Decision made in return of Tri-City mother to Florida to face murder of Microsoft exec

RICHLAND – A West Richland mother is heading back to Florida to face the charge that she helped arrange the murder of her ex-husband.

Attorneys for Shanna Gardner, 36, said during a Thursday morning hearing that they won’t fight having Florida officials pick her up and take her to Duval County in connection with the death of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan.

Gardner appeared by video from the Benton County jail.

It’s not clear when she will return to Florida, but David Chapman with the Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office in Florida, said she will be extradited in the next few weeks. The details are usually not released for security reasons.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed a warrant earlier this month agreeing that he received the proper documentation to show that Gardner should be turned over to Florida officials.

Gardner has been in jail in Kennewick for about two months in the case that has made national headlines and drawn coverage from out-of-town news outlets at her Tri-City hearings since her arrest at her home in West Richland.

Death penalty possible

Florida prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Gardner and her husband Mario Fendandez-Saldana. Both are charged in the elaborate scheme to kill Bridegan in February 2022.

They’re both indicted on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder and child abuse.

Gardner and Bridegan met while she was visiting a friend in Florida in 2009 and married the next year in Salt Lake City, according to the Florida Times-Union. But after a troubled relationship they filed for divorce in 2015.

The divorce paperwork was loaded with hundreds of accusations, but the couple ended up sharing custody of their children.

Prosecutors claim Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana started planning the murder sometime after they met at a CrossFit gym in 2018.

Fernandez-Saldana allegedly recruited Henry Tennon, who rented property from him, to shoot Bridegan.

On Feb. 16, 2022, Bridegan dropped off the couple’s twins at Gardner’s house and was driving home with a 2-year-old daughter from another relationship.

Bridegan was shot when he stopped to move a tire out of the middle of the street, according to a state attorney’s news release.

Tennon previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his role in the shooting.