JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The man accused of pulling the trigger in what investigators call a murder-for-hire plot to kill a St. Johns County father of four could learn Tuesday if a judge will block statements he made during plea negotiations from being read to jurors.<\/p>\n
Henry Tenon initially pleaded guilty on March 16, 2023, to second\u2011degree murder with a weapon in the shooting death of 33-year-old Microsoft employee Jared Bridegan.<\/p>\n
The plea was made as part of a deal that required Tenon to testify against his alleged co\u2011conspirators — Bridegan\u2019s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her now estranged husband, Mario Fernandez. <\/p>\n
RELATED: Timeline of the Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case<\/a><\/p>\n Fernandez and Gardner are also charged with the killing of Bridegan, who was gunned down in an ambush while driving home with his toddler daughter. They have pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n Tenon\u2019s plea deal carried a sentencing range beginning at 15 years, but he has since withdrawn his guilty plea<\/a>, recanting the statements he made to the State Attorney\u2019s Office on March 15, 2023, during the negotiations.<\/p>\n Tenon\u2019s attorneys have filed a motion to have those statements suppressed so that jurors will not hear them in court during Tenon\u2019s first-degree murder trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tenon\u2019s defense said that Tenon believed those conversations were protected as part of plea negotiations and said no one warned him that those statements could be used against him later if he backed out of the deal.<\/p>\n Tenon took the stand during a hearing earlier this month and answered questions from his attorney and the state.<\/p>\n Attorney: \u201cWere you at any time told that anything you said could be used against you?\u201d<\/p>\n Tenon: \u201cNo.\u201d <\/p>\n Attorney: \u201cDid you believe you were speaking to them for a plea agreement?\u201d <\/p>\n Tenon: \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n State: \u201cYou did not enter into a plea that said you were going testify, knowing you were never going to testify.\u201d<\/p>\n Tenon: \u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n State: You did?<\/p>\n Tenon: \u201cYeah.\u201d <\/p>\n State: \u201cSo you lied under oath about that you were going to testify truthfully?\u201d<\/p>\n Tenon: \u201cNo…because my understanding is I can change my plea at any time before sentencing.\u201d<\/p>\n Prosecutors continued to push back, arguing that the plea agreement had already been finalized by that point and that Tenon understood he was becoming a witness in the case.<\/p>\n Judge London Kite said at the previous hearing that she would take the motion under advisement and would issue a decision by the next court date on May 26.<\/p>\n Other motions being considered<\/p>\n