Custody feud linked murder-for-hire ends in Florida conviction in Microsoft manager's road slaying

A Florida jury convicted Mario Fernandez Saldana, 38, of first-degree murder and solicitation of murder in the 2022 killing of Jared Bridegan, a Microsoft design manager, on a Jacksonville Beach road. Prosecutors said the murder was the culmination of a long-running child-custody dispute with Bridegan's ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and involved a hired gunman who received $10,000 in payments. Bridegan was shot after stopping to remove a tire; his children were in the car. Gardner’s trial is upcoming, while the gunman Henry Tenon had testified before backing out of a deal.