{"id":841984,"date":"2026-06-03T18:07:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/841984\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T18:07:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:07:21","slug":"informant-says-fernandez-called-gardner-murder-mastermind-plotted-to-frame-jared-bridegans-widow-documents-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/841984\/","title":{"rendered":"Informant says Fernandez called Gardner murder \u2018mastermind,\u2019 plotted to frame Jared Bridegan\u2019s widow, documents show"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 New court documents filed in the murder case against Shanna Gardner<\/a>, Mario Fernandez<\/a> and Henry Tenon<\/a> in the death of Gardner\u2019s ex-husband, Jared Bridegan<\/a>, reveal that Fernandez allegedly called Gardner the \u201cmastermind\u201d behind the killing \u2014 and tried to orchestrate a scheme from behind bars to frame Bridegan\u2019s widow, Kirsten Bridegan, for the crime.<\/p>\n

A new discovery document details statements Fernandez allegedly made to fellow inmate Emmanuel Alexander at the Duval County Jail between May 2025 and March 2026.<\/p>\n

Fernandez, Gardner and Tenon have all been indicted on first-degree murder and other charges in the alleged conspiracy to kill Jared Bridegan, who was gunned down on his way home from Jacksonville Beach in an ambush shooting in February 2022.<\/p>\n

Investigators say Fernandez hired Tenon, a tenant at one of his properties, to carry out the killing. Tenon initially pleaded guilty<\/a> and admitted to being the gunman who killed Bridegan, but he has since backtracked, and a judge granted his motion to withdraw his guilty plea<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Gardner and Fernandez have both pleaded not guilty, and their trials are set to begin in a couple of months<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alleged plot to frame Bridegan\u2019s widow<\/b><\/p>\n

According to the new filing, Fernandez approached Emmanuel Alexander, a fellow inmate, with a plan to help \u201cframe the widow\u201d \u2014 a reference to Kirsten Bridegan, who is being deposed as a witness in the case<\/a>.<\/p>\n

News4JAX reached out to Kirsten Bridegan for comment, but we have not heard back.<\/p>\n

Fernandez allegedly asked Alexander to contact Fernandez\u2019s brother and attorney upon his release from jail and mail letters to media outlets and law enforcement agencies. <\/p>\n

Kirsten Bridegan, Jared Bridegan\u2019s widow. (Copyright 2022 by WJXT News4Jax – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

The letters, prosecutors allege, were designed to make Tenon appear to be a liar and to suggest that Kirsten Bridegan killed her husband because she suspected \u201chim being gay.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fernandez also allegedly directed Alexander to fabricate a story claiming Jared Bridegan \u201cwas going to the gym to look at guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED |<\/b>Follow the money: Checks written to Jared Bridegan\u2019s admitted killer connect him to 2 accused in \u2018murder-for-hire plot\u2019<\/b><\/a>|<\/b>Jared Bridegan\u2019s wife files wrongful death lawsuit against 3 accused in his murder<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018My wife was the mastermind\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

In what may be among the most damaging disclosures in the document, Fernandez allegedly told Alexander that \u201cmy wife [Gardner] was the mm [mastermind] and he [Fernandez] was supposed to be the executioner\u201d \u2014 a statement Alexander says was accompanied by a nonverbal acknowledgment, described in the filing as a gesture confirming it was true.<\/p>\n

But during Alexander\u2019s first sworn statement, the audio recording was lost due to technical issues with the court reporter\u2019s electronic service. <\/p>\n

A second, recorded sworn statement was taken on April 1, 2026, and Alexander repeated that claim. <\/p>\n

Shanna Gardner in court (WJXT)<\/p>\n

In that account, Alexander said Fernandez told him \u201cshe [Gardner] was supposed to be the MM, which is mastermind, and he was supposed to be the executioner, which he executed the plan,\u201d again with a nonverbal acknowledgment.<\/p>\n

The document also alleges Fernandez asked Alexander to help \u201cset Judge London Kite up\u201d \u2014 the judge presiding over the murder-for-hire case. The document does indicate what that entailed.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Fernandez allegedly said he was attempting to get Tenon to recant his statements, an effort that takes on added significance given that Tenon has withdrawn his guilty plea<\/a> and has said he will not testify against Gardner or Fernandez.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>Accused gunman in Jared Bridegan case asks court to block statements made during plea talks<\/b><\/a> | <\/b>4 years later: A timeline of the Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Henry Tenon in court on Dec. 2. (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)About the informant<\/b><\/p>\n

Alexander, who faces charges of attempted second-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, tampering with evidence and child neglect in a separate Duval County case, has two prior felony convictions.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors note in the filing that Alexander has never previously cooperated in any case, and the State has made no offers or promises related to his pending charges.<\/p>\n

How Jared Bridegan was killed<\/b><\/p>\n

On the night of Feb. 16, 2022<\/a>, Bridegan, 33, dropped his then-9-year-old twin children off at Gardner\u2019s Jacksonville Beach home after a \u201cdate night\u201d with their dad<\/a>. He left with his 2-year-old daughter, Bexley, strapped into her car seat in the back of his SUV, headed back to St. Augustine.<\/p>\n

The Microsoft employee never made it home.<\/p>\n

Jared Galen Bridegan was shot and killed in Jacksonville Beach, police say (Provided by Jacksonville Beach Police)<\/p>\n

Following his normal route through the Sanctuary neighborhood<\/a>, Bridegan was forced to stop near Jacksonville Drive, America Avenue and Sanctuary Boulevard \u2014 a tire had been placed in the road. When he stepped out of his SUV, he was ambushed by gunfire. At least one bullet missed Bexley by mere inches in her car seat. None of the 911 callers that night reported seeing a shooter or a vehicle leaving the scene.<\/p>\n

RELATED |<\/b>Murder-for-hire plot included practice run along Jared Bridegan\u2019s normal route home: prosecutors<\/b><\/a>on <\/p>\n

Investigators say the ambush was part of a murder-for-hire plot set in motion by Gardner and her then-husband, Fernandez<\/a> \u2014 a conspiracy that allegedly began in November 2021. According to detectives, Gardner was tired of sharing custody of her twin children with Bridegan and told a friend that Fernandez, because of his military background, could \u201ctake care of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

State prosecutors initially said they would seek the death penalty against both Gardner and Fernandez if convicted, but have since taken that option off the table \u2014 with the support of Kirsten Bridegan and Jared Bridegan\u2019s family<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 New court documents filed in the murder case against Shanna Gardner, Mario Fernandez and Henry…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":841985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,68775,7310,68773,68776,68774,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-841984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-henry-tenon","tag-jacksonville","tag-jared-bridegan","tag-mario-fernandez","tag-shanna-gardner","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116687512783955129","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}