ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla — Newly released documents in the murder-for-hire plot to kill a St. Johns County father show that the gunman practiced the murder route before the crime.
Thursday afternoon, hundreds of pages of evidence documents were released, uncovering shocking facts about the murder-for-hire case that has been gathering national interest for the last two years.
Currently, there are three people facing charges in connection with 33-year-old Jared Bridegan’s murder, including his ex-wife and her estranged husband Mario Fernandez Saldana, and Saldana’s former tenant, Henry Tenon.
On page 50 of Appendix A, the documents revealed that investigators were able to access Tenon’s Google data. The data shows that Tenon drove the homicide route on two prior occasions in January, before the night of the murder.
The newly released documents also state that there are five people, “likely involved in a conspiracy to murder Jared Bridegan.”
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
When Action News Jax reached out to the state attorney’s office about the extra people “potentially involved,” they declined to comment.
The names of the two other people believed to be involved in Bridegan’s murder were redacted in the documents, only being identified as Fernandez Saldana’s associates. However, a warrant located on page 12 of Application Order R states that one of the potential conspirators was a former reserve police officer who had been convicted of a felony in the past.
Action News Jax first reported Thursday that this unknown man was known to own a 10mm weapon, the same type of gun Bridegan was shot with. However, the murder weapon was never recovered, according to the evidence on page 13.
RELATED: Jared Bridegan murder: Investigators had identified ‘five people likely involved’ in the conspiracy
Police state that this potentially involved individual has lied to law enforcement on multiple occasions.
“[Redacted] lied to law enforcement regarding his knowledge of and possession of firearms potentially relevant to this investigation...Tenon and [Redacted] have both been interviewed and Affiant has also learned they have been deceitful with law enforcement.”
Additionally, (found in the Authorization for Application), in a phone call Gardner had with a PR firm she hired, there was significant conversation between the two discussing alternate theories of homicide. After advising Gardner to take a vacation and use a fake name, the firm stated that maybe a gay lover had killed Bridegan.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
The documents also reveal one of Bridegan’s relatives told police that Gardner had talked about hiring a “hitman to take him out.”
The documents also suggest Gardner had a motive to kill Bridegan and police accused her of plotting his murder. They say when Bridegan and Gardner filed for a divorce, they decided on 50/50 custody of the kids, but Gardner could not move the children out of state without Bridegan’s consent or a court order. Multiple witnesses told detectives Gardner had a lot of “hate” for Bridegan.
Action News Jax Annette Gutierrez combed through the financial records and found that the Gardner family had created a trust that says, “When our daughter, Shanna, shall have no further legal entanglements with her ex-husband, Jared g. Bridegan, she may elect to serve as trustee.” This means she would control the money.
Read the documents for yourself: Jared Bridegan murder: Investigators had identified ‘five people likely involved’ in the conspiracy
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.