JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Court TV) — One by one, relatives of a Microsoft executive who was gunned down in a murder-for-hire took the witness stand to remember a “one-of-a-kind” man and to dismiss his killer as a “yappy little dog.”
Mario Fernandez Saldana stands in court on Nov. 12, 2026. (Court TV)
Mario Fernandez Saldana, 38, was convicted of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the death of his wife’s ex-husband, Jared Bridegan. Bridegan, 33, had just dropped off the two children he shared with his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, at her home after their weekly night out on Feb. 16, 2022, when he pulled over to remove a tire that was blocking the road. When he got out of his car, Bridegan was shot to death. The victim’s then-2-year-old daughter, whom he shared with his second wife, was strapped in her car seat when her father was killed…