UPDATE | Tri-Cities mom may fight Florida extradition in Microsoft exec’s murder case
An attorney for a West Richland mother facing murder charges in Florida says they’ll decide by next week if she’ll fight extradition.
Gov. Jay Inslee has signed the extradition warrant for the return of Shanna Gardner, 36, to face murder charges.
The warrant agrees that Duval County officials provided the proper documentation to show that Gardner should be turned over to Florida officials in connection with death of her ex-husband, Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan.
Benton County Deputy Prosecutor Terry Bloor and defense Attorney Andrew Wagley agreed he would decide by the end of next week whether to challenge the warrant.
Judge Diana Ruff pointed out that the governor’s warrant still hadn’t reached the Benton County Superior Court file, so she couldn’t make any determination on whether it was valid.
Bloor said that without a stay, Florida officials can still come and pick up Gardner from the jail.
Another hearing to discuss the warrant and any challenges is set for Oct. 19.
Gardner has been in the Benton County jail for about two months. A judge will now decide if the process was handled property to have her sent back.
The case has made national headlines and drawn coverage from out-of-town news outlets, including Fox and Court TV, at her hearings in the Tri-Cities.
Death penalty possible
Florida prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Gardner and her husband Mario Fernandez-Saldana. Both are charged in the elaborate scheme to kill Bridegan in February 2022.
They’re both indicted on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder and child abuse.
Gardner and Bridegan met while she was visiting a friend in Florida in 2009 and married the next year in Salt Lake City, according to The Florida Times-Union. But after a troubled relationship they filed for divorce in 2015.
The divorce paperwork was loaded with hundreds of accusations, but the couple ended up sharing custody of their children.
Prosecutors with Florida’s Forth Judicial Circuit claim Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana started planning the murder sometime after they met at a CrossFit gym in 2018.
Fernandez-Saldana allegedly recruited Henry Tennon, who rented property from him, to shoot Bridegan.
On Feb. 16, 2022, Bridegan dropped off the couple’s twins at Gardner’s house and was driving home with a 2-year-old daughter from another relationship.
Bridegan was shot when he stopped to move a tire out of the middle of the street, according to a state attorney’s release.
Tennon previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his role in the shooting.
