American is freed after 11 years for Bali 'suitcase murder,' but a US
case awaits
[February 26, 2026] By
EDNA TARIGAN
JAKARTA,
Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia freed and deported an American man Tuesday
after he spent 11 years in prison for the premeditated murder of his
then-girlfriend’s mother on the island of Bali, but he's still on the
hook for federal charges back home.
Tommy
Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the 2014 murder of
Sheila von Wiese-Mack, a wealthy Chicago socialite, during a luxury
vacation. The case became known as the Bali “ suitcase murder ” because
her battered body was found in a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi at an
upscale resort.
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In this March 12, 2015 file photo, Heather Mack, left, and her boyfriend
Tommy Schaefer, both from Chicago, Ill., who are accused of of murdering
Mack's mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack whose body was later found in a
suitcase, enter the court room prior to the start of their trial hearing
at the district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Firdia
Lisnawati, File) |
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The couple was trying to gain access to a $1.5 million trust
fund, prosecutors have said, with Heather Mack covering her
62-year-old mother’s mouth while Schaefer bludgeoned her with a
fruit bowl. Police in Bali arrested Mack, nearly 19 at the time
and a few weeks pregnant, and the then-21-year-old Schaefer a
day later.
Schaefer was deported Tuesday evening back to the United States
from Bali International Airport after serving his sentence and
receiving a number of remissions for good behavior, said Felucia
Sengky Ratna, head of the Bali Regional Office of the
Directorate General of Immigration, in a statement.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service, which transports
federal prisoners, confirmed Schaefer was in custody and arrived
in Illinois on Wednesday. The spokesperson said the FBI handled
his movement.
Schaefer was scheduled to make an initial court appearance in
Chicago on Thursday morning on federal charges of conspiracy to
kill someone in a foreign country, conspiracy to commit murder
and tampering with a victim.
Schaefer's lawyer in the U.S. case, Chicago-based Thomas Durkin,
died last year. Court records on Wednesday showed a new
attorney, Matthew Madden, also of Chicago, is now representing
him. Madden did not immediately respond to an email seeking
comment.
Mack served seven years of a 10-year prison sentence in Bali for
helping to kill her mother and was deported in October 2021.
She was also sentenced to 26 years in prison in Chicago in
January 2024, after she pleaded guilty to helping kill her
mother and stuffing the body in the suitcase.
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Associated Press writer Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin,
contributed.
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