Retired Jacksonville detective pleads guilty in 1999 murder

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A retired Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective connected Tuesday pleaded blameworthy successful the robbery and stabbing decease of a businessman successful 1999.

William Baer, present 65, pleaded blameworthy to first-degree murder, kidnapping with a weapon, equipped robbery and aggravated artillery with a deadly weapon. As portion of a plea agreement, the decease punishment was taken disconnected the table, and Judge Mark Borello sentenced Baer to beingness successful prison.

Saad Kawaf, who was killed successful his Deerwood location successful May 1999, was nether investigation for not reporting $407,000 successful currency transactions, according to authorities investigators.

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Baer — who was with the Sheriff’s Office for 27 years, joining successful 1975 and retiring successful 2002 — was moving connected a fiscal crimes task unit astatine the time.

“He’s a disgrace to his name, to his household and yet the badge. He committed the eventual betrayal. He utilized instrumentality enforcement accusation successful bid to perpetrate a transgression to instrumentality a life,” Assistant State Attorney L.E. Hutton said astatine Tuesday’s hearing.

Baer and his ex-wife, Melissa Schafer, were alert of a ample sum of wealth astatine Kawaf’s state nine home. Posing arsenic realtors, prosecutors said, Baer stabbed Kawaf with a hunting weapon and duct-taped his woman to a chair. Kawaf died of his injuries.

Heather Kayal, Kawaf’s niece, spoke astatine the proceeding connected behalf of the victim’s family, thanking police, prosecutors and Project Cold Case.

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“I don’t deliberation you tin ever get afloat closure due to the fact that you can’t get your loved 1 back, but I decidedly consciousness similar justness being served is confirmation that 1 should clasp retired hope,” Kayal said.

In July 2020, JSO announced the arrests of Baer and Schafer successful Kawaf’s decease aft a DNA lucifer successful a concern with Project Cold Case. Schafer pleaded blameworthy successful December 2020 to second-degree execution and 4 different counts connected to his death.

Baer did not attest astatine Tuesday’s hearing, but his lad spoke connected his behalf, saying Schafer was an evil influence. His lawyer said helium had a grounds of fantabulous work to the assemblage arsenic a respected officer, but the justice said that made the transgression that overmuch much horrific.

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Baer’s lawyer said helium has superior aesculapian conditions from crab and asked that helium walk his condemnation astatine a situation infirmary successful Lake Butler. The authorities volition marque the last determination connected that.

Schafer is owed backmost successful tribunal connected Oct. 25. She faces 31 years to beingness successful prison.

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