Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - BITTER EX-WIFE of Microsoft Hubby Swears I'M NOT GUILTY

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

Arrested in Washington State, Shanna Gardner has finally been extradited back to Florida, where she faces charges in a murder-for-hire plot to kill her ex-husband. Gardner together with her current husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana are accused of hiring a hitman to gun down Microsoft executive and father of four, Jared Bridegan.  Bridegan was killed in front of his small daughter after being lured out of his car by debris in the road,  preventing him from making his way home. The next court date for Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana is scheduled for December 1. Beside Gardner for the hearing will be attorney Jose Baez, known for defending "Tot Mom" Casey Anthony in the death of her daughter who was found not guilty of murder.  Gardner and her current husband will be tried together, possibly with separate juries.  Joining Nancy Grace Today: Kathleen Murphy – North Carolina Family Attorney; Twitter: @RalDivorceLaw  Dr. Angela Arnold – Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA. (voted ‘My Buckhead’s Best Psychiatric Practice’ of 2023) Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, and Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University; Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital  Chris McDonough – Director At the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective, and Host of YouTube Channel, “The Interview Room” Dr. Todd M. Barr -  Board-certified Anatomic/Clinical/Forensic Pathologist, Featured in "Thin Places: Essays From In Between" by Jordan Kisner Ray Caputo – Investigative Reporter (Orlando, FL); Professor, Bethune-Cookman University See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A young dad. Executed, ambushed, and executed. Motive, hatred. Pure, seething jealousy that he had moved on with his life, with a new wife, and new children, and his ex-wife. Seething, but I don't get it. Her parents are multi-millionaires. She lives off them.

She has a new husband herself. Why all the anger, the bitterness, the resentment? Why, according to the state, did she order the assassination of her ex-husband, leaving four children without a dad? Well, guess what? In the latest, the state is seeking the death penalty on her. And when I say her, I'm referring to the ex-wife, 36-year-old Shanna Gardner, who right now is gnashing her teeth and switching her tail behind bars because she is the devil if these allegations are true. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here on Crime Stories and on SiriusXM 111.

A lot happening in the case. First of all, listen to this. Jared, we shouldn't be here today. You should be making us laugh and spending time with your family. Your siblings miss you every day. There is a pain in our hearts that will never go away. Your parents miss you. Your wife misses you. Your children miss you. This investigation has uncovered the truth of Jared's murder. Henry Tennant did not act alone. Mario Fernandez did not plan alone.

And Shanna Gardner's indictment acknowledges her central and key role in the cold, calculated, and premeditated murder of Jared Breidigan. Henry Tennant has admitted to being the person that shot and killed Jared Breitigan, but investigators knew all along that he didn't act alone. Once the death penalty was on the table, 61-year-old Henry Tennant pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against those who participated in the crime, Mario Fernandez and his wife, Shanna Gardner Fernandez. Shanna Gardner, the ex of the murder victim who was ambushed at night on a one-way road, she arranged the placing of a giant tire in the middle of that very narrow road so Jared would have to get out and move it to get around. She knew he would be on that road because he had just dropped off their children after a visit. It was when he got out of the car with his

little two-year-old girl strapped in a safety seat in the back seat. To move that tire, he was gunned down and left dead in the road with the little girl in the car calling out for daddy. We are bringing you the very latest in the case that has been titled the Microsoft Exec Murder. That's referring to the victim in this case, Jared Breidigan, 33 years old, shot dead, leaving behind his wife, Kristen, their daughters, Brexley, in London, and boy-girl twins with the first wife now facing trial for murder, those twins, Abby and Liam.

Joining me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now, but first, I want to go to a renowned family lawyer, as they call it. There couldn't be a bigger euphemism than a family lawyer, because when you're in family court, fur is going to fly over divorce and custody. Kathleen Murphy, you can find her at ncdomesticlaw.com. You've seen a lot of cases, and many of them actually deal with domestic violence. Yes, I have, Nancy. You've got to really hate your ex to put out a hit on him.

