No new trial. LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE. ⚖️
📅 14 November 2026
A Jacksonville judge has sentenced Mario Fernandez Saldana, 38, to life in prison without the possibility of parole — plus 30 years — for the 2022 murder-for-hire killing of Jared Bridegan, 33. Judge London Kite handed down the sentence on Thursday 12 November, moments after denying his motion for a new trial.
Bridegan, a Microsoft executive and father of four, was shot dead on 16 February 2022 in Jacksonville Beach, minutes after dropping off the twins he shared with his ex-wife Shanna Gardner at her home. Prosecutors said he pulled over to move a tyre blocking the road — a trap. A jury convicted Fernandez Saldana in August of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony, finding he paid his former tenant to stalk and kill Bridegan amid a bitter custody fight.
His widow Kirsten told the court: “He murdered my husband and changed the course of our lives, but he did not take Jared’s spirit from us.” She called Fernandez Saldana “a yappy little dog who had to pay someone else to bite.” The defence’s final motion centred on a stolen .40-calibre handgun recovered in September during an unrelated Texas narcotics case — the judge rejected it and moved straight to sentencing.
Gardner, who remains married to Fernandez Saldana and has pleaded not guilty, goes to trial with the alleged gunman Henry Tenon in May 2027. Fernandez Saldana also still faces separate lewd and lascivious charges against minors, with a pretrial hearing set for 2 December.
The man who paid for the murder will never walk free — but the alleged mastermind still faces trial. Is life without parole enough? 👇