Shocking Texts Exposed in Microsoft Exec's Twisted Murder Case

0:00That's Henry Tenon. He had admitted to carrying out a hit, murdering Microsoft executive Jared Brightigan. Prosecutors say it happened at the request of Brightigan's ex-wife and her new husband, but now Tenon has withdrawn his guilty plea as text messages that prosecutors claim discuss a year's long murder plot come to light. I go over the latest developments in the murder of Jared Brightigan. I'm Angie Netlivi and this is Crime Fix. You know, part of the reason we can cover this case for you here on Law and Crime is because of sponsors like Morgan and Morgan. There's a reason why Crime Fix is one of the top true crime shows on YouTube. Just like there's a reason why Morgan and Morgan is America's largest injury law firm for more than 35 years. They've been fighting for people all over the country

1:03and have recovered more than 30 billion dollars for clients. The proof is in their track record with more than a thousand lawyers across 100 offices nationwide hiring Morgan and Morgan is like hiring an army to go into battle for you, a team that will fight hard to get their clients the compensation they deserve. Not all law firms are the same. Hire the wrong one and you may be beat before you even start. If you're ever injured, you can check out Morgan and Morgan and their fee is free unless you win. For more information, you can go to ForThePeople.com, slash Crime Fix, click the link below or scan the QR code that you see on your screen. It's been just over four years since Jared Brightigan was shot to death in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. And this August, his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her estranged husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana will go on trial accused of conspiring to kill Jared. And when that trial begins, there will

2:04be now a third co-defendant, Henry Tenan. Tenan was a former tenant of Fernandez Saldana's who had admitted as part of a plea deal to shooting and killing Brightigan. He said he was hired to do it. Tenan had pleaded guilty to second degree murder and agreed to testify against Gardner and Saldana, but now that's not going to happen. Before I get to the why of why that's not going to happen, let's do a quick recap of the case. Shanna Gardner met Jared Brightigan in 2009 while visiting a friend in Florida. The following year they married. When they married, they were both devout Mormons, but things started to go south once their twins were born in 2013. And not long after, Gardner filed for divorce and she asked for full custody of the twin girls. Fast forward a few years, and Jared Brightigan and Shanna Gardner, they've divorced and they're both remarried. Gardner to Fernandez Saldana and Jared to his wife Kristen. The prosecutors say Shanna's motive to murder Jared

3:04has a few things at play. First, their divorce and custody arrangement for the twins was contentious. Brightigan wanted to raise the girls in the Mormon faith and they believe Shanna Gardner could have full access to a trust fund if Jared Brightigan was dead. Prosecutors say they uncovered years old text messages in which Gardner said she wished that Brightigan would just disappear and she and her friends talked in code about wanting Jared dead. Now we're getting a look at those text messages that prosecutors plan to use as evidence at trial. We're seeing them for the very first time. This text exchange between Shanna and her friend Kim Jensen is from May of 2015. Shanna wrote, I'm just not having a good day. Kim Jensen responded, don't write the day off as bad yet. I'm still trying to send stupid to prison. She added, if I can't make a casserole, prison is the next best option. There are more text messages, some from 2016 where prosecutors say

4:05the women spoke in code. On July 17, 2016, Kimi wrote to a woman named Susan Lee, Shanna needs a guy. Susan Lee responded, what kind of guy? Kimi responded, the kind that performs permanent disappearing acts on certain people. Kimi added, no any magicians? Susan Lee responded, ah, magician. No, that I do not. For stupid, she asked, Kimi responded, I was thinking Thomas LOL. Susan Lee responded, he isn't a magician, but I'll ask if he knows any. Susan added, I'm sure her ex knows a few. We've heard about these text messages and read about them, but now we're seeing them in this drop of discovery and these texts are from 2016. Prosecutors contend, this shows that Shanna Gardner had murder on her mind for years. On the same day, another set of messages between Shanna and Kimi were released. Shanna wrote, I'm at church, I'm fabulous with a straight face emoji,

5:07my favorite place on earth. Kimi responded, deep breaths, it's going to be okay, I'll talk to you as soon as you get out, just breathe. You'll work out all of this frustration at the gym later and then part of the text is blacked out as a redaction citing an active criminal investigation. Kimi then typed, he hates him. Kimi added, if not, I know Susan's husband knows people, LOL. Shanna responded, just when I think doing this whole one week off slash on thing is a good idea, it gives me such great pleasure imagining slitting his throat. The next text message is also blacked out, it's redacted, citing it's protected because it could include the substance of a confession or information about an informant. Now these text messages are from 2016, a full five and a half years before Jared Brightigan was murdered. There are also text messages from August of 2022, months after Jared was murdered, where Shanna tells Kimi, I don't want anyone to know, and

