Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Microsoft Exec Murdered After Dropping His Kids Off at Ex-Wife's House

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. An ex-wife in handcuffs accused of plotting with her estranged husband and a hitman to murder her Microsoft executive ex-husband. I look at the murder of Jared Breidegen and the evidence prosecutors claim against the trio they have charged. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. In 2025, a murder trial will begin in Jacksonville, Florida that includes allegations of a hired hit,

Starting point is 00:00:36 a custody battle, and a bitter divorce. Shanna Gardner and her estranged husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, are charged with conspiring to murder Shanna's ex-husband, Jared Breidigan, a Microsoft executive. Prosecutors say the couple conspired to hire 62-year-old Henry Tennon to kill Breidigan. Tennon has already pleaded guilty to his role in the plot and he will testify against Gardner and Fernandez Saldana. Tennon was a tenant of Fernandez Saldana's. Now there are a

Starting point is 00:01:06 lot of moving parts here. So to understand how we got here, let's go back to the very beginning. Shanna Gardner met Jared Breidegen in 2009 while visiting a friend in Florida. The following year, they married. At the time, they were both devout Mormons. But issues started to arise once their twins were born in 2013, and not long after, Gardner filed for divorce, and she asked for full custody of the twin girls. Fast forward a few years, and Jared Breidegen and Shanna Gardner have divorced, and they're both remarried. Gardner to Fernandez Saldana and Jared to his wife Kirsten. Prosecutors believe several things played into Gardner wanting to murder Jared Breidigan. Their divorce and custody arrangement for the twins was contentious. Breidigan wanted to raise the girls in the Mormon faith,

Starting point is 00:01:54 and they believe Shanna Gardner could have full access to a trust fund if Jared Breidigan was dead. Prosecutors say they uncovered years-old text messages in which Gardner said she wished that Breidigin would disappear, and she used code words discussing someone who could do permanent disappearing acts, referring to that person as a magician. On February 16, 2022, Jared Breidigin is murdered in Jacksonville Beach with his two-year-old daughter strapped in her car seat. A police summary says, "'Breidigen was driving home on a dark, isolated road "'named Sanctuary Boulevard with his two-year-old daughter.

Starting point is 00:02:31 "'He stopped, put on his hazard lights, "'and stepped out to remove a large tire "'lying in the roadway. "'That's when he is shot multiple times.'" At first, Breidigen's murder looks like it could be random, but there were some things that showed it was anything but, including that tire in the road. Security footage recorded a pickup truck in the area at the time of the murder, which led Jacksonville Beach police to 61-year-old Henry Tennant. Police would later discover Tennant was a tenant of Mario Fernandez Saldana.

Starting point is 00:03:02 Prosecutors say Fernandez Saldana was going to pay $150,000 to Tenon to carry out the hit. They've pointed to three checks written to Tenon for small amounts. One memo line says, Kickstarter, good luck. Investigators say the checks were written under the guise of funding a pallet business for Tenon. 18 months after the murder, a grand jury indicted both Garner and Fernandez-Saldana for their role. Police arrested Garner in Washington State, where she had moved following Jared Breidigan's murder. It's going to be the white vehicle back there. We'll go to the passenger side.

Starting point is 00:03:55 Yep. Following the arrest, the state attorney's office held a press conference. We will be filing a notice of our intent to seek the death penalty, as we have also done in the case of Mario Fernandez. I cannot stress enough the extraordinary commitment and teamwork of the folks on the stage with me today, the Jacksonville Beach detectives, ATF agents, and our prosecutors in this case. I want to tell you about Upside. It's a free app that gets you cash back on things like gas and restaurants. This is real cash back, money that you can transfer straight into your bank account. I used Upside when I went to Dunkin' Donuts for a cup of tea. I claimed an offer for Dunkin' on the app, paid as usual using a card and followed the steps, and I got cash back. It's so easy. You can also use Upside at places like

Starting point is 00:04:59 Shell, Exxon, 7-Eleven, Taco Bell, and that's just to name a few. To find out how much you could earn, click the link in the description to download Upside or scan the QR code on your screen and use our promo code CRIMEFIX and get an extra 25 cents back on every gallon on your first tank of gas. That's promo code CRIMEFIX for extra cash back. The investigation also revealed Tenon's financial records and showed three handwritten checks from Fernandez Saldana in October of 2022. I mentioned those handwritten checks between Fernandez Saldana and Tennant earlier. Phone records also show the two had communicated 35 different times in the months leading up to the murder. Last year, Gardner waived her right to a speedy trial.

