JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman who confessed to helping her husband rob and murder a Jacksonville store owner was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday. Her husband was a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office police officer at the time.
Saad Kawaf was murdered in 1999, and for years his family didn’t know who killed him, until DNA evidence connected William Baer and Melissa Schafer to the crime leading to their 2020 arrest.
Baer was sentenced to life in prison in 2021, and Schafer was sentenced Friday, to 30 years, telling the Kawaf family she was sorry.
“Killing someone was not a part of the plan,” Schafer said.
Schafer also apologized to her family.
“I need you to know I did not I did not want to be there, I followed what he told me to do,” Schafer said in court.
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Schafer said Baer was an abusive and manipulative husband who told her robbing Kawaf was fine because Kawaf was stealing.
Kawaf was murdered in his garage. His wife was tied up. Baer and Schafer robbed them for thousands of dollars.
After the crime, Schafer kept the secret and moved to Missouri where she raised her children. JSO traveled there to interview her, when she confessed.
“If I had turned myself in years ago, maybe the pain would’ve stopped sooner,” Schafer said.
Schafer’s attorney, Public Defender Charlie Cofer, asked the judge for mercy in sentencing.
“The remorse she demonstrated was genuine,” Cofer said.
Judge Mark Borello said he respected Schafer’s remorse however, she actively participated in an armed robbery that led to Kawaf’s death and ran from justice for decades.
Schafer has 30 days to appeal her sentence.