You know, some people have absolutely no ability to compromise. I just finished a five-day trial in Wake County, Raleigh, and it was ridiculously insane at how this mother perceived this wonderful father and the evidence that was clogging the court system unnecessarily. Like what? What are you talking about? Just don't tell me that much. What was it about? A woman came into court and said that the husband yelled at her in 2019. And as a result, she built a case against him as a domestic violence abuser. The evidence that was put forth showed that she was an instigator of domestic violence. Wait, did you say he yelled at her in 2019? That was it. Oh my stars, I'd be hauled into court all the time if David took me to trial

every time I yelled. I try to yell not when the twins are around. In fact, I don't think I ever have. But yelling does happen. It's just indicative. Yelling happens. I haven't landed in domestic court. Guys, what happened to Jared Breidigan? And what's the latest in the case? Joining me right now, Ray Caputo, investigative reporter and a professor at Bethune-Cookman University.

Ray, take a listen to this. So Jared and Shanna had 50-50 custody of Liam and Abby. So every other week they were with the alternating parents. So when they were with their mom, Jared would pick them up every Wednesday that she had them, take them out on what was referred to as date night. And then when they were at our home for the week, Shanna would come to our house and pick them up every Wednesday that she had them, take them out on what was referred to as date night. And then when they were at our home for the week, Shanna would come to our house and pick them up Wednesday nights for a date night. And it was every single week. Our youngest daughter, London, had started going to bed. We were doing sleep training and she would go to bed before 7 p.m. So I wasn't on date nights with Jared and kids, but Bexley always went with him. She was

always there. And so he had called me right after he dropped him and Abby off at their mom's house and just said, we had a good date night. Um, Bexley said that they got ice cream and she was still eating it. Um, and then she said, okay, I love you. I'll see you soon. Um, and then you know she said okay i love you i'll see you soon um and then time kept going and i started to feel uneasy i kept looking at the clock thinking you should be home by now he's always home by now something's not right london is too young to know anything um bexley is older she was there she's been part of this since they decided to kill her father in front of her. I have to keep it in simple terms, because she's only four. She knows that two bad guys have been put in jail, and this morning I was able to tell her that

who she refers to as the mean mom is going to be in jail as well. A life was taken, and countless lives were impacted by that, so I believe that the harshest punishment is justified here. You are hearing Kirsten Breitigan, the widow of Jared Breitigan. The death penalty is on the table. Take a listen to our cut 30. The state of Florida does hereby give notice to the defendant that the state of Florida intends to seek the death penalty for the first three murder charged in the indictment. First, the defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or a felony involving

the use or threat of violence to a person, subsection B. Subsection F, the capital felony was committed for pecuniary gain. Subsection I, the capital felony was a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification. To Ray Caputo, investigative reporter and professor, Ray, have you seen Shanna Gardner's mugshot? She is smirking.

I can't wait for the jury to see this. Smirking. She's charged with murder and she's smirking. What's that? I'm not sure, Nancy. It's a pretty serious series of crimes that she's been charged with. And there's nothing funny about this. I don't know if she's smirking because she believes she didn't do it, but her ex-husband, the father of

her two twin children is still dead. So there's absolutely, this is no joking matter. And Shanna is in a lot, a lot of trouble right now. Again, you said she could face the death penalty. Dr. Angela Arnold i i am always amazed at what certain defendants will do for instance i tried one guy for murder shooting a shooting murder and he came into court in front of the jury and guess what was carved into the back of his What? Hitman number one. Oh my goodness. And so every chance I got, I would walk past the defense counsel table and beyond it. So the defendant would turn and look that way. And I'd stay there as long as I could. So the defendant would be looking that way. So the jury could see the back of his head where he had hitman number one shaved into his hair and he was on trial for murder

um just an example with me dr angela arnold renowned psychiatrist joining us out of the atlanta jurisdiction you can find her at angela arnold md.com dr angie why the smirk in the mugshot well nancy let's not forget this woman has been described as a person who has grown up not only in a very wealthy home, but those wealthy parents are still taking care of her. So it's in my estimation, she has never suffered any consequences for anything she's ever done in her life. They've probably always bailed her out. So she cannot even comprehend the consequences of her actions because in all likelihood, she's never suffered a consequence. So she just internally feels like at her core, somebody's going to get her out of this. And that's why the smirk.

