Latest / Crime Alert Hourly Update / Florida Jury Convicts Orchestrator in Ambush Murder of Jared Bridegan | Crime Alert 08.29.26

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Florida Jury Convicts Orchestrator in Ambush Murder of Jared Bridegan | Crime Alert 08.29.26 · Crime Alert Hourly Update

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sydney Silvani. A Florida courtroom delivers long-awaited accountability in
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  Speaker 2: the calculated, ruthless ambush murder of Microsoft executive Jared Breitigan.
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  Speaker 2: On Wednesday, after a seven-day trial and less than four
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  Speaker 2: hours of jury deliberation, a Duval County jury found Mario
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  Speaker 2: Fernandez-Saldana guilty on all counts, including first-degree murder and solicitation
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  Speaker 2: to commit a capital felony. Here is the moment the
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  Speaker 2: court official read the official guilty verdict.
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  Speaker 1: In the circuit court of the Fourth Judicial Circuit in
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  Speaker 1: and for Duval County, Florida. Case number 16, 2023, CF 2862A,
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  Speaker 1: Division CRB. State of Florida versus Mario Enrique Fernandez Saldana. Verdict,
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  Speaker 1: count one. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of
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  Speaker 1: first-degree murder as charged in the indictment. So say we all.
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  Speaker 1: Done at Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. Signed foreperson. Dated 8-26-26.
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  Speaker 2: That decisive verdict marks a pivotal moment in a chilling,
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  Speaker 2: years-long plot. Back in February 2022, 33-year-old Jared Breidegen, a
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  Speaker 2: father of four, was driving home through Jacksonville Beach after
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  Speaker 2: dropping off his young twin children at his ex-wife's residence. Suddenly,
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  Speaker 2: he came upon a dark tire placed intentionally in the
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  Speaker 2: middle of an unlit road. When Breitigan brought his vehicle
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  Speaker 2: to a stop and stepped out to move the obstruction,
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  Speaker 2: an armed assailant ambushed him, opening fire at close range
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  Speaker 2: and killing him on the spot. Horrifyingly, his two-year-old daughter
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  Speaker 2: was sitting strapped in her car seat in the back
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  Speaker 2: row during the rapid gunfire, though she miraculously escaped physical harm.
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  Speaker 2: Prosecutors presented an exhaustive case demonstrating that the crime scene
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  Speaker 2: was a deliberate trap resulting from an exceptionally bitter high-conflict
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  Speaker 2: custody battle between Breitigan and his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner. Investigators
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  Speaker 2: revealed that Gardner stood to regain full control of her
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  Speaker 2: family's trust fund once all legal entanglements ended. Authorities allege
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  Speaker 2: Gardner and her new husband, Fernandez Saldana, orchestrated the hit together,
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  Speaker 2: ultimately soliciting their former tenant, Henry Tennon, and paying him
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  Speaker 2: at least $ 10, 000 to execute the shooting. Tennon initially entered
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  Speaker 2: a guilty plea before rescinding it, and he is now
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  Speaker 2: scheduled to stand trial next year. Fernandez-Saldana was arrested in
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  Speaker 2: March 2023, followed by Gardner's arrest in August. Although both
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  Speaker 2: were indicted on identical charges, a judge ruled that Gardner
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  Speaker 2: and Fernandez-Saldana would be tried separately before different juries. Gardner's
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  Speaker 2: trial is set for September, while Fernandez-Saldana was ordered to
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  Speaker 2: return to court on October 5th to receive his official
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  Speaker 2: sentencing date. More crime and justice news after this. In Texas,
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  Speaker 2: a former high school teacher is behind bars following a
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  Speaker 2: year-long investigation into allegations of improper relationships with students. Holly Adams,
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  Speaker 2: who taught at Angleton High School near Houston, was arrested
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  Speaker 2: Tuesday by the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office. She is charged
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  Speaker 2: with one count of tampering with evidence and two counts
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  Speaker 2: of purchasing or furnishing alcohol to a minor. The probe
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  Speaker 2: began after a student alerted school staff that Adams was
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  Speaker 2: having an inappropriate relationship with a former student. According to
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  Speaker 2: news reports, the victim FaceTime called another student over the
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  Speaker 2: summer from Adams' bedroom, displaying a bed covered in nude
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  Speaker 2: photos of her. Another image showed Adams and the former
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  Speaker 2: student cuddling. Adams reportedly invited students to her home to
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  Speaker 2: perform household chores and admitted to messaging three baseball team
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  Speaker 2: members on Snapchat. Dr. Gail Saltz, clinical associate professor of
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  Speaker 2: psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, noted that female teachers
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  Speaker 2: who sexually abuse male students often engage in self-grooming, convincing
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  Speaker 2: themselves they are in a legitimate romantic relationship while inflicting
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  Speaker 2: severe lasting harm. Adams was released on a $ 26, 000 bond,
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  Speaker 2: and district officials confirmed she no longer works for Angleton
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  Speaker 2: Independent School District. Finally, in Sumter County, Florida, a traffic
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  Speaker 2: stop turned into dangerous chaos when a fleeing driver slammed
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  Speaker 2: head-on into a school bus carrying 19 children. The incident
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  Speaker 2: began around 7.30 Tuesday morning when a deputy conducting school
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  Speaker 2: zone enforcement near the village's intermediate center spotted 23-year-old Quaheem
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  Speaker 2: Williams driving 17 miles per hour over the speed limit.
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  Speaker 2: When the deputy attempted a traffic stop, Williams accelerated and
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  Speaker 2: sideswiped two vehicles, damaging his axle before colliding head-on with
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  Speaker 2: the Sumter County school bus. Inside the bus, dashboard cameras
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  Speaker 2: captured the terrifying impact. All 19 children were safe and uninjured.
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  Speaker 2: Williams abandoned his damaged vehicle and fled on foot toward
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  Speaker 2: a store before deputies chased him down.
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  Speaker 1: Stay right there.
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  Speaker 2: Stay right there. Get down to the floor. Get down
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  Speaker 2: to the floor. Get down to the floor. I got him.
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  Speaker 2: Why would you run, man? Williams was taken into custody
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  Speaker 2: on charges including fleeing or eluding, driving with a suspended license,
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  Speaker 2: marijuana possession, leaving the scene of a crash, and resisting
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  Speaker 2: an officer, alongside two outstanding warrants. Sheriff Patrick Breeden stated
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  Speaker 2: he has zero tolerance for endangering children. Williams is held
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  Speaker 2: without bond. For more crime and justice news, be sure
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  Speaker 2: to join us for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on
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  Speaker 2: Fox One, YouTube, Sirius XM, and now streaming on Tubi.
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  Speaker 2: With this crime alert, I'm Sydney Silvani.