Starting point is 00:05:48 I do. I do. All right, thank you. Good morning. Morning. I've been handed a form that's titled Unlimited Waiver or Speedy Trial. Have you gone over this form with your attorney? Yes, Your Honor.

Starting point is 00:06:01 Okay, and it has your signature on it. Did you sign it indicating that you have, in fact, gone over this with your lawyer? Yes, Your Honor. The form indicates that you've reviewed both the advantages and disadvantages of waiving speedy trial. Is that true? Yes, Your Honor. Okay. Has anyone threatened you or coerced you to get you to waive speedy trial? No, ma'am. Promised you anything? No, ma'am. Okay. I will find that the waiver of speedy trial is freely and voluntarily entered. I'm signing the form now. At a hearing in 2024, a detective testified about witnesses who had come forward with information about Shanna Gardner. We had several people come forward who shared stories that they had heard over the years of Ms. Gardner stating that she hated Jared and could not stand the fact that she had to share custody with him and that she wanted him dead.

Starting point is 00:06:53 The detective also testified about the custody issues between Gardner and Jared Bright again. They were divorced in 2015 and pretty much consistently between 2015 up until Jared's death they were in court at least annually pretty much every aspect of the child custody was litigated and fought through mediation it was to the degree that they no longer had any type of verbal communication about their children everything was done either in writing or through an attorney i want to bring in rebecca rosenberg she is the co-publisher of the st john citizen so rebecca tell me first of all about the very latest in this case there was a big decision that came down

Starting point is 00:07:42 regarding guardianship of jared Breitigan's two twins. Yeah. So although that doesn't actually deal with the murder case itself, it's pretty significant for the family. So essentially going back a little ways when Gardner was arrested for the murder, she signed over some paperwork giving guardianship to her parents. Breitigan contested that. I'm sorry, Breitigan's parents contested that. They sued for visitation and then went on to sue for guardianship. And they just settled, I believe it was last week, they settled, it was actually a confidential agreement, but a source told me that they will get some form of visitation in this agreement. It's unclear to me how much, but Breitigan's widow, Kirsten Breitigan, is very upset about the settlement.

Starting point is 00:08:39 And why is she upset about that? Tell me. So I think that part of it is that she wasn't in, she posted several messages on Instagram or reels on Instagram discussing it. And essentially the main thing that she wanted was to reunite the twins, which, um, uh, Bright again shares with the woman who's accused of killing him. Right. And then he went on to marry Kirsten and they have two younger children together. Before the murder, Jared and Kirsten had half custody of those twins. The twins were very close to the young children and she wanted to reunite them. They have been since the murder separated. Kirsten Breidigan has said that first Shanna and then later her parents really barred

Starting point is 00:09:27 any communication between her and her stepchildren and between the stepchildren and their half siblings. So she really was hoping that this loss, I don't know if you can call it a lawsuit, but this settlement would, I guess, include something that would unite the children more. That's my understanding of it. And it just didn't. And that was her, you know, she was very upset by this. She felt that her husband would have never agreed to it and would have never signed off on something like this. However, it's a little confusing because the agreement's confidential. You've interviewed Kirsten Breitigan. You interviewed her for your publication. So tell me what she had to say to you. I mean, obviously this crime is so

Starting point is 00:10:17 shocking. The fact that Jared Breitigan was murdered driving in his vehicle, he stops to move a tire out of the way and his young child is in that vehicle with him. Yes. I think I've actually interviewed her a few times. And I think for her, this is just, you don't ever get over this. And I think she knew right away, she suspected right away that Shanna was behind this and she put all her energy into just getting justice for her husband. I think also, you know, Shanna's charged with child endangerment because Bexley was in the car. And that's a pretty horrific thing. She was there. She witnessed it. I believe she said, bang, bang. When it happened, she was stuck alone in the car for more than two minutes

