FALLOUT

Hitman Accused of Killing Microsoft Executive Learns Fate

The executive was fatally shot after he got out of his SUV to remove a tire from a road in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

A man accused of killing father-of-four Jared Bridegan in a murder-for-hire scheme four years ago was found guilty Wednesday. Mario Fernandez-Saldana, 38, was convicted of first-degree murder and solicitation of murder in the 2022 killing, which prosecutors say was driven by a bitter custody dispute between Bridegan and his ex-wife Shanna Gardner. The Microsoft executive was fatally shot after he got out of his SUV to remove a tire from a road in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Officials allege that Fernandez-Saldana’s former tenant, Henry Tenon, was the one to pull the trigger. Fernandez-Saldana wrote three checks totaling $10,000 to Tenon after the murder. According to Assistant State Attorney Christina Stifler, Tenon was “basically homeless, squatting on people’s couches with overdrawn bank accounts.” Stifler also said that the motivation for the killing was that Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana, who were married at the time, wanted more custody of their shared twins. “They fixed it [the custody situation] by executing a man when they had other alternatives available to them. Thats why we’re here,” she said. Gardner is awaiting trial next month.