LIVE UPDATES: Day 5 of Mario Fernandez trial testimony continues amid legal wrangling among lawyers for Shanna Gardner and Kirsten Bridegan

The murder trial for Mario Fernandez Saldana is underway in Jacksonville, Florida, for the 2022 shooting death of Jared Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft senior design manager and father of four. Prosecutors allege Fernandez helped orchestrate a murder-for-hire plot targeting Bridegan and that Henry Tenon, Fernandez’s former tenant and handyman, was the gunman. Prosecutors say Bridegan was ambushed and shot after stopping to move a tire deliberately placed in the road in Jacksonville Beach. Fernandez has pleaded not guilty. His wife, Shanna Gardner, is also charged with first-degree murder, and her trial is scheduled to begin in September. The following are live updates from the courtroom. Tenon faces the same charges. Time notes are Eastern Daylight Time. Please forgive typos.

4:24 p.m. Court is adjourned until Monday at 9:00 am, when the prosecution case continues.

4:21 p.m. Judge: The court’s order references the statements made to Ken Jenson – I don’t think that I covered Ponder.
Defense: Mr. Ponder could be called but no human being would believe what he has to say. What Mr. Mizrahi is doing–he is trying to attempt to get you to reverse your ruling on what Jensen can but court’s ruling decided the marriage privilege between Gardner and Mario can’t be broken.
Prosecutor: The State has evidence that the purpose of the killing was to stop the custody of the victim. State will proffer another witness on Monday.

4:17 p.m. Ponder says Shanna wanted to bring a rape case against the dad. What did Fernandez say about that? Said something about how it was temporary.
Prosecutor: Whose idea was it to kill him (Jared)? A: Mario.
Cross: You’ve already ruled on this issue.
Judge: I left open actual statements re date, time- judge pauses to review her previous order.

4:12 p.m. Everything that came out of his mouth about his involvement.
(rough verbal) One day -somebody was put coffee on the ground, they got around talking. from what I hear.
Q: What did he say about his case? inaudible…
if you heard it – he was telling us first thing he said, Shanna wanted to put a rape case, what you mean? Did he say who he hired? After that he was saying he didn’t want Mr. Henry to do it. Mr. Henry ended up doing it and messing it all up. She didn’t have a problem with – with her ex getting killed. she didn’t want the kids caught in the cross fire. He (Mario) never told me why. She didn’t want the kids with he dad. His wife didn’t want the kids around their dad? yes.
This was in 2024.

4:09 p.m. Prosecutor: You’re in jail, you are an 8-time convicted felon. Do you know MF? Yes. Summer 2024, were you in jail with MF. Shared same dorm. How did you come to talk. First few days. Your position in the jail? Do you know how to fight? You’re the tough guy in jail? yes sir. Describe when he first started talking about his case.

4:07 p.m. The witness is Javell Ponder an inmate – he is shackled and dressed in bright orange jail uniform.

4:06 p.m. The State wants to proffer a witness outside of the jury’s presence.

4:04 p.m. Jury is being excused till Monday at 9:00 a.m.

3:58 p.m. The report was submitted to Jacksonville Beach PD. Victim is listed as Jared Bridegan. Absence of a firearm can’t determine which model firearm ejected the casings. it’s consistent with a Glock. Yes sir. 3 different models of Glock. In Feb 2022 all 3 of those models were in circulation. That’s correct. No opinion as to which model discharged those projectiles. correct.
Were you asked to determine who discharged the weapon? no.
Glock is one the most popular gun manufacturers in the country? yes. there are thousands. Yes sir.
Redirect: What are the most popular Glocks? 9 mm. 10 mm less popular yes. Submission was April – report was July.

3:40 p.m. Prosecution witness #18 Daniel Hausdorf, Florida Dept of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Firearms Expert
Cartridge is made up of projectile and shell casing – casings are expelled from the firearm.
Examined 4 cartridge casings recovered from the scene. All were 10 mm, and determined all four match and were expelled from the same firearm.
All 10 mm casings were consistent with a Glock. Some projectile fragments were too damaged for analysis.
State’s 93 A – no value Prosecutor: Looks like a hunk of metal.
#5 was inconclusive and #8 had no value.
2 projectiles were matched to each other #6 and #9 – they were fired from the same firearm.
They are consistent with a Glock – can’t say they were 10 mm. Based on the shell casings they could be Glock 10 mm, but they could also be Smith and Wesson projectiles.

