Ex-wife of slain Microsoft executive arrested in Washington after murder indictment

Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, the ex-wife of slain Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan, was arrested in Washington for the murder of her ex-husband, Florida State Attorney Melissa Nelson announced at a press conference Thursday.

ATF agents detained her in West Richland, which is in Benton County.

The arrest Thursday of Gardner-Fernandez came shortly after a Fourth Circuit grand jury indicted her for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit murder and child abuse, Nelson said.

Gardner-Fernandez remains in custody in Washington awaiting extradition to Duval County, Florida.

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Bridegan, 33, was shot on a Jacksonville Beach, Florida, street in February 2022. Gardner-Fernandez’s current husband Mario Fernandez Saldana– who’s been accused of pulling the trigger — and another man already face charges in the case. Authorities have previously described the incident as a “targeted ambush.”

Nelson said prosecutors will file a notice of their intent to seek the death penalty against Gardner-Fernandez as they have already done against her husband Fernandez Saldana.

Gardner-Fernandez denied any involvement in her ex-husband’s murder last year during an interview with WJAX.

“Any time divorce comes into any situation it’s messy,” Gardner-Fernandez said in July 2022, five months after Bridegan was killed. “Even though we didn’t always get along, he was still the father of my kids.”

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Bridegan was the father of twins with Gardner-Fernandez, and also had two children with his current wife, Kirsten Bridegan.