A Florida jury has convicted Mario Fernandez Saldana of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the 2022 ambush murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan.

Bridegan, 33, was shot at close range in February 2022 on a Jacksonville Beach road after stopping his car to move a tire left in the middle of a dark road. His 2-year-old daughter was in the back seat at the time but was unharmed.

Prosecutors argued the attack was a deliberate setup linked to a bitter custody dispute involving Bridegan's ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her husband, Fernandez Saldana, to whom the convicted man is married.

Fernandez Saldana was arrested in March 2023, with Gardner's arrest following in August. The trial took place at the Duval County Courthouse in Jacksonville, Florida.

Sources