Henry Tenon, 65, will now go on trial. He’s one of three people set to be tried, along with Bridegan’s ex-wife Shanna Gardner and her second husband Mario Fernandez.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Four years and one day after St. Augustine father of four Jared Bridegan was murdered, the man who previously confessed to killing him is now approved to withdraw his guilty plea and go on trial.
Henry Tenon, 65, appeared in Duval County court Tuesday morning alongside his attorney Julie Schlax, asking the court to grant his motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
When Judge London Kite asked what prompted this move, Schlax said there is no alleged wrongdoing in the request; she asked Kite to use her own discretion.
Monday marked four years since Bridegan was murdered while moving a tire out the middle of a road in Jacksonville Beach. Police and prosecutors have called his killing a “murder-for-hire plot” orchestrated by his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her second husband, Mario Fernandez-Saldana. Both Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana have pleaded not guilty to all their charges.
With Tenon’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea now approved, Tenon is set to go on trial along with Gardner, 32, and Fernandez-Saldana, 37. Tenon is charged with second-degree murder with a weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, accessory after the fact and child abuse in the case.
Before backing out, as part of Tenon’s plea agreement, prosecutors would have dropped all of his charges except second-degree murder in exchange for him “truthfully” testifying against Gardner and Fernandez.
Tenon is set to be back in court Monday, March 23 at 9 a.m.
The trial for Gardner and Fernandez-Saldana is scheduled to begin on Aug. 10.