A Jacksonville jury took less than four hours Wednesday to convict a man prosecutors called the "co-architect" of a murder-for-hire plot that left a young father dead on a Florida roadside — a killing investigators say was born out of a bitter child-custody feud.

Mario Fernandez Saldana was found guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the February 2022 killing of Jared Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft design manager who was shot after stepping out of his SUV to move a tire that had been deliberately placed in the road in Jacksonville Beach, according to CBS News. Bridegan's 2-year-old daughter was strapped into a car seat in the back of the vehicle when he was gunned down.

Prosecutors told jurors that Fernandez Saldana and Bridegan's ex-wife were the "architects" of the killing, while a third man they hired pulled the trigger.

Prosecutors argued Fernandez Saldana, who was married at the time to Bridegan's ex-wife Shanna Gardner, helped orchestrate the ambush with his former tenant, Henry Tenon, who they say fired the fatal shots. Jurors were shown three checks totaling $10,000 written to Tenon in the weeks after the killing, disguised as payment for handyman work, and heard that Tenon's DNA was recovered from the rim of the tire left in the roadway, according to NBC News' account of the trial.

A custody battle turned deadly

Investigators have alleged the plot grew out of a contentious custody dispute between Bridegan and Gardner over the twins they shared. Gardner, who later married Fernandez Saldana, is charged separately with first-degree murder, conspiracy, solicitation and child abuse in connection with the killing; she has pleaded not guilty, and jury selection in her trial is scheduled to begin August 31, with opening statements set for September 8, according to Action News Jax. Tenon initially agreed to plead guilty and testify against Fernandez Saldana but later withdrew that deal; he is now set to stand trial separately in 2027.

Circuit Judge London Kite has scheduled Fernandez Saldana's sentencing for October 5. First-degree murder in Florida carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Prosecutors had initially given notice they would seek the death penalty against both Fernandez Saldana and Gardner, but withdrew that option last November, with Bridegan's family saying at the time they did not want to prolong the case through years of appeals.

The verdict closes the first chapter of a case that has drawn national attention since 2022, one that at one point prompted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign an extradition warrant to bring Gardner back to Florida to face charges. "Truth won today," Bridegan's widow, Kirsten Bridegan, said after Wednesday's verdict, according to News4Jax. For Bridegan's family, it was the first of what could be two more trials before the case is fully resolved.