JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Shanna Gardner and Henry Tenon returned to court on Wednesday for another pre-trial hearing in the Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case.
Mario Fernandez’s hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, but his appearance was canceled with no set date to return.
Gardner’s defense attorneys are asking a Duval County judge to throw out two court-authorized wiretaps placed on her cellphone, Apple Watch and her sister’s cellphone, arguing that police lacked the legal basis to capture the conversations in the first place.
A Jacksonville Beach Police Department detective submitted a probable cause affidavit in support of the wiretap application. According to the defense, that affidavit was loaded with evidence against others — surveillance footage, location data, financial records and a Google search for a 10 mm pistol by J.B. — but offered very little when it came to Gardner herself.
“The January Affidavit provided scant information against Ms. Gardner,” the motion states, noting it was limited to her relationship with the victim and with Fernandez, an alleged motive tied to a dispute that occurred years earlier, and three checks written to Tenon — checks signed by Fernandez Saldana, not Gardner.
The defense argues there was no surveillance footage, no location data, no controlled calls and no incriminating statements tying Gardner to the crime.
Gardner’s attorneys also filed a motion to block testimony from the Bridegan’s daughter, arguing that she was only 2 years old at the time of the shooting.
Tenon made his second court appearance since withdrawing his 2023 guilty plea as the accused shooter. His attorneys have filed a motion to suppress statements he made on March 15, 2023, to the State Attorney’s Office during plea negotiations, now that he has recanted and changed his plea to not guilty.
Tenon initially pleaded guilty on March 16, 2023, to second‑degree murder with a weapon under a deal that required him to testify against alleged co‑conspirators -- Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her now estranged husband, Mario Fernandez. The plea deal carried a sentencing range beginning at 15 years.
The defense said that Tenon believed those conversations were protected as part of plea negotiations and said no one warned him those statements could be used against him later if he backed out of the deal.
Tenon took the stand and answered questions from his attorney and the state.
Attorney: “Were you at any time told that at anything you said could be used against you?”
Tenon: “No.”
Attorney: “Did you believe you were speaking to them for a plea agreement?”
Tenon: “Yes.”
State: “You did not enter into a plea that said you were going testify, knowing you were never going to testify.”
Tenon: “I did.”
State: You did?
Tenon: “Yeah.”
State: “So you lied under oath about that you were going to testify truthfully?”
Tenon: “No...because my understanding is I can change my plea at anytime before sentencing.”
Prosecutors continued to push back, arguing that the plea agreement had already been finalized by that point and that Tenon understood he was becoming a witness in the case.
Judge London Kite said that she is taking the motion under advisement and plans to issue a decision by the next court date on May 26.