The Tire in the Road: Inside Florida’s Jared Bridegan Murder-for-Hire Case

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On a dark stretch of road in Jacksonville Beach, a tire sat directly in the path of Jared Bridegan’s SUV.

It appeared to be an ordinary obstruction—something a driver might simply get out and move.

Prosecutors say it was anything but accidental.

On the evening of Feb. 16, 2022, Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft senior design manager and father of four, had just dropped off the 9-year-old twins he shared with his former wife, Shanna Gardner. His 2-year-old daughter, Bexley, remained strapped into her car seat as Bridegan encountered the tire blocking the road.

He stopped.

When Bridegan stepped from the vehicle to move it, someone opened fire. He was killed beside his SUV while his toddler remained only feet away.

More than four years later, prosecutors are now attempting to prove that the seemingly random roadside killing was actually the final act of an elaborate murder-for-hire conspiracy. And the first major trial in the case is underway.

A Murder Designed to Look Random

Mario Fernandez Saldana, 38, went on trial this month in Jacksonville, charged with first degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony. He has pleaded not guilty.

Fernandez was married to Gardner, Bridegan's former wife. Prosecutors contend that years of conflict surrounding Bridegan and Gardner's divorce and the raising of their twins eventually developed into a plot to have Bridegan killed.

The state's theory is that Fernandez recruited Henry Tenon, a man who had rented property from Fernandez and performed work for him, to carry out the killing.

Authorities allege Fernandez paid Tenon at least $10,000.

Tenon is accused of placing the tire in Bridegan's path, waiting for him to stop and then shooting him. Gardner is separately accused of participating in the alleged conspiracy and is scheduled to face her own trial. Both Gardner and Fernandez have denied involvement.

But investigators still had to connect the pieces.

Remarkably, the tire itself became one of their most important clues.

The Tire That Helped Break the Case

Investigators discovered another tire at a rental property owned by Fernandez. Authorities say it matched the tire used to block Bridegan's vehicle.

Forensic testing then provided an even more important lead: investigators say Tenon's DNA was found on the tire associated with the ambush.

From there, detectives began examining the connections between Tenon and Fernandez.

Investigators say Bridegan had no known relationship with Tenon. Fernandez, prosecutors contend, was the link between them.

Financial records also became important. Detectives testified about checks Fernandez had written to Tenon, while prosecutors have introduced cellphone and digital evidence they say helps establish connections among the people involved.

During testimony Friday, an FBI analyst, a former ATF agent and a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detective described digital evidence that prosecutors say helped lead investigators to Fernandez.

The defense is challenging that interpretation.

Fernandez's attorneys have questioned investigators about the strength of the forensic and digital evidence and argued that prosecutors lack direct proof that Fernandez arranged Bridegan's killing.

That distinction could become central to the trial.

The prosecution is essentially asking jurors to assemble a mosaic—relationships, phone activity, money, forensic evidence and the tire—rather than relying on a single piece of evidence that proves the entire alleged conspiracy.

A Bitter Family Conflict

Hovering over the criminal case is the troubled relationship between Bridegan and Gardner.

They divorced in 2015 and continued to experience conflicts involving their children and co-parenting. Prosecutors contend those disputes provide the background for the alleged murder plot.

Fernandez married Gardner in 2018. By the time Bridegan was killed, however, Fernandez and Gardner's own marriage was experiencing problems, according to testimony and investigative records reported during the case.

Gardner has been charged separately in Bridegan's killing and has pleaded not guilty. Her trial is expected to begin in September.

Tenon's case has taken another complicated turn. He previously pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, but later withdrew that plea. He is now expected to face his own trial.

That means the killing of one man has produced three separate murder cases.

Four Years Later, a Jury Begins Deciding What Happened

The Fernandez trial opened Aug. 17, and its first week has already included testimony from Bridegan's widow, investigators and forensic and digital-evidence witnesses.

The case has attracted national attention partly because of the unusual mechanics of the killing.

There was no apparent roadside argument. No robbery that suddenly turned deadly. No chance encounter between strangers.

Prosecutors say Bridegan was maneuvered into exactly the place his killer wanted him.

A tire was placed in a narrow roadway.

A father encountered it while driving home.

And because moving it was the natural thing to do, he stepped from his vehicle.

The plan, prosecutors argue, depended on Bridegan doing precisely what almost anyone else would have done.

Fernandez's attorneys now have the opportunity to convince jurors that investigators interpreted a collection of circumstantial evidence as a conspiracy it cannot actually prove.

For more than four years, the central question surrounding Bridegan's death has been who transformed an ordinary tire into bait for a murder.

For the first time, a Florida jury is being asked to decide whether prosecutors have found the answer.