American is freed after 11 years for Bali 'suitcase murder' but a US case awaits
Indonesia has freed and deported an American man after 11 years in prison for killing his girlfriend’s mother, in a case that became known as the Bali “suitcase murder.”
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 tourist 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, the mother of Heather Mack, during a luxury vacation in what became known as the Bali “ suitcase murder.” The couple was trying to gain access to a $1.5 million trust fund, prosecutors have said.
Schaefer was deported back to the United States from Bali International Airport on Tuesday evening 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.
The battered body of 62-year-old von Wiese-Mack, a wealthy Chicago socialite, was found in a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi parked at the upscale St. Regis Bali Resort in August 2014.
Heather Mack, nearly 19 at the time and a few weeks pregnant, and her then-21-year-old boyfriend, Schaefer, were arrested on the island a day later. Prosecutors said Mack covered her mother’s mouth while Schaefer bludgeoned her with a fruit bowl.
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Mack served seven years of a 10-year prison sentence in Bali for helping to kill her mother and was deported in October 2021.
Schaefer faces federal charges in the U.S. of conspiracy to kill someone in a foreign country, conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with a victim. He was scheduled to make an initial court appearance on those counts in Chicago on Thursday morning.
It’s not clear whether Schaefer has an attorney in the U.S. case. His prior attorney, listed in court records as Chicago-based Thomas Durkin, died last year.
The U.S. Marshals Service handles transporting federal prisoners. No one immediately responded to a message The Associated Press left in the agency’s general media email inbox Wednesday inquiring about whether Schaefer had arrived in the United States and was in custody.
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