Eks-hustru bestilte angiveligt drabet på Microsoft-direktøren foran hans datter
An executive shot on a dark road
On the evening of February 16, 2022, Jared Bridegan was driving along Prichard Road in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, when he spotted a tire and wagon placed in the middle of the road. He stopped his car and got out to move the obstruction — and was immediately shot multiple times at close range. His two-year-old daughter, whom he had just picked up from his ex-wife, was sitting in the back seat and survived unharmed. Bridegan, 33 years old and a senior director at technology giant Microsoft, died at the scene.
The murder shocked the affluent coastal community of Jacksonville Beach and immediately triggered a massive investigation by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The seemingly deliberate placement of the tire in the road quickly pointed investigators toward a premeditated killing — not a random attack.
Jared Bridegan skudt og dræbt
Microsoft-direktøren stoppes af dæk på Prichard Road i Jacksonville Beach og skydes ned foran sin to-årige datter.
Henry Tenon anholdt som den formodede skytte
Politiet anholder Henry Tenon og identificerer ham som den mand, der affyrede skuddene. Han indgår efterfølgende samarbejde med anklagemyndigheden.
Mario Fernandez anholdt og sigtet
Shanna Gardner-Fernandez' mand Mario Fernandez anholdes og sigtes for medvirken til mord med overlæg.
Shanna Gardner-Fernandez anholdt i Idaho
Eks-hustruen anholdes hos sin familie i Idaho og sigtes som bagmand for det planlagte drab.
Henry Tenon idømt dødsstraf
En jury i Florida dømmer Tenon skyldig og idømmer ham dødsstraf for drabet på Jared Bridegan.
Shanna Gardner-Fernandez og Mario Fernandez afventer retssag
De to primærtiltalte afventer fortsat retssag. Forsvarerne arbejder på at få centrale beviser afvist.
Who was Jared Bridegan?
Jared Bridegan was a highly respected technology leader who had built a successful career at Microsoft. He was the father of four children — twins from his first marriage to Shanna Gardner and two younger children with his new wife, Kirsten Bridegan. Friends and colleagues described him as dedicated, caring and professionally driven. In the period leading up to his murder, he had been engaged in a prolonged and bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife over the twins.
That custody battle would prove to be a central thread running through the entire investigation.
The investigation points to the ex-wife
In the months following the killing, investigators methodically worked through Bridegan's personal and legal relationships. Surveillance footage, phone data and witness statements began to paint a picture pointing toward Shanna Gardner-Fernandez and her husband Mario Fernandez.
In September 2022, police arrested a man named Henry Tenon, who was quickly identified as the actual shooter. Tenon, who had a lengthy criminal record, shortly afterward agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testified that he had been hired to carry out the killing. His testimony proved pivotal to the investigation into those who allegedly ordered the murder.
In March 2023, Mario Fernandez was arrested and charged with first-degree murder conspiracy. The arrest of Shanna Gardner-Fernandez herself followed shortly after — by that point she had already traveled to her family's home in Idaho, a move the press widely interpreted as an attempt to evade prosecution.
The motive: money and custody
Prosecutors in Duval County, Florida, presented a motive built on two key elements. First, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez stood to collect a substantial life insurance payout on Bridegan — reportedly as much as three million US dollars. Second, Bridegan's death would eliminate her adversary in the ongoing, contentious custody case over the couple's twins.
According to the indictment, Mario Fernandez allegedly acted as the intermediary and coordinator, while Shanna Gardner-Fernandez allegedly financed and approved the plan. Defense attorneys have consistently rejected these claims, characterizing them as fabricated.
In 2024, Henry Tenon, the man who fired the shots, was sentenced to death by a jury in Florida. His cooperation with prosecutors did not spare him from the ultimate penalty, but his testimony remains a critical piece of evidence in the case against the two other defendants.
Shanna Gardner-Fernandez and Mario Fernandez are both awaiting trial. The case has attracted enormous media coverage across the United States and has become the subject of several true crime documentaries and podcasts. Defense attorneys have worked intensively to have evidence excluded and have challenged Tenon's credibility as the state's key witness.
A case that shook Jacksonville Beach
The murder of Jared Bridegan is one of the most widely discussed crimes in Florida in recent memory. The fact that his infant daughter witnessed the killing, and that his ex-wife allegedly masterminded it, has made the case a stark symbol of how family disputes can, in their most extreme form, escalate into cold, calculated violence.
Bridegan's widow, Kirsten Bridegan, has publicly fought for justice and has spoken to numerous media outlets to keep the case in the public eye. She has described her late husband as a loving father and has stated that she is confident the truth will emerge at trial.
The case is expected to proceed to a full trial within the coming years, and the legal reckoning over Shanna Gardner-Fernandez and Mario Fernandez's guilt or innocence will be closely watched by both the media and observers of the justice system.