JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — The state attorney’s office shared two bodycam videos from the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, one video showing the crime scene of Jared Bridegan’s murder, and three audio interviews with those connected to the three people charged in the killing.
Action News Jax has been following Jared Bridegan’s murder since he was shot to death in Jacksonville Beach back in February 2022.
The police bodycam videos from the state attorney’s office are from February 2023, a year after the murder. The videos show police pulling over Mario Fernandez-Saldana, the estranged husband of Jared Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, after officers received a search warrant for his truck.
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The main video from the night is 37 minutes long, 28 minutes of which shows the camera pointed at Fernandez-Saldana in the back of a Jax Beach police cruiser after he’d been detained. Police came back to the patrol car twice before they eventually let him go: once to ask about a clear plastic bag found in the truck, to which Fernandez-Saldana said there was detergent inside, and another time to ask if he could voluntarily unlock his phone for police, to which he said no.
The crime scene video from the night Bridegan was killed shows officers searching his car and using their flashlights to point out the tire next to the car that police believe was purposefully placed there to stop Bridegan in the middle of the road and, ultimately, set up the murder.
Action News Jax told you back in December when we found thousands of dollars in checks sent from Mario Fernandez-Saldana to Henry Tenon, after we found out that Tenon used to rent a home from Fernandez-Saldana. One of the audio interviews released by the state attorney’s office from the Jax Beach police officer who spoke with Tenon a few months after the murder.
“You said you rented from Mario for about three years?” the officer asked Tenon. “Yeah,” he said in response.
Another interview shared by state attorneys is from one of their interviews with Elizabeth Smith, who described herself as one of Shanna Gardner’s old coworkers-turned-close friends before the murder happened. She recalled one of the few times she met Fernandez-Saldana while he was with Gardner.
Here’s the portion where Smith said Fernandez-Saldana talked about a way to carry out Bridegan’s death:
State Attorney’s Office: “He said he could get four people and break into his house in the middle of the night and, quote, take care of him and no one would ever know. Is that right?”
Smith: “Yes.”
State Attorney’s Office: “And Shanna said Mario said that in reference to Jared?”
Smith: “Yes.”
Both Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana have pleaded not guilty to the charges they’re facing in relation to the murder. There’s another pretrial hearing scheduled in the case for next Friday, September 19th.
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