JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —
Speaking through tears, Melissa Jo Schafer pleaded guilty to five counts of murder and aggravated battery Friday morning.
She admitted she helped her ex-husband, a former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective, kill a man in a decades-old cold case.
Schafer faces 31 years in prison, and although she has agreed to testify against her ex-husband, she said she was not promised a lesser sentence to do so.
William “Billy” Baer, and his ex-wife Melissa Jo Schafer were charged in July with killing convenience store owner Saad Kawaf in May 1999 and stealing $30,000 in cash from his wife. Case investigators believe money was the motive for the crime.
The two were arrested after prosecutors say a genealogy database linked blood evidence collected at the crime scene to the DNA of the defendants’ relative.
At Friday's hearing, Chief Assistant State Attorney L.E. Hutton said blood drops found on a kitchen counter matched Schafer. Police reports indicate she struggled with Kawaf's wife before duct-taping her to a chair.
Schafer was apparently also bitten by Kawaf's wife on her chest, and still bears a scar.
Baer's case will move forward unless he offers a plea deal. Schafer's next court date is March 24.