So you believe because her parents were truly loaded, I mean rolling in money, and they still are, that she never faced consequences. You may be right. Take a listen to our cut eight from CrimeOnline.com. whose family owns the multi-million dollar paper craft company called Stampin' Up, told him that she and Breitigan were separated for months when their sessions allegedly took an unprofessional turn. The instructor, who asked that his name be withheld to protect his privacy, said, quote, they weren't really speaking. They were living in opposite ends of the house. She said she had grown up Mormon and didn't want that anymore. Breitigan, on the other hand, remained a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So you hear the heiress to a multi-million dollar fortune claiming that she didn't start a sex relationship until after she and her husband were divorced. And there the lover is saying, well, they were actually still living together when we cranked it up.

So what, if any, significance does that have? Is she lying to everybody else and herself, too? Kathleen Murphy, you deal with this all the time as a domestic lawyer. Is she painting a picture she wants us to see? Who cares if she slept around on her husband? I don't care. I care about who killed her husband. I do, too, Kedansi. And when you go into domestic court, the standards are so different from the criminal

standards. And you see so much of that criminal behavior and the criminal tendencies. And you worry for your client's safety every time. Just thinking through everything that's happened and how many lies this woman has told, we are talking about the so-called Microsoft Exec Murder Trial. That exec is a father of four, a young father of four. He's 33, four children. And the night of the murder, Chris McDonough joining me, Director of Cold Case Foundation, former homicide detective. That's what's important here. You can find him on YouTube on the interview room channel. Chris, she's just given me so much motive. Of course, the state doesn't have to prove motive, but look at the hard facts of the case, Chris McDonough. He just leaves her

house. He hasn't been out of her house dropping off the twins for five minutes when suddenly there's an obstruction in the road. Whoopsie! On his usual route home, he's got his baby girl in the back seat strapped in. He has to move that tire, and in that moment, he gets ambushed and shot dead. If that ain't a death penalty case, I don't know what is. Most definitely. And, you know, the old saying, if I can't have you, no one can. I would expect to see, Nancy, as this continues to unfold, we're going to see quite an impressive digital footprint. I think that's going to walk us right into this murder plot. It's going to be really interesting. What do you mean by that, please?

Well, I think, you know, to your point, this tire in the road, this is a very methodical, thought-out situation. But not in relationship to the brightest minds in the room. To the doctor's point earlier about this suspect here, I don't see her as being the sharpest tool in the shed. And so she incorporated the boyfriend to put these things into motion. So I would suspect they're going to use social media, phones, those types of devices that are going to draw us into the plot and the plan here. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. From what I can understand, from what I'm hearing, Ray Caputo, the trigger man who actually pulled the trigger, the assassin, has rolled over on both the ex-wife, Shannon Gardner, and her new boy toy. Oh, excuse me, husband. Go ahead. Yeah, Henry Tennant didn't take him long, but he, in March, he pleaded guilty

to second degree murder charges. And he's talking, he's got a lawyer and he has been charged and pleaded guilty to second degree murder. So, and Henry Tennant again was associated with Shanna Gardner's boyfriend because he was one of, I believe, his tenants. So they had a relationship and, you know, you could tie all these folks together.

