Ex-wife of JSO detective pleads guilty in 1999 murder
Husband William Baer was a JSO officer in 1999 when Jacksonville business owner Saad Kawaf was killed
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than two decades after convenience store owner Saad Kawaf was killed, the former wife of a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective at the time pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and four other violent crimes connected to his death.
Melissa Schafer and her then-husband, JSO Officer William Baer, were linked to the killing through DNA evidence found under Kawaf’s fingernails and blood found at the crime scene.
Police said Schafer and Baer robbed Kawaf and his wife because they had over $50,000 in cash in their Deerwood home. Kawaf was stabbed multiple times and his wife was tied up.
A Jacksonville police officer s ex-wife, arrested with him in July on charges of killing a convenience store owner in 1999, accepted a plea deal Friday in exchange for testifying against him, the State Attorney s Office said.
Melissa Jo Schafer, 51, jailed along with William Robert Baer Jr. on second-degree murder and armed-robbery charges, agreed to testify in the stabbing death of 39-year-old Saad Kawaf, the State Attorney s Office said.
With Public Defender Charlie Cofer at her side, a tearful Schafer confirmed her voluntary pleas to Circuit Court Judge Gilbert Feltel Jr. Are you entering these pleas of guilty because you did indeed commit these crimes,? Feltel asked.
Cold case murder of convenience store owner could be headed toward plea deal
The ex-wife of a former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective accused of murder is scheduled for an expected plea deal Friday. Author: Anne Schindler Updated: 1:11 PM EST December 15, 2020
JACKSONVILLE, Fla A plea deal may be imminent in the case of a former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective and his wife charged in the murder of a convenience store owner in the late 1990s.
According to a new court filing in the case, Melissa Jo Schafer the ex-wife of retired JSO Det. William “Billy” Baer is scheduled for a “disposition” Friday. The case had been scheduled for a routine pre-trial hearing on Wednesday, but was moved Tuesday and slated for formal resolution, which is called a “disposition.”