plea Deal Statements Mentioned at Trial
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Court TV. Alleged Gunman in Jared Bridegan Murder-for-Hire Case Gets 2027 Trial Date
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News4Jax. Indictment States Shanna Gardner Plotted to Kill Jared Bridegan as Far Back as May 2015
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News4Jax. Shanna Gardner’s Defense Moves to Suppress Wiretap Evidence in Jared Bridegan Murder Case
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News4Jax. Judge Denies Motion From Shanna Gardner’s Attorneys to Toss Evidence From Court-Authorized Wiretaps
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News4Jax. Gardner, Fernandez Attorneys Argue to Get State Attorney’s Office Disqualified From Murder-for-Hire Case
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Action News Jax. Judge Denies Defense’s Motion to Disqualify State Attorney’s Office in Jared Bridegan Case
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Jacksonville.com. Jared Bridegan Murder Trial Now Split Among All 3 Defendants in Jacksonville
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First Coast News. Grand Jury Indicts Ex-Wife Shanna Gardner in Jared Bridegan Killing
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News4Jax. Shanna Gardner, Mario Fernandez Return to Court as Judge Works Through Pre-Trial Motions
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News4Jax. Court Ends Custody Battle, Says Jared Bridegan’s Twins Will Stay With Jailed Ex-Wife’s Family
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Jacksonville.com. Shanna Gardner and Jared Bridegan Parents Break Silence in Custody Case
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KUTV. Utahns Release Statement on Daughter’s Charges in Murder of Microsoft Executive