JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After more than 20 years, family members of Saad Kawaf learned the fate of a woman who admitted to helping kill him.
Melissa Jo Schafer, the ex-wife of retired JSO Det. William “Billy” Baer, pleaded guilty to five counts of murder and aggravated battery in 2020 in relation to the 1999 murder.
She admitted she helped Baer kill Kawaf, a convenience store owner, in his Deerwood home after they both learned about the large cash deposits he made.
In the confession, obtained exclusively by First Coast News, she tearfully tells detectives, “I’m just glad it’s over.”
On Friday, Schaffer was sentenced to 30 years in Florida State Prison.
Baer pleaded guilty in September 2021 to multiple crimes including first degree murder and kidnapping in a move to avoid the death penalty.
He will serve three concurrent life sentences plus 15 years for his crimes.
In May 1999, Kawaf was stabbed to death and his wife was tied up in the home. She survived the attack. Roughly $30,000 in cash was also reportedly stolen.
According to the arrest warrant for Baer, blood and nail clippings from the scene were run through genetic genealogy databases and lead current cold case detectives to arrest Baer and Schafer.