Major news on the murder of a Microsoft executive who was shot execution-style – as harrowing emails from the 'murderous' ex-wife are released

Florida Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan, who was shot execution-style, and his “murderous” ex-wife exchanged belligerent emails before his gruesome murder.

“You cannot destroy us as a family,” he said in a 2017 email obtained by Fox News. “You will not find happiness by destroying us. I will not allow that.”

Bridegan was shot dead in front of his car in 2022 while trying to move a tire that was lying in the middle of the road – while his then two-and-a-half-year-old daughter was sitting in the back seat.

The prosecution assumes that the scene was staged by his ex-wife Shanna Gardner and her current husband Mario Fernandez Saldana.

A search warrant for Gardner's home in West Richland, Washington, in 2023 seized phones, an Apple Watch, laptops and other electronic items, and uncovered chilling email exchanges between the two between April and May 2017.

Jared's ex-wife Shanna Gardner pleaded not guilty to several charges related to her involvement in her ex-husband's death

The documents obtained by Fox News Digital provide an even more vivid insight into the volatile relationship between the two.

In an April 2017 email with the subject “Child Therapy,” Gardner told Bridegan that her children were “caught in the crossfire of life between two homes” and that she was sending them to therapy.

Although Gardner admitted that her two children needed therapy, she criticized her ex-husband in another email for not prioritizing the children's sessions and mental health, nor for providing financial help.

Bridegan replied that he would not pay for things they had not previously agreed to.

Over time, the emails seemed to become more frequent and more personal.

In another email, Gardner told Bridegan to “put your self-righteous pedestal in front of a mirror,” to which Bridegan responded, “Why are you ashamed of who you really are? Why do you cover up all your tattoos in court? Why are you not proud of the person you have become?”

He also accused his ex-wife of squandering her assets and called her an “idiot.”

“Wowwwww Satan be careful, you really should wait to put your cards on the table this early. I certainly am,” Bridegan wrote in another email response accompanied by a smiley face.

Emails obtained by Fox News provide a more penetrating look into the pair's turbulent relationship in terrifying emails back and forth from 2017

Gardner married her second husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, in 2018, who prosecutors believe was also involved in the murder-for-hire conspiracy.

Fernandez was charged earlier this year and pleaded not guilty – but like Gardner, he faces the death penalty

He later added, “I'm shocked that you keep underestimating me…or did you think in all those months during our divorce, when you were fooling around in the dark so many nights and in so many places, that no one was there…again, it would be better if you didn't let it get across so early on.”

Bridegan and Gardner married in 2010 but divorced just five years later.

Although they shared custody of their twins, their divorce was ugly and the two were embroiled in custody and money disputes.

She married her second husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, in 2018.

Bridegan was on his way home to St. Augustine in 2022 after dropping off his twin children with his ex-wife and her husband when he was rear-ended by a tire in the middle of the road on the highway entrance ramp.

During the attack, the 33-year-old father of four was shot several times at close range while his young daughter was still strapped into her car seat and witnessed the murder of her father.

When police arrived at the scene, they found Bridegan lying dead next to the open door of his Volkswagen Atlas, with the hazard lights still on.

According to News 4 Jax, police also said the bullets fired at Bridegan landed inside the car, just inches from his daughter's car seat.

His ex-wife was immediately targeted because of their ugly divorce. Gardner initially did not comment on the murder and did not attend his funeral.

During a search of her home last year, one of her children, who was home at the time, led police to further evidence: He told officers that his mother kept “important” electronic devices in her “bedroom closet,” Fox News added.

The child then whispered “up” to the officer, pointing to the ceiling.

Gardner was not arrested until six months after the search.

Further evidence from the collected devices showed that Gardner had been looking for a contract killer for years before his murder.

Henry Tenon, hired by Gardner and Fernandez, admitted pulling the trigger and pleaded guilty to premeditated murder

The court was shown text messages between Gardner and a close friend from 2015 in which she used a series of “code words” and repeatedly wished that Bridegan would just “go away,” News 4 Jax added.

“Stupid” was Bridegan’s nickname in the news and “casserole” or “funeral potatoes” were words used to refer to his death.

The text messages also mentioned that he wanted to find someone “who can silence people” and perform “permanent disappearing tricks” and referred to him as a “magician.”

Gardner and Fernandez Saldana are charged with the premeditated murder of Bridegan and have pleaded not guilty. According to The Daily Mail, both face the death penalty.

They are accused of hiring Fernandez's former tenant Henry Tenon and paying him $150,000 to carry out the plan.

Published documents show that Gardner had been thinking about hiring a hitman years before her ex-husband was murdered

Bridegan was shot multiple times at close range in 2022 while his then two-year-old daughter was still strapped into her car seat – and thus witnessed the murder of her father

The 250-page document from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms revealed that Fernandez's phone was beeping at the rental property where Tenon was staying.

Tenon cooperated with the prosecution, pleaded guilty to premeditated murder and faced a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

He also agreed to testify against the other suspects.

Released court documents and hundreds of pages of police records reviewed by DailyMail.com show that investigators have identified five people who were “likely” involved in the plot to kill Bridegan.

Although sources familiar with the case declined to comment on the status of the investigation, they told DailyMail.com that the investigation remains “active and open.”