Microsoft Manager's Murder-for-Hire Killer Convicted in Florida Road Ambush

Jared Bridegan, a Microsoft design manager, was killed in a murder-for-hire scheme on a Florida road in 2022. Prosecutors believe he was targeted because of ongoing strife with his former wife, Shanna Gardner, over the parenting of their twins.

The killer, Mario Fernandez Saldana, 38, was married to Gardner and faced an automatic sentence of life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder and solicitation of murder. He hired Henry Tenon to carry out the fatal ambush, who had no personal connection to Bridegan but was a former tenant at Fernandez Saldana's rental property.

Tenon initially pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Fernandez Saldana but later backed out and will stand trial in 2027. Prosecutors said Fernandez Saldana wrote three checks totaling $10,000 to Tenon after the homicide, marked as payments for handyman work and a business idea.

Fernandez Saldana's defense attorney claimed he had no motive to have Bridegan killed, but prosecutors pointed out that Fernandez Saldana and Gardner were estranged at the time of the killing. Gardner moved to Washington state after the incident and was arrested in 2023.