About This Episode
Jared Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft executive, was shot and killed on February 16, 2022, on a quiet suburban road in Jacksonville, Florida — minutes after dropping off his two young twins at the home of his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner. His new wife, Kirsten Bridegan, was in the car with the couple's infant daughter when she found him lifeless on the road.
A random obstacle — or a trap?
That evening, someone had placed a heavy metal tire rim in the middle of the road on Hana Road. When Jared Bridegan stopped his car to move the obstruction, he was struck by multiple gunshots and died at the scene. Investigators quickly suspected that the roadblock had been deliberately placed to force him to stop — and that the murder had been planned in meticulous detail.
Police spent more than a year mapping out the case, and in 2023 Shanna Gardner was arrested and charged with ordering the of her ex-husband. According to prosecutors, she allegedly hired an intermediary to organize the killing, motivated by a bitter custody dispute over the couple's children and substantial child support payments.