Shanna Fernandez, 35, pictured, has hired attorney Henry Coxe III, the former president of the Florida Bar who specializes in federal and state criminal matters

The ex-wife of a Microsoft exec who was shot and killed in front of his two-year-old daughter has hired a criminal defense lawyer as it’s revealed she allegedly ‘spied on him’ during a bitter divorce. 

Shanna Fernandez, 35, and her new husband, Mario, have hired attorney Henry Coxe III, the former president of the Florida Bar who specializes in federal and state criminal matters, as the murder of her ex-husband, Jared Bridegan, remains unsolved. 

Coxe told Fox News on Tuesday that he was retained by the Jacksonville Beach couple ‘for the purpose of seeing if steps could be taken to protect her young twins from any publicity surrounding this tragic event.

‘As for any other reason for the family to have or need counsel, whether it be myself or anyone else, there is none,’ he added. 

The legal move comes as Fernandez and Bridegan’s relationship has been heavily scrutinized by investigators after the father of four was gunned down on February 16, with new details continuing to emerge about the couple’s messy split. 

Shanna Fernandez, 35, pictured, has hired attorney Henry Coxe III, the former president of the Florida Bar who specializes in federal and state criminal matters

Shanna Fernandez, 35, pictured, has hired attorney Henry Coxe III, the former president of the Florida Bar who specializes in federal and state criminal matters

Coxe said he was retained by Fernandez and her husband Mario to protect the privacy of her twins, Abby and Liam (the blended family pictured) as the murder case of her ex-husband and the kid's biological father remains unsolved

Coxe said he was retained by Fernandez and her husband Mario to protect the privacy of her twins, Abby and Liam (the blended family pictured) as the murder case of her ex-husband and the kid’s biological father remains unsolved

Pictured: Jared and his wife, Kirsten, the twins and their two daughters Brexley, two, and London, seven-months. Kirsten says she wants to find out who killed her husband to be able to explain his death to his children

Pictured: Jared and his wife, Kirsten, the twins and their two daughters Brexley, two, and London, seven-months. Kirsten says she wants to find out who killed her husband to be able to explain his death to his children 

Jared Bridegan, 33, was murdered in a targeted attack in Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Jared's two-year-old daughter Brexley was in the car when he was murdered

Jared’s two-year-old daughter Brexley was in the car when he was murdered. She still asks her mother about ‘the boom’ – which is how she refers to the gunshots she heard

A friend of the couple told Fox that Bridegan and Fernandez’s relationship started out lovingly, but finances were always at play in the background. 

Fernandez – the daughter of Sterling and Shelli Gardner, who co-founded the Utah-based Stampin’ Up! paper crafts company – allegedly wooed Bridegan in 2009 with the promise of a luxury from her parent’s $100 million business. 

‘It was like she was saying, ‘Look what my lifestyle is like, I can fly you all over, my parents pay for everything,’ the friend told Fox.

By 2015, the couple had moved to Bridegan’s native Jacksonville Beach with their twins, Abby and Liam, to accommodate Liam’s heart condition that required him to live at sea level. 

That’s when the marriage broke apart and Fernandez filed for a divorce, saying their marriage was ‘irretrievably broken,’ according to court documents. 

During the proceedings, Fernandez demanded exclusive occupancy of the families home and custody of the twins, accusing their dad of threatening to withdraw cash from their children’s trust funds for his own use, Fox reported. 

Bridegan told the court that he deserved custody, alimony and child support support payments and ownership of the home given that she had the means to live elsewhere. 

He also accused her of spying hon him by hiding baby monitors in the twin’s bedroom, one under Abby’s dresser and another under Liam’s bed, as well as attaching a tracking device to his car. 

‘This is enough!!! I should have every damn right on my own property to not constantly be under recording or monitoring by Shanna,’ he wrote to his divorce lawyer on May 17, 2015. ‘I want the flipping gates of Hell released on her for this.’ 

Bridegan added that Fernandez had allegedly cancelled an important heart surgery appointment for their son in June 2015, the final straw for the dad who had once tried to preserve his marriage. 

