JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The extensive amount of evidence in the murder-for-hire case against Shanna Gardner and her estranged husband Mario Fernandez Saldana continued to be a concern in court on Thursday.
Both face murder charges in the shooting death of Jared Bridegan, the St. Johns County father gunned down in Jacksonville Beach in February of 2022. Bridegan was Gardner’s ex-husband and the two shared twins, a son and a daughter.
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Judge London Kite raised concerns about the slow progress in the case due to the massive forensic evidence -- such as text messages and device hard drives -- and the lack of state resources being put into reviewing that evidence.
“It is my wish or hope we are going to have a plan for this evidence,” Kite told the court Thursday morning. “In my mind, this is causing so many problems.”
The issue, according to the judge and defense: The state of Florida has been relying on one single detective, who is also performing duties with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office on the side, to comb through the massive amounts of evidence.
The defense argued Thursday that more hands need to be put on this case to make sure information protected by attorney-client privilege doesn’t accidentally slip through the cracks and prevent their clients from getting a fair trial.
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“This is a resource issue at its heart,” defense attorney Patrick Korody said Thursday in court. “If the state wants to use this evidence, they need to do it right and put the time, money, and people on it.”
Prosecutors said that they’re on board with putting a team together to tackle the massive amount of evidence. They requested more time to gameplan how exactly to do so.
The next court date has now been set for January 6 in the case.
PHOTOS: The people connected to the Jared Bridegan murder investigation
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The crime
Bridegan, a St. Johns County father of four, was gunned down Feb. 16, 2022, in Jacksonville Beach. He had just taken his twins he shared with Gardner, and his then-2-year-old Bexley, his daughter with wife Kirsten Bridegan, to dinner.
The software engineer had just dropped off the twins at Gardner’s house when he encountered a tire on Sanctuary Boulevard, a one-way road. He was headed home to his second wife, Kirsten Bridegan, with whom he shared children Bexley and London.
Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith said during the announcement of the first arrest in January 2023, that “the tire was purposely placed there to make him stop which he did.”
JUNE 2022 INTERVIEW: ‘Wish it weren’t like this’: Ex-wife of Jared Bridegan, father killed in Jacksonville Beach, speaks
“Tragically he began to exit his vehicle to move the tire and he was gunned down in cold blood,” Smith said.
Bridegan was shot several times while Bexley was still strapped into a car seat in the back seat of his car.
The arrests
Fernandez Saldana was arrested in March 2023 on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, child abuse, and solicitation to commit a capital felony.
The arrest of Henry Tenon in connection to Bridegan’s murder was announced in January 2023. He was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, accessory after the fact to a capital felony, child abuse, and second-degree murder
Tenon, who rented a home from Fernandez Saldana, agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder. That means Tenon faces 15 years to life in prison, but not the death penalty.
Gardner was arrested in August 2023 in Washington and is facing charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit murder, and child abuse.
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