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Mario Enrique Fernandez Saldana (right) helped murder his wife’s former husband Jared Bridegan (left), authorities said. (Images: City of Jacksonville Beach Police Department)
After her new husband was charged with murdering her ex, a company linked to Shanna Gardner-Fernandez claimed that she has been separated from her current spouse for an “an extended period of time,” according to a letter obtained by KTVX.
“We have no further details about the situation other than what has been reported by the media,” said Stampin’ Up!, a papercraft and “direct-sales” business owned by her parents.
That current spouse is Mario Enrique Fernandez Saldana, 34. He was charged this week with murdering Shanna’s previous husband Jared Bridegan, 33. In January, authorities charged Henry Tenon, 61, who had been a tenant on property belonging to Fernandez Salanda. Tenon ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder with a weapon and admitting to be the actual gunman who killed Bridegan, authorities announced.
Police previously said that Bridegan took three of his children out for a routine weekly dinner on Feb. 16, 2022. He dropped off the twin 9-year-olds he shared with Shanna Gardner-Fernandez. On the way home, he came across a tire in a dark area of Sanctuary Boulevard.
Investigators believe someone put it there on purpose to make him stop. Bridegan opened his SUV door, presumably to move the tire, Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith said in a January press conference.
“It was then that he was gunned down in cold blood,” the chief said.
Meanwhile, Bridegan’s 2-year-old daughter by second wife Kirsten Bridegan was in the backseat, exposed to danger.
Investigators withheld certain details because of the ongoing case, but Fernandez Saldana is charged with first-degree murder with a weapon, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony as well as child abuse because of the danger that Jared’s daughter faced.
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In a heavily redacted affidavit, authorities noted that Tenon and Fernandez Saldana had “35 phone contacts” in February 2022, 30 in March 2022, and “5-9” in May and June 2022.
“Affiant received Tenon’s financial records from PNC Bank on October 14, 2022,” the affidavit stated. “Upon conducting the initial review, three handwritten checks were discovered from Fernandez Saldana.”
During the initial search for Bridegan’s killer, Gardner-Fernandez denied any wrongdoing and refused to discuss their contentious divorce.
“I don’t see any good in airing our dirty laundry,” she told The Florida Times-Union in a June 30 report.
Now her parents’ Utah-based company tells their sales people (which are called “demonstrators”) that she is separated from Fernandez Saldana.
“Stampin’ Up! is aware that Mario Fernandez, Shanna Gardner’s current husband, has been arrested in conjunction with an ongoing investigation. Shanna (Shelli and Sterling’s daughter) and Mario have been separated for an extended period of time,” the company wrote, later adding, “We understand that some demonstrators have received troubling comments about this matter on their social media platforms. Please feel free to delete comments of an inappropriate nature and block/report those commenters on your personal accounts.”
Police have not named Shanna Gardner-Fernandez as suspect. In the affidavit against her current husband, they noted she and Mario met at her CrossFit gym in 2018. Fernandez Saldana was a maintenance man there. Investigators noted that Gardner-Fernandez shared custody of her children with Jared Bridegan.
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