3:27 p.m. Court is in recess for 10 minutes.

3:22 p.m. if you sell your phone and factory reset it you generally don’t continue to use it? no. sidebar.

3:20 p.m. Factory reset could be done in order to get new phone. Yes. Reset was done on August 26, the same day MF purchased a new phone from T-Mobile. End of Cross.

3:14 p.m. Cross: Henry Tenon was a tenant, it would be reasonable that a tenant would have his landlord’s phone number. nothing nefarious about that? messages on Jan 4, but no on Jan 5. You referred hundreds of messages between John Biggerstaff and Mario – any messages related to a 10 mm? no, any messages related to the homicide of Jared? no.

3:12 p.m. Contact on his phone? over 1k. The phone was factory reset on the August date, and could not get any location data.

3:01 p.m. Extracted from Mario’s phone – emails in September 22, Home rentals – calendar invite with Atlans Homebuyers.com. Price reduction.PDF. Email September 21, 2022. Email contract to purchase Potomac Avenue. hoping to close remotely.
Extraction report from MF’s Galaxy – device stores factory reset for his phone. These files are destroyed and can be overwritten. Can’t access the old data, all you see is what is currently on the phone. This phone was wiped on Aug 26/22. Wiped content which includes every photo, every text, every google search, social media. What type of data is reflected in this report, login information, Cloud, first choice, what’s app, venmo. He had 35 user accounts. He had to download these apps again, install and log into them.71 chats between Mario and John B – August 27 through August 31.
Chats with HT – none on this phone.

2:58 p.m. Biggerstaff’s phone – Messages between Biggerstaff and Mario – 654 messages
1st available May 12, 2022. NO messages prior to May 12 2022 between Biggerstaff and Fernandez
Last text August 22, 2022

2:53 p.m. Extraction report indicates that Henry Tenon had Mario’s contact stored.
No contact exchanges between this phone and Mario’s. 2nd HT LG phone (7612) 4 messages on this phone.
Message from Mario to Henry “Heading your way.” Jan 4/22 7:04 p.m.
Message from Tenon to Mario “OK”
Mario to Tenon “I’m here brother”

2:45 p.m. Prosecution Witness #17 Detective David Ostertag, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office
Digital Forensics Unit trained in extraction and analysis of data from electronic devices. Testifies to his training and how extractions work.
Examined cell phone extractions for Henry Tenon, John Biggerstaff and Mario Fernandez

2:40 p.m. Redirect: Time period from 7:10 to – 8:19 p.m. no cell activity, the other periods were less than 5 out of 60 times. 92% of the time his phone was recording activity. Secondary file is the accounting of every record of deletions – what types of Google deletions did you observe. Include YouTube, gmail, search, a number of different products. Connections between Jimmy jones and MF. none. Did you see any connections between JJ and Jared Bridegan. no. did you see JB and HT none.
Connections between JB and JBiggerstaff. MF had communications between JB and HT.

2:26 p.m. You don’t have evidence that Tenon and Fernandez were together on Jan 25. There are periods of time their devices were in the same area. Blue truck release you saw photos of what was released to the media, you could not make out the tag? correct. these are snapshots taken of the vehicle as it was traveling. correct. MF and HT spoke about 30 times per month. They had fairly regular communication. He was a tenant, tenant also did some landscaping. yes. it wouldn’t be unusual to see communication between the two. yes. When the truck was released, there wasn’t a flutter of calls, correct. End of cross.

2:33 p.m. Court resumes with cross of former ATF Intelligence Analyst Lindsey Butler:
Starting at the top – how to measure bra size at home, bra size, how to measure bra size, these are chrome records not searches. That was a website that was viewed. Biggerstaff has gone through all sorts of websites unrelated to homicide of Jared B – yes. These are Henry Tenon’s searches – create your business plan March; choose free business plans 3/20; choose free business plans 3/22, free business plans 3/20. Fernandez provided a check that was labeled “Kickstarter” and recovered a notebook that had a business plan, the visits to the business plan websites were within the 2 week period of receiving the checks. yes.

2:08 p.m. Court is in recess for 15 minutes.

1:53 p.m. Booking two night-stay does not tell you anything about the homicide. Jan 25 – MF was at Biggerstaff’s house. Looking Biggerstaff’s google search – no record of him purchasing a firearm. Did you review all his searches.Would you agree people google all sorts of things? yes I agree.

