Shanna Gardner Said THIS About Bridegan Before He Died

**Tony Brueski** (0:00)
This is Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski.

**Tony Brueski** (0:11)
One down, two to go. In the murder trials around the case of Jared Bridegan, Mario Saldana, guilty, both counts. First degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony. The jury took less than four hours. So I guess my conjecture the other day about did they sell it? Yeah, I guess they did. It's interesting in some cases. Sometimes where you think this may be a little, I don't know, I'm not quite. It's like boom, there it is. Whoop, there it is. I know you're like, it's not boom, it's whoop. I know it will always be whoop. Mario Fernandez was convicted on the prosecution's theory that a web of circumstantial evidence proved he hired Henry Tenon to kill Jared Bridegan. The checks, the trust clause, the phone gaps, his position as the only link between the alleged gunman and Bridegan. The web was enough.
No murder weapon recovered, no testimony from the gunman, no recorded conversation where Fernandez asked anyone to commit murder. Fernandez now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. The prosecution has taken the death penalty off the table before trial with the support of Bridegan's own widow, Christian, and his family.
So there's that. Curious to get your thoughts in the comment section. SubStack YouTube, links are in the description. Five days from now, August 31st, jury selection begins for Shanna Gardner in the same courthouse in front of the same judge with the same prosecution team. Gardner is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, and child abuse. Overcharge is two more than the husband who was just convicted. And we're going to bring it to you every single day. Court audio. So if you want it on this one, hit subscribe. Hit subscribe to the podcast. The link right there on the screen. You can see it. That's the QR code there. Go ahead, scan that with your phone. It'll take either to Apple Podcasts or Spotify or whatever podcast player you will want. Just search Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski and press subscribe. Then you will have all the podcasts, all the audio of the court you can consume as you go on throughout your day. That's how I've been consuming it. Like you, probably, I can't sit in front of TV all day and watch it. So I'm about going around and doing my work. I will listen to it and this is a great way to consume it. So if you want to keep up on the trial and on the audio, scan the QR code, take you to our podcast channel and do hit subscribe. All of our commentary there as well. So you get full coverage of everything. Check it out, it's free.
Her attorney, Shanna Gardner, she got a good one. Jose Baez, he's the one who represented Casey Anthony in 2011 and won an acquittal on every major count in the case built on circumstantial evidence. The evidence against Gardner is stronger than what convicted Fernandez in one critical way. It may also be harder to aim at the charge that matters. So there's kind of a little bit of a trade off going on here. The jury in Fernandez's trial asked for an itemized list of all the evidence 30 minutes into deliberations. They worked through it methodically for another three and a half hours and they came back with guilty on both counts. Gardner faces charges, Fernandez didn't. The conspiracy count dropped from Fernandez's case before trial is still alive and well against Gardner. The conspiracy under Florida law requires two things that Gardner intended for the murder to happen and that she agreed with at least one other person to make it happen. Make it happen. Make it happen.
He's gonna make it happen. Make it happen. A Mariah Carey song from the 90s that was never a huge hit.
I wonder if she was singing that while she was making it happen. If she made it happen. Innocence of proving guilty, right? With Fernandez convicted the prosecution's argument that the agreement existed gets stronger. The man on the other side of the alleged conspiracy was just found guilty of carrying out the plan. Tenon's trial is set for March 27, meaning the alleged gunman still hasn't faced a jury. When Gardner sits down in that courtroom, one co-defendant will be convicted and the other will be awaiting trial. The conviction validated the prosecution's theory that circumstantial evidence can replace the direct proof the solicitation charge normally demands. No jury has to see the texter, hear the phone call of Fernandez told Tenon to kill Bridegan. The totality, the financial trial, the phone behavior, the trust clause, the relationship web was enough for 12 jurors to conclude the conversation happened.