It's not too hard. Guys, in the last days, entering the case, defense attorney, a name you know well, Jose Baez. Baez represented top mom Casey Anthony, who absolutely did murder her little girl Kelly. And believe it or not, she was acquitted. He also represented Aaron Hernandez, Jose Baez, and Cor. Take a listen to our cut 29. Alright, we are here for Raymond

and Shannon Garner's case. We would enter a plea of not guilty and that is covered this time. All right. Would you like a formal reading of the indictment? No, you're not. Okay. Your speech travel run April 13, 2024. This morning the state has filed and provided to counsel a notice of intent to seek a death penalty. There you hear Jose Baez speaking for his client in court, Shannon Gardner.

Now, you can look at it two different ways. You can say, wow, those two clients were acquitted. Or you could say, uh-oh, here comes Jose Baez. He represents all the guilty killers. Take a listen to our cutoh, here comes Jose Baez. He represents all the guilty killers. Take a listen to our cut 33. Who is Jose Baez? In 2011, Jose Baez was an unknown lawyer when taught mom Casey Anthony hired him to be her defense attorney. The court case was followed by millions of Americans nationwide who were positive Casey Anthony would be judged guilty by a jury of her peers. Jose Baez's successful defense of Casey Anthony in a trial that lasted six weeks made him famous.

Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez had already been convicted of one murder and was charged with two more when he reached out to Jose Baez. After six days of deliberations, a jury found Hernandez not guilty of first-degree murder and talk of appealing his previous conviction, this time with Baez as the counsel, was a hot topic on sports radio. To Chris McDonough, what does this mean that Baez has entered the trial? Kind of reminds me of when Mark Garagos would enter a trial. Remember he represented Winona Ryder, became famous when she was charged with shoplifting,

lost that case, she was convicted. That should have been a guilty plea to straight probation or first offender, where she says, look, I screwed up, I did a stupid thing. To all of you teens out there, don't do this, you'll get caught, and you'll worry about it forever even if you don't get caught. Rehab her image and bam. But no, they went to a trial. She was mocked and ridiculed because of her performance during the trial. That should never have happened. Anyway, it did go to trial. Then there was the Scott Peterson case. That was also a guilty.

But Garagos has the aura of being a winning defense lawyer, and he is a good lawyer. Look, he can't help it if his clients are guilty. But when you see Garagos walk into the courthouse, you go, uh-huh, that guy did it. Is Jose Baez running the same risk? Chris McDonough? You know, Nancy, you've worked among the brightest of these guys around the world, including yourself in the courtroom. I mean, you've seen these guys, the charisma that they carry when they walk into the courtroom.

I got to tell you, Garagos has charisma. I don't give the guy that much. And he is a good lawyer. He knows the law. Yeah. Charisma. And you know who else was like that? Johnny Cochran. I disagree with everything he ever said, but I learned a lot from him. Judges loved him. Jurors loved him. Witnesses love him. He just was that guy that walks in a room and everybody wants to go say hi and talk to him. He just had the it factor, Cochran. He really did. And that goes a long way with a jury. If the jury likes you, then they're more prone to listen to what you have to say. I don't know if they liked me or hated me, but I believe the juries I struck thought I believed in the guilt of the defendant. And I think that goes a long way when they believe, the jurors believe, that you're devoted to the cause. It's not just a job to you. But charisma, yeah. So what does this mean for

Shanna Gardner on trial soon for the murder of her husband. Oh, the father of four children, you know, as much, and we've talked about this off cam, Chris McDonough, as much as I get irritated with David doing this or that, um, especially when he mispronounces words that just pushes me over the edge. What did he say the other day? I think I wrote it down. I'll look it up, but I love him. And more than that, and he knows this is no secret. I love the twins. And what would it do to them not to have their father? Oh, it's just, it would be awful not to have your father or a father figure in your life. It changes everything. It certainly does.

