A woman who confessed to helping her husband rob and murder a Jacksonville store owner was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than two decades after convenience store owner Saad Kawaf was killed, the former wife of a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective at the time pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and four other violent crimes connected to his death. Police said Schafer and Baer robbed Kawaf and his wife because they had over $50,000 in cash in their Deerwood home. In court Friday, Schafer became emotional as she admitted to assisting in the murder and agreed to testify truthfully in future prosecutions. According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, DNA evidence collected from the attack later pointed to Baer and Schafer, who were married at the time of the attack. Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo of William BaerBaer was with the Sheriff’s Office for 27 years, joining in 1975 and retiring in 2002.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The State Attorneys Office on Wednesday filed additional charges against William Baer, a retired Jacksonville detective who was arrested earlier this month in the 1999 stabbing death of business owner Saad Kawaf. William Baer, 64, is now charged with second-degree murder, armed robbery, armed burglary, armed kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Baers attorneys filed a bond motion in which they listed a variety of long-term health issues. As of Wednesday, there was no ruling yet on the bond motion. At the time of the Kawafs death, Baer was actively investigating Kawaf for an unspecified crime, according to police.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Attorneys for William Baer, a retired Jacksonville detective accused of murder, have asked a judge to set a bond for their client, contending his life is in danger at the Duval County jail due to COVID-19. Baer is charged with murder and armed robbery in the 1999 stabbing death of Saad Kawaf. Saad Kawaf (Courtesy of Jacksonville Sheriff's Office)Lawyers for Baer, now 64, filed a bond motion in which they listed a variety of long-term health issues. Lawyers cited Baers 27-years of service to JSO and his longstanding membership at North Baptist Church in the bond motion, and assured the judge he is not a flight risk. At the time of the murder, Baer was actively investigating Kawaf for an unspecified crime, according to police.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After an investigation spanning more than two decades, Jacksonville police have announced the arrest of a retired Jacksonville detective and his then-wife in the murder of a business owner. Based on those profiles, Ivey said, William Robert Baer Jr., 64, who is a retired JSO officer, was arrested in Jacksonville on Wednesday. Ivey said Melissa Schafer, 50, who was Baer’s then-wife, was arrested in Jefferson City, Missouri. RELATED: What we know about retired Jacksonville officer arrested in cold case murderIn May 1999, Kawaf was getting ready to leave his home in the gated community of Deerwood on the city’s Southside. At the time of the murder, Baer was actively investigating Kawaf for an unspecified crime, according to police.