Shanna Gardner Targets Informants in Jail, Including Killers and Human Traffickers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With the Public Defender’s Office no longer representing Henry Tenon in the murder-for-hire case involving Jared Bridegan, the focus shifts to the jailhouse informants whom Shanna Gardner’s lawyers claim are working with the prosecution.

Gardner’s team moved forward on May 23 by filing a motion seeking a court order for communications from inmates expected to be part of the trial. On June 5, Judge London Kite approved the order.

Since then both Gardner and co-defendant Mario Fernandez Saldana’s status hearings have been moved from June 6 to June 24 and now to July 31, court records show.

It may have something to do with Assistant Public Defender Alan Chipperfield and his office’s decision to file a motion to withdraw from Tenon’s case for “miscellaneous conflict, including representation of state witness, employee victim, former client, or adverse relationship.”

Kite relieved them of further responsibility and appointed the Office of Regional Conflict counsel to take over with private attorney Julie Schlax.

In the May 23 motion, the defense asked the judge to compel the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to produce inmate mail, recorded jail calls and electronic texts and videos in its possession or of its agents for jailhouse informants who the prosecution intends to have testify against Gardner.

“The state has indicated that it intends to call the following jailhouse informants, who are all charged with serious felony offenses such as murder and human trafficking, to testify against Ms. Gardner at trial,” the motion states but redacts the names.

“Ms. Gardner submitted a public records request for each informant’s inmate communications that are in the possession of or accessible by the JSO,” the motion reads. “… The requested materials are needed to review for potential impeachment evidence, including any statements reflecting bias, motive to fabricate, attempts to obtain favorable treatment, or inconsistent statements.”

The order has since been granted but not discussed formally in court and is expected to be a topic at the next hearing.

A year ago in front of the courthouse steps, Gardner’s attorney Jose Baez brought up the likelihood that prosecutors would use such tactics as having inmates try to lure Gardner into exposing herself.

Baez was there on June 21, 2024, to advise the court of what he deemed were violations by the prosecution of not turning over material to the defense.

“When prosecutors don’t have a case, these are the things that are done,” he said at the time, noting their next inclination is to get a jailhouse snitch.

Baez said he was sending a letter to State Attorney Melissa Nelson and law enforcement to not send in any agents to try to make deals with inmates.

Gardner and Fernandez Saldana, married at the time, are charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse. Gardner and Bridegan, 33, were mired in a longtime contentious divorce and child custody case. Tenon, whose landlord was Fernandez Saldana, already pleaded guilty to being the triggerman.

The defendants are accused of setting up Bridegan, knowing exactly when and where he would be for one of his planned visits with his shared-custody twin children. He was ambushed shortly after dropping them off at Gardner and Fernandez Saldana’s home in Jacksonville Beach on his way back to St. Augustine. His 2-year-old daughter was in the car when he stopped to move a tire purposely placed to block the road, but she was not struck by the gunfire.

The state is seeking the death penalty against the estranged couple, while Tenon awaits sentencing for his second-degree murder plea, facing at least 15 years in prison and up to life. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 7.

Editor’s note: This story was first published by our news partners, The Florida Times-Union.