And when you take that power of that charisma, you take his understanding of the law, and then you add the influences of social media and today's media platforms. You know, he's got a really powerful tool set in front of him. And he's got, I think we're going to see him try this case like he has the other ones pretty successfully in the media. And I think we'll start seeing, you know, that the husband is irrelevant here. In fact, he could potentially be the bad guy. Oh, dear Lord in heaven. You know what? Wash your mouth out with soap or I'll come do it for you. Have you lost your mind?

The murder victim becomes the bad guy. Oh, hey, I remember what the word was. He said, it's just anecdotal. I said, it's what? He said, anecdotal. I said, are you trying to say anecdotal? Anecdotal? And so we fought about that for 30 minutes before I finally taped him and sent it to the twins.

Okay. So, of course, they don't care. That said, I don't want him dead yet anyway. I'm just trying to figure out also somehow Chris McDonough has found a way to suggest that the murder victim is going to be the bad guy in this scenario. Dr. Todd M. Barr joining us out of Ohio, board certified anatomic clinical forensic pathologist featured in thin places essays from in between by Jordan Kistner. Dr. Barr, let's just get a little reality check here. What happened to Jared Breidigan, shot multiple times, died in the dark, lying in the road

with his little baby girl, probably the last sound he heard, screaming for for daddy strapped into the car. What did he suffer, doctor? It's just unimaginable. I cannot even imagine, you know, what that what his his child went through, first of all, and what he went through. I don't know how many times he was shot, but I do believe it was multiple times. Correct? Yes. So this poor man laid there in a heap on the pavement, exsanguinating, bleeding out. I don't know where his wounds were, but let's hope maybe one of them went through his brainstem so that he could just go peacefully and quickly okay stop dr bar yes see i understand what you just said and i agree but you do know how callous it sounds to people not in our business when you say something like gee i hope he got shot in the brainstem. Let's just let that sink in for a moment.

Now, Dr. Barr. I just think that he didn't suffer. Exactly. And you know what? You know what, Dr. Barr? I get it. And I agree with you. Can I tell you how many times, in fact, I don't like to think about it.

I wish I hadn't even brought it up because now I'm making myself think about it. How many times I've wondered if my fiancé, Keith, felt everything that happened to him. He was shot five times in the face and the neck and the back and head. And in my mind, I go, oh, okay, he didn't feel that. Just like that, he was gone. But that's not true because I know he was still physically alive. His body was alive when he got to the hospital and he was killed in a remote area. So it matters. It does matter. But he was feeling he could feel all the way to the hospital.

Nancy. Yes. jump in, please. You know, right, we're all thinking rationally here, but can you imagine, though, what Shannon was thinking that moment? What, did you just call her by her first name? You're on a first name basis now? What, you're going to invite her over to dinner with you and your wife, honey, and Shanna Gardner after the trial? You know, Karen corrects me on my words all the time as well, so I have a lot of empathy for David, 100% here. But revenge is such a powerful emotion. And the photograph of her and her boyfriend making mocking pictures of his death, I mean, that speaks volumes. Okay, what did you just say?

What? There's a photograph taken, it's a selfie, where the boyfriend and she are laying on the ground making these concoction faces as if he was dead post his homicide. It's unbelievable. So can you imagine that moment? I mean, we're thinking about normal people going, holy cow, you know, I hope that man doesn't suffer. But on the other side of the coin, they're taking selfies about his death on the ground and making these facial features. You've got to see the photograph.

It's unbelievable. That's a hatred that you can't even explain. Wait, who is this? Dr. Barr. Dr. Barr, jump in, please. No, that's a hatred that you can't, that's evil. That is pure evil. You know, Nancy, can Kathleen Murphy jump in here for just a minute?

Yeah, I want to talk about the selfie that Chris McDonough is talking about. I'm not sure what that selfie really depicts. Sure. But I have to say that I see a lot of this mental health behavior. I get a lot of vibes of borderline personality disorder from Gardner. Are you a shrink? May I ask you that? I get a lot of vibes of borderline personality disorder from Gardner. Are you a shrink? May I ask you that? I feel like I am.