Jared and Kirsten met on a dating app when she was living in North Carolina and he was in Florida. They got married in 2017 and are shown on their wedding day with his kids from his first marriage as he continued legal battles with Fernandez

Jared and Kirsten met on a dating app when she was living in North Carolina and he was in Florida. They got married in 2017 and are shown on their wedding day with his kids from his first marriage as he continued legal battles with Fernandez 

Kirsten told all gathered that she hopes to send a message and 'put pressure' on those responsible for the February 16 shooting that took place just minutes from both the park and Shanna Fernandez's nearby home

Kirsten told all gathered that she hopes to send a message and ‘put pressure’ on those responsible for the February 16 shooting that took place just minutes from both the park and Shanna Fernandez’s nearby home

Although their agreed to share custody in 2015, the couple continue to fight in court for six years, during which both of them got hitched to other people. 

Bridegan married Kristen in 2017, who he has two children with, while Fernandez married Mario in 2018. 

During the on-going legal battle, Fernandez filed her own set of accusations against Bridegan, claiming in 2019 that he was coaching their children to make statements against her and recording the testimonials for court, Fox reported. 

She demanded a social investigation to the matter, which was denied, and then in June 2021, she filed another motion accusing her ex-husband of not letting her borrow a breathing machine for their son. 

‘The father apparently considers his vindictiveness toward the mother more important than protecting his son’s health and life,’ her attorney wrote in the filing. 

The court awarded Fernandez $571 and exclusive ownership of the breathing device for her son four month before Bridegan would be murdered. 

Bridegan had just dropped the twins back at his ex-wife’s house on February 16 at around 7.30pm and was taking his regular route home when he stopped to move a tire placed in the road – a trap, police think, set to lure him out of his vehicle.

He was shot multiple times at close range next to the driver’s door of his Volkswagen Atlas. Bridegan’s two-year-old daughter, Bexley, was in the car, strapped in her child-seat.

The brutal crime sent shockwaves through the quiet Florida beach town with Bridegan’s friends and family expressing profound shock that anyone should have targeted the man whom, they say, had no enemies.

The devout Mormon tech executive was, according to his grieving widow, a devoted and wonderful father to twins Liam and Abbie, daughter Bexley and their youngest daughter London, just seven months old.

Kirsten held a memorial service for her late husband in March, which was not attended by Fernandez, nor their twins, Abby and Liam

Kirsten held a memorial service for her late husband in March, which was not attended by Fernandez, nor their twins, Abby and Liam

The Microsoft executive was found 2.2miles from Shanna's home after dropping off the kids on February 16. It was on a quiet patch of road, where there were no security cameras

The Microsoft executive was found 2.2miles from Shanna’s home after dropping off the kids on February 16. It was on a quiet patch of road, where there were no security cameras 

In now deleted blog posts, obtained by DailyMail.com, Bridegan's former mother-in-law, Shelli Gardner, 60, initially claimed that Shanna 'and everybody who knows her' was 'uninvited' from the funeral

In now deleted blog posts, obtained by DailyMail.com, Bridegan’s former mother-in-law, Shelli Gardner, 60, initially claimed that Shanna ‘and everybody who knows her’ was ‘uninvited’ from the funeral

Despite the tragedy, Fernandez and the twins did not attend his funeral and instead held a separate memorial service some weeks later.

In now deleted blog posts, obtained by DailyMail.com, Bridegan’s former mother-in-law, Shelli, 60, initially claimed that Fernandez ‘and everybody who knows her’ was ‘uninvited’ from the funeral.

She wrote, ‘After Shanna (along with everybody who knew her) was uninvited from Jared’s funeral services, Shanna and the twins planned their own celebration of life.’

When comments were posted taking issue with this statement Gardner posted once more, writing, ‘As everyone knows there are multiple sides to every story and I’ve chosen not to share our side, for the sake of everyone involved, especially our children.

‘I would like to clarify a couple of points. Yes, Kirsten offered to arrange to pick up Liam and Abby prior to the memorial service and then bring them back…but since not one person from Jared’s family, including his parents, had reached out to Liam and Abby, the twins didn’t want to be without their mom.’

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