The arrest of Mario Fernandez Saldana in last year’s planned hit on Jared Bridegan after dropping his twin children off at his ex- housewife’s was announced by law enforcement officials on Thursday. This is one of the most widely theorized murder cases in the Jacksonville area in recent memory. The ex-husband is Fernandez Saldana.
Know About the Incident
A tire on the road forced Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft executive, to halt his vehicle as he was traveling with his 2-year-old daughter from Jacksonville Beach to his home in St. Augustine. According to authorities, as soon as he stepped out to relocate it, someone shot and killed him. The youngster was uninjured in her safety seat, and nothing appeared to have been stolen.
On suspicion of the murder plot, second-degree murder with a weapon, accessory after the fact to a capital offense, and child abuse, police detained Henry Arthur Tenon, 62, in January. According to State Attorney Melissa Nelson, on Thursday he entered a plea of guilty to second-degree murder with a weapon, admitting culpability and promising to testify against co-conspirator Fernandez Saldana.
The only connection between Jared Bridegan and Henry Tenon that our investigation has found is Mario Fernandez Saldana, she said. Tenon has agreed to testify truthfully against those he worked with to murder Jared Bridegan as part of his plea agreement with the state of Florida.
What More You Should Know About It?
According to Bob Bryson, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Fernandez Saldana was peacefully taken into custody in Orlando at around 9:30 a.m. The operation was carried out in conjunction with the Jacksonville Beach Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and according to Bryson, it is a prime example of excellent cooperative police work.
The 34-year-old is accused of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital offense, and child abuse, according to Nelson. A request for an arrest included Tenon’s bank records from 14th October of the previous year, which further showed three handwritten checks that were from Fernandez Saldana. Moreover, phone records revealed a total of 35 phone interactions that took place between Tenon and Fernandez Saldana in February, 30 contacts later in March, and 5 to 9 contacts in May and June respectively.
Nelson claims that Tenon, who had rented a home from Fernandez Saldana, knew that he wasn’t acting alone and that the police were aware of this. With his guilty plea, he reaffirmed this and provided additional supporting evidence. She did not say if more arrests were expected or if Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, who now resides in Washington and goes by Gardner, would have known about the plot.
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