JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A retired Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective has entered a not guilty plea Wednesday morning on charges of second-degree murder, armed robbery, armed burglary, armed kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
William Baer, 64, and his ex-wife, Melissa Schafer, 51, were arrested July 1 for the stabbing of 39-year-old Saad Kawaf in the Deerwood/Baymeadows area in 1999.
Baer waived his appearance in court today, and his lawyer submitted the not guilty pleas.
“To give a basic rundown of the incident is, the victim along with his wife, in those morning hours were approached by a white male and white female suspect, in which the victim was stabbed multiple times and succumbed to his injuries. The female victim was tied up and approximately $30,000 in funds, cash, was stolen,” explains Undersheriff Pat Ivey in a press briefing earlier this month.
According to JSO, Baer was with the Sheriff’s Office for 27 years, joining in 1975 and retired in 2002. At the time of the murder, Baer had been an intelligence division detective and knew the victim through work.
In 2003, Ivey says two DNA profiles were developed. Then in May 2020, he says further genetic testing led to the development of profiles that gave indications of who the suspects were. Ultimately, in June 2020, Ivey says the FDLE was able to provide detectives with the names of the potential suspects.
Schafer was taken into custody in Jefferson City, Missouri and was admitted in the Duval County pre-trial detention center on July 22. She has been charged with murder and armed robbery. She will be facing a judge on August 8.