JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Court TV) — One by one, relatives of a Microsoft executive who was gunned down in a murder-for-hire took the witness stand to remember a “one-of-a-kind” man and to dismiss his killer as a “yappy little dog.”
Mario Fernandez Saldana stands in court on Nov. 12, 2026. (Court TV)
Mario Fernandez Saldana, 38, was convicted of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the death of his wife’s ex-husband, Jared Bridegan. Bridegan, 33, had just dropped off the two children he shared with his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, at her home after their weekly night out on Feb. 16, 2022, when he pulled over to remove a tire that was blocking the road. When he got out of his car, Bridegan was shot to death. The victim’s then-2-year-old daughter, whom he shared with his second wife, was strapped in her car seat when her father was killed.
At Fernandez’s trial, prosecutors convinced the jury that he had paid his former tenant to stalk the victim and kill him. On Thursday, before Fernandez was sentenced, his attorneys made a final plea to Judge London Kite to set aside the jury’s verdict and grant him a new trial.
In their motion for a new trial, Fernandez’s attorneys argued that the prosecution’s case was built entirely on circumstantial evidence and that the state improperly stacked inferences to convince the jury their client was guilty. “Point by point, the state supplied the facts that the record did not contain, and then used it to argue guilt,” Fernandez’s attorney, Shannon Day, said in court. Day also accused the state of disparaging the defense. “The state repeatedly portrayed legitimate defense arguments as manufactured, speculation, calculated denial and attempts to exploit evidence gaps.”
Kite denied the motion and ordered the parties to proceed to sentencing.
Jared Bridegan (Jacksonville Police Department)
Bridegan’s mother and father, appearing at the hearing via Zoom, said their son’s murder “left a permanent and devastating mark” on their family. “His absence will be felt for the rest of our lives in the moments both significant and ordinary,” his father said.
Bridegan’s father-in-law recalled going to Fernandez’s home the day after Bridegan was killed, saying Bridegan’s two older children were extremely upset, but the defendant didn’t seem to care. “While the rest of us were attempting to console and comfort the twins, Mario was as cold as ice,” he said. “Despite Mario’s self-description of himself being a caring stepfather to police, his actions have been just the opposite. He has ruined the lives of the twins in multiple ways.”
Kirsten Bridegan, the victim’s widow, testified Thursday about the man she loved. “Jared was one-of-a-kind,” she said. “Jared was a dedicated father, despite constant opposition, belittling psychological warfare and interference from his ex-wife and her family, including Mario Fernandez. No matter how difficult they made it, Jared pressed on, because being present for his children mattered more to him than the cost of doing so.”
Kirsten Bridegan contrasted her late husband with the defendant. “Mario has always been a small man in comparison to Jared. Small in stature, lacking in integrity, deficient in courage and devoid of honor. If Jared was a gentle giant, Mario was a yappy little dog who had to pay someone else to bite,” she said. “The only reason I supported the withdrawal of the death penalty for Mario and his wife was because of the compassion I have for Jared’s two oldest children. Compassion that, in my experience, neither Mario nor his wife has ever shown them.”
Fernandez did not address the court.
Because prosecutors did not seek a death sentence, Fernandez faced a statutory sentence of life in prison for first-degree murder; for the solicitation charge, his attorney asked that he be sentenced to 13 to 48 months. Kite rejected that request and sided with prosecutors, sentencing Fernandez to an additional 30 years.
Shanna Gardner, who remains married to Fernandez and is the mother of the victim’s two children, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and solicitation charges. The alleged gunman, Henry Tenon, initially pleaded guilty and had agreed to testify against both Fernandez and Gardner, but changed his mind and is now proceeding to trial, scheduled to begin in 2027.
