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Nearly a year after Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan was fatally shot in Florida in what authorities believe was a targeted attack on the victim, a suspect identified as Henry Tenon, 61, was arrested in connection with the case.
While announcing the arrest, in a press conference, Jacksonville Beach Police Department Chief Gene Paul Smith, said that the suspect did not act alone, adding that the incident was “a plan and a targeted ambush and murder,"
Shortly after the arrest, authorities released a few details on the incident, including a potential link between the suspect, Henry Tenon, and the victim’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez. Jared Bridegan and Shanna Gardner-Fernandez married in 2010 and divorced five years later, in 2015. The former couple shared custody of their two children.
While authorities have not disclosed if Tenon was responsible for pulling the trigger, they said that at the time of the incident, the suspect was living in a home owned by Mario Fernandez, Shanna Gardner Fernandez’s current husband, in Jacksonville.
It should be noted that police, who are continuing to investigate the case, has yet to make any other arrests.
Details of Jared Bridegan's relationship with his ex-wife explored
Following her divorce from Jared Bridegan, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez married Mario Fernandez, who reportedly rented his home to the suspect arrested in the murder. Shortly after news of the reported link between the ex-wife and the suspect surfaced, multiple reports began exploring the aspects of the contentious relationship shared between the former couple.
According to Fox News Digital, the former couple, who filed for divorce in 2015, were often involved in combative legal battles on various terms of the divorce agreement, including the children’s custody, until he died in 2022. Gardner-Fernandez was also allegedly involved in an extramarital affair with her trainer in the years leading up to her divorce from the slain Microsoft executive, Jared Bridegan.
As per the outlet, after her ex-husband’s death, Gardner-Fernandez moved her children to southeastern Washington state without her second husband. Bridegan's wife, Kristen Bridegan, who has two kids with her deceased husband, was reportedly shocked to learn that Gardner-Fernandez had moved.
Kristen told the outlet that she has tried on multiple occasions to establish contact with Gardner-Fernandez for the sake of her children, who have lost their half-siblings in the move. However, her overtures were reportedly met with resounding silence.
"First, the twins lost their dad, then they were completely cut off from their own sisters, and now they’re being taken away from their school, friends, and their sports teams. They are so isolated, and that’s what concerns me."
She added:
"It’s been an added loss. On top of losing Jared, my children have lost their siblings. I’ve lost my step-kids. I have tried for months and months to make contact and have gotten nowhere.”
What we know so far about Jared Bridegan's murder case
On Wednesday, January 25, 2023, authorities announced that a suspect, identified as Henry Tenon, 61, was arrested in connection with the murder of Jared Bridegan, a Microsoft executive and father of four who was killed last year. Subsequently, the suspect was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, second-degree murder with a weapon, and accessory after the fact to a capital felony.
He was also charged with child abuse as the victim’s child was present at the scene of the crime, though she was unharmed.
Bridegan, who shares two kids with his ex-wife Shanna Gardner-Fernandez and two more with his current spouse Kristen Bridegan, was driving with his then-2-year-old daughter in Jacksonville Beach on February 16, 2022, at the time of the incident.
The Microsoft executive, who was in the car with his daughter, reportedly discovered a tire blocking his path shortly after dropping off the two kids he shared with his ex-wife. When he stepped out of the car to clear the path, he was shot multiple times, two miles from his ex-wife’s home.
While police have yet to disclose a motive for the killing, they have revealed that the suspect in custody did not act alone and withheld any additional details in the case, including other possible suspects responsible for the killing. However, police did disclose a potential link between the suspect and the victim’s ex-wife, who reportedly had a controversial relationship with her former husband.
Tenon is being held at the James I. Montgomery Correctional Center.