1:47 p.m. Walmart receipt showing stuff Mario bought – toiletries, floss, hair care, body wash -nothing out of the ordinary for someone going on a trip. He didn’t buy stuff to disguise himself, can only speak to the products. If he bought products to help him hide out someone would testify about it? yes.

1:45 p.m. Several days prior he did map searches for Pennsylvania – they happen to coincide with the date of the children’s interviews. You don’t know if he planned the trip several days prior. No.

1:39 p.m. This spreadsheet contains the bulk deletions and the 2nd spread sheet contains the line by line deletions. You would agree that on this particular spreadsheet, it includes items such as Facebook urls, urls for YouTube, never found searches for how to dispose of a firearm, didn’t see it if it was deleted, website doesn’t have to do with homicide, several entries, entries for YouTube, Facebook, pornographic websites. Certainly you can’t offer testimony that these deletions relate to Jared Bridegan. Those deletions connected to the homcide. All I can say is they occurred on the same date as the interview.

1:27 p.m. Did you find any connection between Mario Fernandez and Jimmy Jones. I did not. You were not made aware of any jail calls complaining about not being paid for the homicide. Are you convinced that those checks were for the homicide? no. MF’s cell activity reflects deletions from Facebook, the State could get the deletions from Facebook? correct

1:22 p.m. I did see the checks. They were after the homcide? late March April. No payments after April? no. You would agree a check has the name of the person issuing the check? correct. they can certainly track down who wrote the check. wouldn’t be hard to find you have the person’s name and address. None of those checks say murder of jared. no. No dispute that a handwritten check is an identifiable instrument. Easier to trace than cash? correct. in this case the only payments were by way of these checks. yes.

1:19 p.m. Gap in Biggerstaff’s cell activity lasting longer that MF’s gap. You did a similar analysis 30 days before and 30 days after – and you found 10 gaps of lack of activity. You were made aware of major developments – correct. Homicide occurred on 2/16 – did you find evidence that MF paid HT look for money before the homcide. if you had found something we would likely hear about it together.

1:18 p.m. did you know that the law enforcement was talking to MF. I do know they talked to him – didn’t connect it to the gap. You did a similar analysis of Biggerstaff. I did.

1:10 p.m Cross examination of #16 Lindsey Butler:
Gaps in MF’s cell phone activity can’t always be explained – could be network issues. Gaps don’t implicate MF in the homcide. Can only say there are gaps.
Your analysis cover 30 days before and 30 days after the homcide 7:10 to 8:19 p.m that is the time gap that they believe he had his phone off during the homicide. That’s the gap around the homcide.
You did analysis – you wanted to see if it occurred before and after the homicide – found it occurred 4 previous times. It did not reflect that the gap started at the same time on those 4 previous occasions. You can’t make the determination that it was turned off- I cannot. There were 4 other occasions where there was no activity around the same time. I do know there were additional gaps throughout the evening.

12:51 p.m. A scheduled Shanna Gardner hearing at 12:30 p.m. was cancelled after Bridegan’s lawyers successfully won a stay in the fight for Bridegan to turn her cell phone over to Gardner’s defense team. Bridegan was ordered to turn her cell phone over at 9:00 a.m. this morning, but did not comply prompting an emergency hearing. The judge was going to require Bridegan to show cause at a hearing during a lunch break. Shanna Gardner’s defense team is seeking content from Bridegan’s phone over a 3-year period arguing statements or messages that reflect bias or motive could be helpful to their case as Bridegan is a prosecution witness. Judge agreed and ordered the phone turned over – however Bridegan’s attorneys opposed the order claiming privacy protections under Marcy’s law. The clash over victim’s privacy rights vs. the defendant’s rights will be decided in a higher court not clear how this fight will affect the scheduling of Gardner’s trial, which is expected to start with jury selection on August 31.

12:00 p.m. Jury is excused till 1:00 p.m.

11:59 a.m. Did you find a photo of MF and JG taken after death of Jared Bridegan, obtained – posted in march 2022. End of direct.

