Jacksonville, FloridaAP —
A Florida jury began deliberations Wednesday in the shooting of a Microsoft design manager who was gunned down in what prosecutors allege was a murder-for-hire scheme hatched by his wealthy ex-wife and her husband.
Jared Bridegan was shot four years ago after he got out of his SUV to remove a tire from a road in Jacksonville Beach. The attack stumped police for months as they struggled to understand why someone with no apparent enemies would be killed while his daughter sat nearby in her car seat.
Prosecutors believe he was killed over a longstanding joint custody dispute with his ex-wife and other parenting issues involving their twins.
“He was unarmed, unaware, exposed, vulnerable. He couldn’t have known, on that cold asphalt in February of 2022, the architects of his murder had been making preparations for his death for months,” Assistant State Attorney Christina Stifler said during closing arguments.