I've been doing it for 35 years. I see the behaviors. And the fact that she has these frenetic efforts to avoid abandonment by Jared, the litigation, the robocalling, the behaviors that she exhibits are so typical in these high conflict cases. And when you look at the domestic filings in their case, it is outrageous. Take a listen to Jerrod Bridegan's widow. It was very combative over a slew of things. You know, one week it's this, the next month it's something else. She took us to court often, as the record will show. And one thing that just continually surprised us and our attorney was the language that was used in the motions filed. It was not professional. It had outrageous

claims such as the father doesn't care if his child lives or dies, which is absolutely false. And these are just so skewed. It was just shocking that they would even put that type of language in something, especially when it was based on lies, absolutely nothing. You know, every time we were dragged back to court over the dumbest things, things that we had tried to work out via email or text, we asked ourselves the same question, like, why can't we have a good co-parenting relationship? Why can't we just focus on the kids being happy? Why can't she be happy in her life and we be happy in ours? I wish I knew, but I don't know what goes on inside of her head.

I think that would be a very dark place to be. And I just, I don't know. Go ahead. See the behaviors. This happened in my hometown. My sister lives seven blocks away from where this happened. And the tragedy of this happening in my hometown resonates with me because everybody wants their hometown to be safe. And this woman and her cohorts created such a local tragedy. They really did. And then she immediately left town and moved. Take a listen. Hour cut 32 from Crime Online. Arrested in Washington State in August, Shanna Gardner was finally extradited back to Florida, where she faces charges in a murder-for-hire plot to kill her ex-husband.

Gardner will be tried together with her current husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana. Both are accused of hiring a hitman to gun down Jared Breidigan, the Microsoft executive and ex-husband of Gardner. Breidigan was killed execution style in front of his small daughter after being lured out of his car with debris in the road on his way home. To Ray Caputo joining us, investigative reporter and professor at Bethune Cookman University. Ray, she actually fought extradition. Extradition is very simple. All it is, is are you Shanna Gardner? Are you that person? And if she refuses to answer, which she can, all you do is do a fingerprint comparison. I've taken that print right there in court and analyzed

it myself and went, oh yeah, these match. That's her. And then you produce a governor's writ, which is basically an arrest warrant from another state. That's all you do. It's not about guilt or innocence. It's not about transport. It's not about anything except those two things. Are you Shanna Gardner? And is there a governor's writ warrant for you to be returned

to the jurisdiction where the murder occurred? That's it. That's all. And she fought that, Ray? Did she fight that, Ray Caputo? Yeah, well, Nancy, you got to understand that she, where she's from in Washington, it's kind of an insulated environment for her. She, you know, came from a wealthy family that has a well-known business. When she went back to Washington, she moved into a $1 million home. So, you know, I think that she probably feels that coming back to Florida is detrimental to her. But that's beside the point because the law says that, you know, this is what's got to happen. So I understand why she's doing it, but it seems like it's kind of like a Hail Mary pass to, you know, just again to position herself to try to get through whatever's, you know, coming her way. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Would you consider that to be evidence of flight, Kathleen Murphy,

as soon as the trigger man is arrested, she takes off across the country? Oh, it's evidence of so much. It's evidence of flight. It's evidence of disregard. It's evidence of her mental illness. It is evidence that her parents provide and over-provide for her. Whoa, what mental illness? Shanna Gardner doesn't have a mental illness. That we know of, but her behaviors are indicative to me that those behaviors are not normal, socially acceptable behaviors. Well, that's a far, far cry from a mental illness. Dr. Angie Arnold, you're the shrink. Jump in. Well, we don't want to confuse a personality disorder with a mental illness, okay? And I completely agree that- Okay, well, you just did. What's a personality disorder? A personality disorder would be the borderline personality disorder. Okay? I think you have a personality disorder. Me?