11:56 a.m.Biggerstaff’s search- Jan 25 @ 8:17 9 mm Smith and Wesson pistol, search 10 mm pistols. Aug 18, 2022 – significant date – that was the date that Henry Tenon arrested for driving related charges. August 18, @ 8:33 a.m. contacted Jamie Deal – HT’s girlfriend. Was this the only call from Jan 1 to August 23rd 2022. Yes

11:52 a.m. JBiggerstaff’s records: Extraction report for Google return. Did you search his Google history. Date of searches significant? Jan 25, 2022. What did cell data, showed MF was in the area of John Biggerstaff’s house from 3 to 4:00 p.m. What type of searches did he find? 10 mm Glock pistol 8:15 pm (UTC – subtract 5 hours) 3 searches Glock pistol. Chrome search – account visited Guns.com. Is this what he visited, it’s what comes up when you click the link.

11:50 a.m. from March 2nd to March 6 was he communicating with anyone. HE had multiple communications with Shanna Gardner. He communicated with Gardner’s father Sterling and her sister. Searches significant – trip was not planned and coincided with the CPT interviews with the juveniles.

11:43 a.m. Activity associated with Google Account – File containing deletions data.
State’s 202 – this primary file bulk deletions of data user request entire YouTube history and search history was deleted.
2nd database of Google deletion records 11k deletion markers – looked at deletion markers.
Secondary database, breaking down deletion by date, March 1 of 2022 stood out because there were over 5k deletions. The deletions started at 5:00 – that was the the date MF and SG were interviewed by police. Are these deletions prior to when he arrived for his interview? yes.
Feb 28 into March/22 were there internet searches of evidentiary value. There were multiple searches of maps in NC and Pennsylvania. Did you look up records related to NC and Penn. Toll, financial records of value. MF visited a Walmart purchased toiletries, called multiple hotels, made reservation for 2 nights stayed 1 night.

11:40 a.m. Google Return from MF’s account.
Jan 1 to April 15, 2022
Nov 1, 21 to March 23, 2023
1st return of Google records – Henry Tenon listed contact.
2nd return of Google records – Henry Tenon not listed as a contact

11:37 a.m. 3:16 text message from HT to MF
3:17 pm HT to MF
3:36 pm Voice call from MF to HT
4:12 pm text MF to HT
4:36 pm. call from Tenon to MF
March 9 – date when police released description of truck used in homicide

11:33 a.m. Mapping coincides with activity at 7:09 pm. 10:46 p.m. any cell activity between 7:09 and 10:46 – no. Chart showing cell phone activity between MF and HT Jan/22 to Aug/22
Jan – 26 communications
Feb – 37
March – 32
April – 21
May – 9
June – 5
July – 2
August – O

Activity between MF and Biggerstaff
Jan – 27 communications
FEb – 70
May – 55
June –
July –
Aug – 45

11:31 p.m. Observed activity between MF and HT in Jan, Feb and March of 2022.
FEB 15 MF and HT and MF and Biggerstaff.
FEB 16 MF and Biggerstaff 3;43. 3:46 43:23 and 10:46
incoming call at 6:08 pm to MF
incoming call at 7:09 pm to MF

11:26 a.m. Jan 29. 3 messages from MF to HT and 1 message from HT to MF exchanged between 1:00 and 1:15 p.m. MF to HT. Text message @ 6:41 p.m from Gardner to Fernandez.
Outgoing text from MF at 6:55 p.m.

11:19 a.m. Witness was provided toll records for MF, HT, JBiggerstaff, and Shanna Gardner and Google Return Records for MF, HT and JBiggerstaff.

11:17 a.m. Butler was asked to assist with mapping cell phone data.

11:14 a.m. Prosecution witness #16 Lindsey Butler, Former ATF Intelligence Research Specialist
Testifying about her training and education while working for the ATF

11:10 a.m. Court is back in session. Both sides have agreed to admit some exhibits by stipulation before the jury comes in.

10:38 a.m. Court is in recess until 11:00 a.m.

10:29 a.m. Redirect: There’s a lack of Timing Advance records, also a lock of phone activity between 9:11 and 10:02 pm. – you can’t say where MF’s phone is located. correct. You speak for the data, what types of data is available from a phone. Phone has several options, gps receiver, wifi based, is that type of data more accurate. Recross: Do you know if they asked for MF’s phone.Do you know when it was collected? I do not. Warrant was issued 11 months after the killing and could have seized the phone. correct.

