Chicago man deported from Bali after prison release for murder arrested on flight back to US
A Chicago man convicted in the 2014 suitcase killing of his girlfriend’s mother in Bali was arrested in international airspace on a flight to the U.S. to face federal murder conspiracy charges.
The Department of Justice said Tommy Schaefer, 32, of Chicago, faces a three-count indictment in the Northern District of Illinois charging him with conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy to commit foreign murder of a U.S. national and obstruction.
Prosecutors say Schaefer conspired with girlfriend Heather Mack to murder her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, during a 2014 trip to Bali, Indonesia.
Court filings say Mack arranged Schaefer’s travel to Bali as part of the plan. In the days before the attack, Schaefer exchanged messages with his cousin, Ryan Bibbs, about how to carry out the killing.
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Bibbs pleaded guilty in December 2016 to conspiracy to commit foreign murder of a U.S. national after admitting he advised Schaefer on the killing. Court records show Mack also asked Bibbs whether he knew someone who would murder her mother for money.
Authorities allege Schaefer and Mack discussed the timing and details of the killing before carrying it out Aug. 12, 2014, inside von Wiese-Mack’s hotel room. Afterward, investigators say, they concealed her body in a suitcase and placed it in the trunk of a taxi.
Prosecutors have said the motive was financial, alleging the couple sought access to a $1.5 million trust fund, according to The Associated Press. In August 2014, von Wiese-Mack’s body was discovered inside a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi parked at the St. Regis Bali Resort.
Mack was 19 and several weeks pregnant at the time of the killing, while Schaefer was 21, the AP reported. Prosecutors said Mack covered her mother’s mouth as Schaefer struck her with a fruit bowl. The pair were arrested the day after the body was discovered.
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The following year, both were convicted in Indonesia in the murder. Mack received a 10-year prison sentence. After her release and return to the United States, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kill a U.S. national and was sentenced in June 2023 to 26 years in federal prison.
Schaefer was sentenced in Indonesia to 18 years in prison. He was returned to the United States after completing his term, which Indonesian officials reduced through remissions and good behavior credits.
If convicted on the federal charges, Schaefer faces up to life in prison on the first two counts and up to 20 years on the obstruction charge and fines of up to $250,000.
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and The Associated Press contributed to this report.