Yeah. What do you mean? You always seem to think you know everything about psychiatry. Well, let's hope I do, Nancy, or I wouldn't be on your show. You're so right. But when we throw around the term crazy and mental illness, this woman is not suffering from a mental illness. She's a cold, calculated killer who orchestrated this plot, according to prosecutors, that is. And you know what? Just because she works under a personality disorder, which I'm sure she does, okay, that does not make her mentally ill.

What kind of personality disorder, if she had one, and I'm not saying that she did, because I disagree. I think she's just the devil. What would it be? It would be borderline personality disorder, which is an access to disorder. When we describe patients. Oh, dear Lord. What disorder? Which disorder? Is she a narcissist? Is she histrionic? It's in the same cluster, which is called a cluster B. Oh, dear Lord. And heaven, just give me an example. You just keep spouting out psychobabble. What is an example of a personality disorder that she might have? Borderline personality disorder that she might have.

Borderline personality disorder is what she most likely has as has already been described. That is a personality disorder, Nancy. It's in the same cluster as narcissism and histrionic personality disorders. And- I just gave you those two answers. Can't you think of anything on your own? No, but sweetheart, what I'm telling you is borderline personality disorder is in that same cluster.

So they all have a lot of things in common. In all likelihood, this woman does have borderline personality disorder. That's the personality disorder she has. That does not make her mentally ill. Is that a mental illness? That does not make her mentally ill. Did she know right and wrong at the time of the incident? That's really all that matters.

Yes, she does. Okay, Kathleen Murphy, let me throw a couple of questions to you. If the state is right, and all of these are just allegations, she has pled not guilty, and as a high-priced lawyer representing her, Jose Baez, he got Totten Mom off, so that says a lot. Isn't it true that the trigger man who has pled guilty says it was all her idea? Yes, no? Yes. Isn't it true that immediately upon the arrest of the trigger man, the defendant, the ex-wife, leaves the jurisdiction

and hides out on the other side of the country. Yes, she did. And Kathleen, isn't it also true that the victim, Jerry Breidegen, was gunned down within minutes after leaving her home on a previously scheduled drop-off of their twins, and she knew his route home. Isn't that true? That is true.

Guys, how did it all go down? What happened? Listen to our cut to from Crime Online. Jared Breidegen had just dropped off his twins from a previous marriage with his ex and was taking a routine route home. Right after he dropped off, the twins he called his wife Kirsten told her they had a good day. A home security camera nearby picked up gunshots that rang out around the time Breidigan was murdered. His two-year-old daughter was in the car when her father was killed. Her mother Kirsten says her daughter will only say boom, boom, boom, and then she'll say, daddy on the ground.

The possible clue was caught on a nearby surveillance camera, a blue Ford F-150 pickup truck. And that Ford F-150 now linked back to the defendants. And now listen again to Jared Bridegan's widow. My parents were at our home, and I remember telling them, like, I know something's wrong. Like, something is not okay. I kept calling and calling. I texted. And it's not like him to not pick up, especially if he's in the car.

Like, he's not doing something else. He's just driving. He would answer his phone. I started looking at traffic reports to see if there was an accident or anything, and I wasn't seeing anything. So I got in the car. I took my mom with me. My dad stayed at home with London and started driving out to the beach where I knew he had been last. You know, he had just dropped William and Abby off.

That's the last point I knew he was. So I started driving that way. And while I was driving, I kept calling his phone. And after, you know, four or five tries, it picked up. But it wasn't Jared. It was a police officer who just kept telling me to come to the station as I kept asking, is my husband okay? Is my husband okay? And he said, please come to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department.

Your daughter's fine. But he would not answer me about my husband. And that just confirmed to me Jared was not okay. My mom was trying to calm me down. She said, maybe it's an accident. No, we don't know what happened. But I knew, I knew in my gut that Jared wasn't okay. And when we got there, I saw Bexley and then it clicked.