10:20 a.m. There are blocks of times where Timing advance records are not available – the companies that provide the records issue this warning. (slide 42) this is a slide from 7:11 to 11:10 – no activity. 9:11 and 10:02 p.m. Timing Advance gap starting 12:43 and 1:16 am (slide 409).
Do you know that’s when police arrived at the Fernandez home. He likely did not turn his phone off. I don’t know.

10:16 a.m. On Feb 16, MF leave his residence travels west on Beach Blvd, and travels east to go home. that’s consistent. correct. No evidencee that he left his home in the evening. It could be that his phone was off during the time of the homcide? could be.

10:12 a.m. On Feb 15 Fernandez goes to the Potomac address. Between 4:00 and 4:29. Tenon leaves Potomac address and is not there when Fernandez arrives. correct.

10:12 a.m. Tenon went to the crime scene on that day? correct. and you have no evidence he went to MF’s residence? no.

10:03 a.m. Jan 29, @ 2:00:05 he’s not at the Potomac address? I don’t think so. At 2:00:12 Henry Tenon appears to be or close to the Potomac address. @ 2:06 Tenon is definitely not at the Potomac street address. Tenon is moving away from the Potomac address? yes. We know that MF is not there and moves closer. Don’t know exactly where his phone – they could have been together. You can’t say they were together at Potomac? correct. Can you tell me when Mr. Tenon is away from Potomac that you can put MF with Tenon. Based on the data? no. If MF were on his wifi at his home that cell activity would not be recorded. correct.

10:00 a.m. Mr. Tenon is alleged to have killed JB. Someone told you to put his address -are you aware that Mr. Fernandez owned the property. As his property he had rented it to a different tenant. I don’t know all those factors. You plug in the data that someone gives you? It’s more than tat.

9:57 a.m. Would it help you to know that MF frequents the Potomac address frequently. In evidence is hours and hours of MF at the Potomac address – does it help you if this data helps you? Yes to show him or his vehicle it’s consistent with mapping.

9:55 a.m. Judge apologizes to the jury for the interruption. Cross examination resumes of Bobby Blythe, FBI agent.

9:45 a.m. Judge: @ 7:19 counsel for Kirsten Bridegan filed an appeal and a motion to stay. Defense filed a response. Court denied the stay and gave Miss Bridegan 30 minutes to comply with the court’s order. Gardner’s Defense team has hired an expert who is available to extract the content that they are seeking and moves for an order to show cause. Judge grants order to show cause. Judge stopped the trial at 9:30 a.m., and will hold a hearing regarding Kirsten Bridegan’s non compliance.
Hearing will be held at 12:30 pm. Shanna’s presence is waived for the hearing.

9:41 a.m. Gardner’s defense team, Samuel Salario present. During the trial the Court says she has received an email that Kirsten is refusing to comply with the court order. Defense moves for an order to show cause.

9:31 a.m. Judge abruptly halts cross examination to clear the decks to call Kirsten Bridegan, and her lawyers to the well. The issue before the judge likely has to do with turning over Kirsten’s cell phone to Shanna Gardner’s defense team.

9:22 a.m. If MF’s device is in his pocket and he’s sweeping – you can’t tell from your mapping what he’s doing. The mapping just gives an area of where the device is. there is wifi at the Potomac address.

9:18 a.m. MF home is close to Pablo Hamlet? correct. January 25 – you believe MF went to John Biggerstaff’s house. His phone moved to that area, it’s consistent with him being at Biggerstaff’s house. On the 29th you don’t have MF’s device anywhere except the Potomac address – phone never leaves Potomac. correct. On this day he goes to an old friend of his. He called Biggerstaff on his way there. yes.

9:13 a.m. Jan 5, you don’t have any data tying Henry Tenon to Mario Fernandez? yes. On this day Tenon goes to Jax Beach. Henry Tenon was on the street where Fernandez lived? He’s on the street for 30 seconds? If you believe the totality of your evidence puts him on that street it’s for 30 seconds? correct. You don’t know if he’s dropping off the rent money? no.

9:07 a.m. Prosecution witness #15 Special Agent Bobby Blythe is on cross:
Defense points out a typo error in his report. Pennsylvania trip doesn’t know what the significance of the trip which he mapped. Return from Pennsylvania happened quickly but he did come back to Jacksonville. (Suggestion the MF wanted to get out of town to escape law enforcement but defense says he ultimately returned to Jacksonville.)