Shanna Gardner’s friend testifies text messages about hiring hit man to kill Jared Bridegan were a joke

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Attorneys for Shanna Gardner continued to argue in court Friday that she should be released on bail ahead of her trial in a murder-for-hire plot that prosecutors say left her ex-husband, Jared Bridegan, 33, dead in 2022.

Gardner and her estranged husband, Mario Fernandez, are charged with first-degree murder in Bridegan’s death and both face the possibility of the death penalty.

Lawyers also argued Friday that some evidence should be thrown out before the trial, as lead attorney Jose Baez accused prosecutors of failing to turn over “critical evidence” to the defense.

Baez said much of the motion relates to incidents and testimony that occurred during Gardner’s hearing, known as the Arthur Hearing, on May 15.

He was denied bond at that hearing, but Baez accused the State Attorney’s Office of withholding favorable evidence and said Detective Chris Johns lied under oath.

He specifically referred to Johns’ testimony where he talked about certain text messages that were exchanged between two witnesses identified as “SL” and “KJ.”

The state argued the messages were about Gardner seeking help hiring a hit man to kill Bridegan. However, Baez said the text messages were a long running joke and everyone involved knew it.

A woman involved in the text messages testified Friday.

“Let me ask you directly, did you ever contact Susan Lee on behalf of Shanna Gardner to get her husband to find a killer for Shanna Gardner,” Baez asked.

“I didn’t,” Kim Jensen said.

Jensen went on to say the text messages were a joke.

Baez said the state did not disclose those messages before the bond hearing.

“This is textbook lying and hiding the ball by Detective Johns,” Baez said. “The fact that prosecutors were present at the questioning is another matter entirely.”

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But the prosecution pointed out in its response that the text messages used by the state in the hearing were included in a transcript that was sent to the defense in January.

In his motion, Baez also noted that after the hearing, two witnesses contacted him wanting to clarify matters and gave sworn statements.

“Both witnesses have filed affidavits clarifying their position and basically saying these statements have been completely taken out of context and are completely, completely false,” Baez said.

Prosecutors said it would be up to the court or an investigator to determine the value of the messages and whether they were part of a long, ongoing prank.

“The text messages with Ms. Lee were not argued by the state as evidence that this was solicitation, but were argued to show exactly what was being argued,” a prosecutor said. “To refute that argument, Ms. Jensen and Ms. Gardner were just kidding.”

A woman named during the hearing told Gardner’s attorney that Detective Johns lied on the stand about trying to contact her.

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In their response, prosecutors said Johns clarified that he could not recall making an effort to contact the second named woman – because he had no case notes with him in court.

The prosecution said that if “Detective John’s recollection was faulty, he will be subject to impeachment during any future testimony.”