I'm like, if this was a car accident, Bexley would be taken to the hospital to get checked out. Like, this is not a car accident. that actually would be taken to the hospital to get checked out. Like, this is not a car accident. Why is she here at the station? And then it was a long night. I had to wait a while until they confirmed that Jared had been killed. Talked to detectives. I had to call his family that night.

So it was, you know, like my whole world just came crashing down. And I remember the same thing. that now listen again to crime online Jared Breidigan was driving in his car with his two-year-old daughter when he came upon a tire in the road minutes later he was dead drivers found the 33-year-old Breidigan shot to death next to his SUV which was also struck by gunfire his two-year-old daughter was inside investigators surprised she wasn't hit as well Breidigan had his SUV's emergency flashers on and a spare tire was in the road, which is why police believe his killer set him up. Police believe the tire was a lure to get Bridegan out of his vehicle. The shooter was only three to four feet away when Bridegan was shot.

Nothing was stolen. Investigators believe Jared Bridingham was targeted. He was targeted, all right. More evidence, probative in this case, linking the wife, the ex-wife, to the murder. Listen. Just 12 days after Jared Bridingham was gunned down in front of his 2-year-old daughter, his widow received an email from his ex-wife asking for his death certificate. A lot of the time, she wouldn't even talk to us without her attorney. She'd have her say, talk to my attorney, email my attorney. Yet she reaches out to me personally, ask for a death certificate that I don't even have copies of yet.

Like I didn't have any at that point in time. She already filed through her attorney two days prior. Um, on the, I think it was the 20. I'll have to double check that date. Yeah. The 25th. She'll have to double-check that date. Yeah, the 25th. She already filed a suggestion of death with family court. That was already done. So isn't it true, Kathleen Murphy, your veteran trial lawyer,

that actions taken immediately following the crime can be heard by the jury, including you've got the wife planning her husband's funeral, and then you've got the defendant calling for a death certificate, and even worse, wait, listen to this. Eight minutes before sending an email message requesting the death certificate of Jared Bridegan, his ex-wife Shanna Gardner-Fernandez sent another email to Kirsten Bridegan. This email asked the grieving widow to return a set of school library books that were borrowed by the twins. Shanna wrote, You can drop them off at any public library, and they will return them to Ms. Stacy or return them to the school directly.

Christian Breidigan said that after losing her husband in such a brutal way and only 12 days earlier, returning a couple of library books wasn't on her list of priorities at the time okay i don't understand this kathleen murphy the woman is planning her husband's funeral and the ex who is now the defendant in his murder is demanding that she the widow return library books speechless speechless about. And it's just as more indication that her behaviors and her treatment of him during the divorce process, post-divorce process, continuing the litigation, she just has no ability to have any compassion for this mother who has lost her husband. It is very indicative of guilt, in my opinion. Speaking of Jose Baez being in the case, here's another strange coincidence. You remember while little Keely was missing, top mom goes out and gets a tattoo that says in English, the sweet life.

She was now free and living the good life. Well, a tattoo parlor caused him to play, in this case, as well with another of Jose Baez's clients. Take a listen to Hour Cut 10. The day after filing for divorce, Gardner Fernandez visited a tattoo parlor to get a special piercing and listed her trainer turned to ledge paramour as her emergency contact, according to a waiver obtained by Fox News Digital. At the time, she and Brattigan were still living together. According to the tattoo parlor employee who didn't want to be named during a dinner, she had, quote, been talking to us about her divorce. And she told us her life could just be better if he could just shut up and asked us if we knew anybody that could shut him up. I did not take it at the time as anything nefarious. In hindsight, I can see how that can be taken differently now. Good luck explaining that away,

Jose Baez. The ex-wife now turned murder defendant is asking at a tattoo parlor, hey, you know anybody that could shut my husband up? Let's see how the jury takes that. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.