6:11Kimi responds, I'm not. Prosecutors will introduce these to show that Shanna Gardiner had a year's long deep-seated hatred for Jared and had possibly plotted to murder him for many, many years, but what will the defense do? Well they may just say this is a frustrated ex-wife blowing off steam to friends and that prosecutors are simply reading too much into these texts. Also released this report showing the ATF conducted what they called a controlled call with a cooperating witness on October 7, 2023. The report is marked restricted. The report states, the person who is the subject of an active criminal investigation told Fernanda Saldana, the ATF had forced entry into the residence the previous day, damaging the front door's lock, which required repair. The person said he or she had multiple items taken from the house. During the conversation, the person told Fernanda Saldana they were looking for something, then asked Fernanda Saldana if he had anything at the house. Fernanda Saldana replied he did not

7:16own anything in the residence. The call lasted four minutes eight seconds. The evidentiary value of this call isn't clear at this point, but it could become more clear at trial. At the time that Jared Brightigan was murdered in February of 2022, he had remarried to a woman named Kristen, I mentioned that earlier, and he was happy, but Jared still shared those twins with Shayna Gardner, and prosecutors say that was part of this year's long plot to carry out Jared's murder. Prosecutors will say that Shayna wanted full custody of the twins and full access to that trust fund I mentioned, and that that was the motive. So the theory is that Shayna Gardner and her estranged husband hired 62-year-old Henry Tenan to kill Jared Brightigan. Tenan was a tenant of Fernanda Saldana's. Prosecutors have already revealed these checks written by Fernanda Saldana to Tenan for thousands of dollars. One is labeled a Kickstarter. It says good luck in the memo line. On February 16, 2022, Jared Brightigan was murdered in Jacksonville Beach with his two-year-old

8:21daughter strapped in her car seat. A police summary says Brightigan was driving home on a dark, isolated road named Sanctuary Boulevard. With his two-year-old daughter, he stopped, put on his hazard lights, and stepped out to remove a large tire lying in the roadway. That is when he shot multiple times. At first, Brightigan's murder appeared to be random, but there were some things that showed it was anything but including that tire in the road. Security footage recorded a pickup truck in the area at the time of the murder, which led Jacksonville Beach police to Henry Tenan. Police would later discover Tenan was Fernanda Saldana's tenant. Prosecutors say Fernanda Saldana was going to pay Tenan $150,000 to carry out that hit. 18 months after the murder, a grand jury indicted both Gardner and Fernanda Saldana for their roles in this plot. On August 17, 2023, officers took Shana Gardner into custody in Washington State.

9:27It takes several minutes, but Gardner finally emerges from the home. I'll go to the passenger side. That's really the same. I don't know if we're going to do a little bit, but most of them left

10:37in Washington State. So we'll follow you over to... So the fact that we're saying going to the PD, we do have interview rooms, but then the PDs, so we can take her over there and pull her out. Yeah, if you want to bring her there and then we'll follow behind you. So just the heads up, I don't know if the jail is going to take anything out in the bottle. Other than why it's always like everything else. Good to go. We could try, but I think the jail probably soon out of that. Myelage is 10.1. Perfect, thank you.

11:50Are you getting any air back there? Is it hot back there? Gardner declined to speak with the officers at the police department. Now to Henry Tenon, the one-time confessed hitman who was supposed to be the state's star witness at trial. How old's your dog? How old's your dog? Don't cheat him. Oh, thanks, no puppy. Pretty little dog. Hello. Exactly a year earlier, police came across Tenon. They took him into an interview room, and he was there for a long, long time, more than five hours. But guess what? We can't control what's next. That's what we get to control, Henry. What's next? How do I remember? How do I want to, how do I want to go out of this world, man of character, man who did what's right, or just some chomps? Because that's what we're being played for right now is chomps.

12:51We ain't no chomps, Henry. I know you ain't no chomps. When I say respect, I'm in it. I give you the same respect you give me. You've been respectful to me. I haven't raised my voice at you. I mean, you raised your voice. I mean, we disagreed. We know we're not on the same page, but we both know we can get there. We both know that. I know you. Much of Henry Tenon's police interview is redacted, likely because he makes admissions. Then he asks for a lawyer. Tenon had pleaded guilty to second degree murder, and he agreed to testify against Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana at trial. He would be their star witness, but now that is no longer happening. Henry Tenon has withdrawn his guilty plea. He's rolling the dice, and he's going to trial.

14:19We have not alleged any wrongdoing. We are just simply asking the court to use our available discretion since Mr. Tenon has not been sentenced to set this case for a trial or a university to trial. What's a good cause? We can clear not our two guilty attorneys. That's why we are simply asking under 3.17L for the court to use her ability to create a trial on the merits. And the state has no objection to the court bringing that motion before the trial. The state doesn't say it's an off-site motion from the state's perspective to have a defendant's plea agreement on the state where the objection to court says this, proceeds to say this thing right now, or it actually would accept the defendant. So as we knew about the court's discretion, we have no objection to the granting of the motion. The judge then questioned Henry Tenon about what exactly he wanted to do.

15:41So there you hear it. He wants a trial. So all three defendants are going on trial for the murder of Jared Brightigan. A jury will decide whether there is enough evidence to find all of them guilty of the conspiracy to murder Jared Brightigan or not. I should mention that all of them have pleaded not guilty, so the trial will start in August. And that is it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Angie Netlivi. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.