{"id":94550,"date":"2025-12-24T05:42:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T05:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/94550\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T05:42:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T05:42:08","slug":"mario-fernandezs-attorneys-file-motion-requesting-more-information-from-admitted-gunman-ahead-of-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/94550\/","title":{"rendered":"Mario Fernandez\u2019s attorneys file motion requesting more information from admitted gunman ahead of trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The defense team for Shanna Gardner\u2019s<\/a> estranged husband, Mario Fernandez<\/a>, who is accused in the high-profile Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case, sought detailed written responses from the state\u2019s key witness.<\/p>\n

Fernandez\u2019s attorneys filed an eight-page motion for interrogatories on Monday, requesting that Henry Tenon, the admitted gunman in the 2022 murder, answer specific questions before his deposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a smart plan by the defense to try and get these answers before they walk into a deposition,\u201d said Gene Nichols, an attorney who is not involved in the case.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Shanna Gardner, Mario Fernandez on track for summer 2026 trial in Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case<\/a> | \u2018Allows public to see\u2019: Attorneys discuss significance of released body cam video and 911 calls in Bridegan case<\/a><\/p>\n

The motion described Tenon as \u201cthe most crucial State\u2019s witness\u201d and included eight multi-part questions. Among them, the defense wanted to know how much Fernandez allegedly agreed to pay for the homicide and details about how any payment was received.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s using the same thought process to say, hey, without having to take too much time in depositions and hearings and the like, let\u2019s hone in on the issues,\u201d Nichols said. He noted this mechanism was predominantly used in civil cases rather than criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n

Nichols anticipated resistance from prosecutors. \u201cThe state of Florida is going to object. They\u2019re going to come back and say no,\u201d he said. \u201cPresumably, they are not going to want to have Henry Tenon boxed in with answers prior to his deposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors alleged Bridegan was killed in a murder-for-hire scheme orchestrated by his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her estranged husband, Mario Fernandez. Tenon had already pleaded guilty to carrying out the murder.<\/p>\n

In February<\/a>, we reported that Tenon attempted to claim his testimony was false during a January court hearing.<\/p>\n

Nichols said it\u2019s a waiting game to see how the state responds to the motion and how that previous claim will factor in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the attempt for the defense without necessarily sitting down at a deposition to find out exactly what Henry Tenon has told the state,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that whether or not he\u2019s withdrawing his plea, if he does or if he doesn\u2019t, this is going to probably bring that to the surface relatively quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several key dates were approaching in the case. Tenon\u2019s next status hearing was set for Jan. 12, followed by a pretrial hearing for Fernandez and Gardner on Feb. 6. The trial was scheduled to begin on Aug. 17.<\/p>\n

The State Attorney\u2019s Office had not responded to requests for comment on the motion.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The defense team for Shanna Gardner\u2019s estranged husband, Mario Fernandez, who is accused in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[30375,116,2130,118,117,30372,30373,30374],"class_list":{"0":"post-94550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-henry-tenon","9":"tag-jacksonville","10":"tag-jacksonville-beach","11":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","12":"tag-jacksonville-news","13":"tag-jared-bridegan","14":"tag-mario-fernandez","15":"tag-shanna-gardner"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}