The State Attorney s Office obtained the first-degree murder indictments from a Duval County Grand Jury Thursday. Author: First Coast News Staff Published: 5:16 PM EST February 25, 2021 Updated: 6:42 PM EST February 25, 2021
DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. A former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective could face the death penalty for his alleged role in a 1999 cold case murder.
The State Attorney s Office obtained a first-degree murder indictment of William Baer from a Duval County Grand Jury Thursday.
Prosecutors told First Coast News that they will seek the death penalty.
Baer is accused of stabbing 39-year-old Saad Kawaf to death during a botched robbery of his Deerwood home. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors told First Coast News that they will seek the death penalty.
Baer is accused of stabbing 39-year-old Saad Kawaf to death during a botched robbery of his Deerwood home. He has pleaded not guilty.
On May 17, 1999, Kawaf said goodbye to his wife before walking out the door to head to work. Law enforcement said Baer and his ex-wife, Melissa Jo Schafer were waiting outside and attacked Kawaf in his driveway.
Kawaf’s wife later told officers she heard a scream and when she opened the door she saw her husband being dragged into the garage while being beaten and stabbed. His wife said she was then grabbed by a female attacker and dragged back into the home and bound.
Grand jury indicts 2 for murder in Jacksonville cold cases news4jax.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news4jax.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Murder suspect interview released in 1999 cold case
Melissa Jo Schafer pleaded guilty to murder in the 1999 stabbing death of Saad Kawaf. A newly released interview shows Schafer in tears as detectives question her. Author: Anne Schindler, First Coast News Staff, Mindy Wadley Published: 1:05 PM EST February 5, 2021 Updated: 1:05 PM EST February 5, 2021
JACKSONVILLE, Fla
(Note: The video above is from October 2020.)
The full interview of a woman who pleaded guilty in a decades-old murder investigation was released Friday, more than 20 years after the 1999 stabbing death of Jacksonville convenience store owner Saad Kawaf.
Melissa Jo Schafer was interrogated by police detectives in July 2020. She s accused, along with her ex-husband, in Kawaf s death.
Tearful guilty plea in 1999 cold case murder of convenience store owner
The ex-wife of a former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective pleaded guilty to murder, will now testify against William Billy Baer. Author: First Coast News Staff Published: 6:52 AM EST December 18, 2020 Updated: 10:02 AM EST February 5, 2021
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.
Speaking through tears, Melissa Jo Schafer pleaded guilty to five counts of murder and aggravated battery Friday morning.
She admitted she helped her ex-husband, a former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective, kill a man in a decades-old cold case.
Schafer faces 31 years in prison, and although she has agreed to testify against her ex-husband, she said she was not promised a lesser sentence to do so.