Murdered Microsoft exec Jared Bridegan’s ex moves cross country as cop sources reveal major break in
An arrest is expected any day in the shocking murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan — as it emerged that his ex-wife, who remains a suspect, has moved 2,800 miles across the country, according to reports.
Police sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that an arrest is likely as soon as Wednesday, nearly a year after the father of four was ambushed and repeatedly shot in front of his then-2-year-old daughter Bexley in Florida.
Another source told the outlet that Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, and her second husband, Mario Fernandez, remain suspects in the mysterious killing.
Jared’s second wife, Kirsten Bridegan, with whom he shared 3-year-old Bexley and 1-year-old London, said she was stunned that Gardner-Fernandez had moved so far away.
Gardner-Fernandez, 35, and Bridegan, 33, divorced in 2016, reportedly after she had an affair — sparking angry, years-long accusations from both in court filings that continued until his death.
The Microsoft exec was murdered after dropping off the 10-year-old twins he shared with his ex at her then-Florida home on Feb. 16.
On the way home, he stopped to pick up a tire left in the middle of the road — and was shot multiple times as his toddler daughter from his second marriage watched from the back of the car.
Detectives believe the tire was planted in the road to help ambush Bridegan, according to NewsJax4, which also confirmed the expected arrest this week.
“This was such a heinous crime … I mean, the amount of times he was shot, just to ensure that he was dead,” Bridegan’s older brother, Adam, previously told the outlet.
As sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that his ex remained a suspect, the outlet revealed that Gardner-Fernandez had quietly uprooted her 10-year-old twins with Jared and relocated to West Richland, Washington.
Her second husband, Fernandez — also allegedly a suspect — did not make the 2,800-mile cross-country trip with them, the report said.
When asked Monday to comment on the significant development in the case, Gardner-Fernandez told the outlet: “No, I’m sorry.”
Minutes later, she was spotted in her white Tesla in a grocery store parking lot, speaking on her cellphone.
After the murder, the couple retained high-powered criminal defense lawyer Henry Coxe III, who declined to comment Monday.
However, the move devastated the slain exec’s extended family, including his second wife, Kirsten Bridegan, and their two kids.
“Honestly, I was shocked,” Bridegan said Monday of the long-distance move.
“It’s been an added loss … On top of losing Jared, my children have lost their siblings. I’ve lost my stepkids. I have tried for months and months to make contact and have gotten nowhere.”
She also fears that her stepkids are now “isolated” from the rest of their family after being pulled out of their private Jacksonville Beach school.
“First, the twins lost their dad, then they were completely cut off from their own sisters, and now they’re being taken away from their school, friends, their sports teams … that’s what concerns me.”
As for Bexley, the toddler in the back of the Volkswagen Atlas when her dad stepped out and was ambushed and shot, Bridegan said she “has good days where she’s happy.”
“But it’s going to be a lifetime for her of processing those feelings and the trauma of what she went through,” the mom said.
Gardner-Fernandez moved the twins to a six-bedroom, four-bathroom house in the Tri-Cities area of southeastern Washington, Fox said.
Property records show that the modern ranch home was purchased in September for $1 million by Whitesand LLC, which lists the Alpine, Utah, address of her parents, Shelli and Sterling Gardner.
Shelli Gardner founded the paper-craft company Stampin’ Up, which has an estimated annual revenue of more than $100 million a year, according to IncFact.
Her parents are prominent fixtures in the Mormon community known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
They were in West Richland this past week visiting their daughter and grandchildren — and attended a service solo Sunday at a local LDS church.
Jared was also a devout adherent of the faith — but his ex-wife drifted from the religion after their 2010 marriage, Fox News Digital previously reported.
In a rare interview about the case last June, Gardner-Fernandez denied having an affair.
Jared Bridegan holds one of his children.Instagram/@justiceforjaredb
Credit: nypost.com