Jared Bridegan Update (Sept. 2026): Judge Won't Step Aside, Gardner Trial Set for May 2027

The gist — one man has been convicted, the woman prosecutors call the other half of the plot won't face a jury until May 2027, and the fight holding things up right now is over a widow's cellphone.

• Mario Fernandez Saldana was convicted Aug. 26 of first-degree murder in the 2022 ambush of Jared Bridegan. He is due back in court Oct. 5 for sentencing.
• Shanna Gardner, Bridegan's ex-wife, is charged but has not been tried. Jury selection is set for May 3, 2027.
• On Sept. 10, Judge London Kite refused requests from both prosecutors and Kirsten Bridegan to step off the case.

What happened to Jared Bridegan?

Bridegan, 33, was shot on the night of Feb. 16, 2022, on a dark road in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. He had stopped his SUV to move a tire left in the road. His 2-year-old daughter was in the back seat and was not physically hurt.

Prosecutors describe it as a murder for hire. Their theory is that Fernandez Saldana and Gardner, his wife, arranged for Henry Tenon to carry out the shooting. Dateline followed the case from the first months, when NBC News reported there were still no answers, through the arrests that came in 2023.

Who has been convicted so far?

Only Fernandez Saldana. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony after deliberating for less than four hours.

The state did not seek the death penalty, so a first-degree murder conviction in Florida carries a mandatory life sentence. The hearing on Oct. 5 is where that becomes formal. His was the first of what was planned as three separate trials.

Why was Shanna Gardner's trial pushed to 2027?

Her jury selection was supposed to start Aug. 31, days after the Fernandez verdict. On Aug. 27 her defense asked for more time, prosecutors didn't object, and Kite granted it.

The new calendar has jury selection on May 3, 2027, with testimony expected from May 10 and about three weeks of trial. Gardner is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse. She has not been convicted of anything.

Prosecutors also told the court they plan to go back to a grand jury so Gardner and Tenon can be tried together. Tenon's own trial had been set for March 2027; News4JAX reports he had earlier pleaded guilty and later withdrew that plea.

What is the cellphone fight about?

Gardner's lawyers want messages and other data from the phone and social media accounts of Kirsten Bridegan, Jared's widow, who is expected to testify for the state. Kite ordered her to hand over the phone by 9 a.m. on Aug. 21.

She didn't. Kite paused the Fernandez trial for an emergency hearing, and before a contempt hearing could go ahead, Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal stepped in with a stay. On Sept. 2 the appeals court said the stay remains in place until it rules on her petition.

Why won't Judge Kite step aside?

Both the State of Florida and Kirsten Bridegan filed motions asking her to recuse. Their argument was that the way the phone dispute unfolded gave them a reasonable fear that future proceedings involving the widow would not be fair.

Kite denied both on Sept. 10, finding them legally insufficient. That is a ruling on the paperwork, not on the complaints themselves — she didn't address the factual claims in detail. She did say she will honor the appellate stay and hold no further proceedings on the phone until the higher court acts.

It's unusual to see prosecutors and a victim's family on the same side of a recusal motion. That alone tells you how heated this pretrial stretch has become.

What did the defense file on Sept. 11?

A day after the ruling, Gardner's team asked Kite to enforce an earlier order. It would require prosecutors to collect communications among Kirsten Bridegan, Detective Christopher Johns and the state's own lawyers, and turn them over to the judge privately.

Kite would then decide what, if anything, the defense gets to see. The defense says the material could bear on bias or on how testimony was shaped. No hearing date had been reported as of Sept. 12.

👉 The next hard date is Oct. 5. After that, watch the Fifth DCA — its phone ruling decides how much of this fight carries into 2027.

How does this compare with other cases on the calendar?

Long gaps between the first conviction and the next trial are common in multi-defendant cases. The Alex Murdaugh retrial just moved to Sumter County with jury selection in April 2027, and Kouri Richins has a separate fraud trial date in October.

A different kind of ending came in Nashville this week, where a former NFL scout received back-to-back life terms; that one is in our Blaise Taylor update. On TV, the next new Dateline is laid out in next week's true-crime grid.

FAQ

Has Shanna Gardner been convicted? No. She is charged with first-degree murder and related counts, and her trial is set to begin with jury selection on May 3, 2027.

What sentence will Mario Fernandez get? Because the state did not seek death, first-degree murder carries mandatory life in Florida. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 5, 2026.

Where is Henry Tenon's case? He remains charged. Prosecutors intend to have his case joined with Gardner's for a single 2027 trial.

More case files

• Bryan Kohberger — the plea he now wants undone.
• Barry Morphew — $10 million bond and house arrest.
• All updates live in the case files; broadcast times are in the how-to-watch guide, and older episodes sit under Dateline.

Sources

• News4JAX — Judge refuses to step aside in Gardner trial (Sept. 10, 2026)
• First Coast News — Judge denies Kirsten Bridegan's request to disqualify her
• News4JAX — Defense asks judge to review communications (Sept. 11, 2026)
• News4JAX — Gardner trial delayed; state seeks joint trial with Tenon (Aug. 27, 2026)
• First Coast News — Jury finds Fernandez Saldana guilty
• State Attorney's Office, 4th Circuit — Fernandez Saldana found guilty

By the True Crime On Air desk · Updated 8:40 a.m. ET