Starting point is 00:11:10 before a good Samaritan came and took her out. So I think if it weren't for her perseverance, I'm not sure they would have ever been arrested. She just has has fought and kept this in the spotlight because it is so important to her that that she gets justice for her husband's murder. That's very interesting. This case, I mean, it's it's just so it's a very shocking crime. And, you know, Jacksonville, Florida, I just it's just not something I think of, you know, that general area, something so so violent. And he's a you know, he's an executive at Microsoft. I mean, it almost sounds like some something out of like a horrific Dateline episode or like a movie plot or something like that. What has the community's kind of reaction been to this? Well, I do think it's very unusual here. This

Starting point is 00:12:07 occurred in a very upscale area of Northeast Florida. Like you said, this is an educated executive working for Microsoft. And he and his wife were also, well, she still is, but he was, devout members of the Mormon church. So that also was another layer of it. But, you know, there had been a very venomous custody battle ever since Shanna and Jared got divorced. So that, that was, that had continued up until the murder and really the docket on that dispute only ended with the murder. That was like the final, um, entry. So there was a lot of acrimony here. And, and again, she insists she's innocent. She has pleaded not guilty and is mounting a very robust defense. And she really is. And she's hired Jose Baez to be her lawyer, you know, famed criminal defense attorney,

Starting point is 00:13:19 most well known, I think, for anthony uh an acquittal i mean he he got her off on that charge accused of murdering her her young daughter kaylee many many years ago so he's very flamboyant and he's very persuasive with the jury yes that is definitely the case that shot him to fame and he's had a lot of high profile cases since then, in addition to this one. So yeah, I think that he is a showman in the courtroom. That is his skill. And he has a whole team. It's not like he's in there. He has a team of people right now. It's very much the discovery phase. And I don't think he's actually been at an appearance for, for a while, but yeah, it's an interesting choice.

Starting point is 00:14:06 It's a very, they had a really well-respected local criminal defense attorney who was really kind of considered the best and they hired Jose Baez to replace him. Um, I can't remember how long ago, but yeah. And it's also interesting because she comes from a very wealthy family, the Gardeners, Shelly and Sterling Gardner. And they have a multimillion dollar paper craft company based in Utah. And they have footed the bill for, I mean, Jose Baez isn't cheap. So she has the top defense money can buy a courtesy of her parents. And we've got this, you know, the hitman part of this. I mean, the guy that who has pleaded guilty,

Starting point is 00:14:54 he will be testifying against Shanna Gardner and, you know, her estranged husband. So you've got that aspect of this too. It'll be interesting to see how that is countered. Yeah, that will be interesting to see. And, you know, I think that her defense is ultimately going to be, well, maybe my estranged husband did this, but I had nothing to do with this. I think that's really the only real defense. And again, Mario Fernandez has also pleaded not guilty. He has a different defense lawyer, of course. But that really seems to be the direction that they're going is that, well, maybe he did it, but I had nothing to do with it. So do you think it'll be, you know, at trial? Is it going to be both of them saying, no, this one did it.

Starting point is 00:15:44 The other one arranged. Yes, I'm curious how that will work. They have not split the case yet. And I would imagine if that's their defense, how can they try them together? I don't know. You know, that seems very tricky to try them both together if they're basically pointing the finger at each other. And I would imagine that Henry Tinnin, the shooter, had much more of a relationship, obviously. I don't even know if he ever met Shanna, but that was a tenant of Mario Fernandez. That was his tenant, and that's how he came to hire him. Well, it will certainly be interesting to watch the entire thing unfold. I feel like this will be something once it starts in October, something that will be very closely watched in Jacksonville.

Starting point is 00:16:32 Yes, I think it'll I think it'll be closely watched, possibly in all of Florida. It's a pretty wild case. Yeah, most certainly. Well, we'll be keeping up until then on all the court proceedings and watching your coverage, reading your coverage in the St. John Citizen. Thank you so much, Rebecca Rosenberg. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Microsoft Exec Murdered After Dropping His Kids Off at Ex-Wife's House

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Microsoft Exec Murdered After Dropping His Kids Off at Ex-Wife's House

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