Kirsten Bridegan, holding her daughter Bexley, speaks at a vigil April 19 for her slain husband, Jared Bridegan
Kirsten Bridegan, holding her daughter Bexley, speaks at a vigil April 19 for her slain husband, Jared Bridegan
The Florida ex-wife of slain Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan was shattered by her former husband's murder, she told a local TV station in an exclusive interview.
"I fell to the floor because I was devastated," Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, her eyes red and tearful, told Action News Jax of learning about Bridegan's Feb. 16 slaying during the 32-second teaser for the segment.
The ex-wife, who is from a prominent and wealthy Mormon family, said she has since been harassed and blamed for the murder.
Bridegan, 33, was gunned down in front of his 2-year-old daughter Bexley minutes after he dropped off the twins he shares with Gardner-Fernandez at her home in Jacksonville Beach.
FLORIDA EX-WIFE OF SLAIN MICROSOFT EXEC ALLEGEDLY WANTED TO SHUT HIM UP:' TATTOO STAFFER
The father of four was on a wooded stretch of Sanctuary Blvd when he stopped his car at about 7:30 p.m., likely to remove a tire that had blocked his way, and was executed – as his toddler daughter watched from her car seat, according to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department.
A photo combination of Kirsten and Jared Bridegan with their daughter London and his ex-wife Shanna Gardner-Fernandez. (Fox News Digital)
Gardner-Fernandez, 35, who had been engaged in near constant litigation over custody of their twins since their 2015 split, remains a suspect in his murder, a law-enforcement source told Fox News Digital.
Bridegan remarried Kirsten Bridegan in 2017 and the two share Bexley and 1-year-old London.
"It's messy, I wasn't invited to the funeral," Gardner-Fernandez told the station. "There is so much more to that story."
Shanna Gardner-Fernandez poses with her husband Mario Fernandez and her twins from her marriage to Jared Bridegan. (Facebook)
The twins also did not attend their father's funeral. Gardner-Fernandez's mother, Shelli Gardner, wrote in a since-deleted blog post that it would have been detrimental to the twins' mental health to go without their mom.
In the clip, the interviewer asked, "Did you have anything to do with Jared's murder?" then the teaser faded out. Gardner-Fernandez's answer won't be revealed until the segment airs Thursday at 5 p.m.
FLORIDA EX-WIFE OF SLAIN MICROSOFT EXECUTIVE HIRES CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER
Gardner-Fernandez, whose family founded StampinUp! – a paper craft business that generates more than $100 million a year in revenue, according to IncFact – has not made any public efforts to help find her ex-husband's killer.
A family portrait of Jared and Kirsten Bridegan. (Infinite Focus Photography/Madeline Insignares)
There is a $55,000 reward in the case, most of which came from private donations. Gardner-Fernandez and her family haven't contributed a penny to the reward, according to a source familiar with the fund.
During the acrimonious divorce, while Gardner-Fernandez was still living under the same roof as Bridegan, she allegedly asked a staffer at a Jacksonville tattoo shop if he knew anyone who could help her "shut up" her then-husband, Fox News Digital exclusively reported.
A poster announced a $55,000 reward for information about the unsolved murder of Jared Bridegan. (Jacksonville Beach Police Department)
"She had been talking to us about her divorce, and she told us her life could just be better if he could just ‘shut up’ and asked us if we knew anybody that could ‘shut him up,’" recalled the employee, who was interviewed by detectives.
Gardner-Fernandez, once a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had obtained several services from the shop, including a clitoris piercing, according to records reviewed by Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Police have not publicly named a suspect in Bridegan's murder.
Gardner-Fernandez and her husband, Mario Fernandez, recently retained high-powered criminal defense lawyer Henry Coxe III. He didn't immediately return a request for comment. Sgt. Tonya Tator of the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, which is leading the investigation, declined to comment.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
