Tommy Schaefer, an American citizen convicted of killing his girlfriend’s mother in Indonesia, has reportedly been sent back to the United States, according to The Sun. Schaefer, who is infamously known as the “suitcase killer,” now faces federal charges in America.
Schaefer has spent just under 12 years behind bars in Kerobokan prison in Bali for the 2014 killing of Chicago socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack. He was dating von Wiese-Mack’s daughter, Heather Mack, at that time, with whom he carried out the attack. Schaefer and Mack, who was pregnant with his child, were vacationing at the St. Regis Bali Resort in 2014 when they planned the murder.
The Mirror reported that Schaefer has been charged with three federal counts in Chicago as he returns to the U.S. He is facing charges of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, foreign murder of a U.S. national and obstruction of justice.
FBI Chicago SAC DePodesta’s Statement on Tommy Schaefer’s Return to Chicago to Face Federal Charges for the 2014 Murder of U.S. Citizen in Bali, Indonesia. Read more: https://t.co/AS3HPDf9bu pic.twitter.com/qrzIUJP7d5
— FBI Chicago (@FBIChicago) February 26, 2026
On Thursday, February 26, Schaefer pleaded not guilty and his trial is now set for January 2027. A federal judge has ordered his detention without bail until the trial, as per The Sun.
According to prosecutors, the motive behind his crime was a $1.5 million trust fund tied to von Wiese-Mack’s estate. The investigation revealed that Schaefer beat the woman to death with a fruit bowl inside their hotel room, as his girlfriend pinned her mother’s mouth shut.
The pair then folded her body into a suitcase, wheeled it out of the hotel, and loaded it in the trunk of a cab. As per officials, they were pulled in the next day after the suitcase was discovered. Following their arrest, they managed to avoid executing by firing squad as per the Indonesian law.
In 2015, Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years in prison by an Indonesian court. However, he managed to walk out of Kerobokan ahead of his term on good conduct.
“Tommy was released today. He was sentenced to 18 years and received a sentence cut of 75 months and 120 days. He has been in prison for 12 years. We handed him over to immigration,” Kerobokan Prison chief Hudi Ismono said in an official statement.
JUST IN: Tommy Schaefer, the ex-boyfriend of Heather Mack, pleads not guilty through an attorney to conspiring to murder Sheila von Wiese-Mack of Oak Park in 2014. https://t.co/1bRkjNVvQ3
— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) February 26, 2026
While waiting for his deportation paperwork, Schaefer told The Sun, “I’m feeling good and I’m happy. I can enjoy life, God is good.”
Meanwhile, Schaefer’s then-girlfriend Mack, who was 18 at that time, received a 10-year-term in Bali. She was deported back to America in 2021 after serving seven years in Indonesia. She was detained by FBI agents at the O’Hare International Airport.
Mack did not go to trial – instead she reached an agreement with prosecutors. She pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy count in exchange for the other charges being dismissed. In 2024, she was sentenced to 26 years in prison.
