Tommy Schaefer Faces US Charges After Killing Heather Mack’s Mom in Bali

In August 2014, Chicago resident Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, was on vacation in Bali, Indonesia, with her then-18-year-old daughter, Heather Mack. Mack's boyfriend at the time, Tommy Schaefer, then 21, also joined them in Bali. On August 12 at the St. Regis Bali Resort, Schaefer killed von Wiese-Mack by striking her with a fruit bowl. He and Mack then attempted to hide the crime by stuffing the body into a suitcase. They loaded the bag into a taxi at the hotel, then abandoned it.

The taxi driver went to the police after noticing blood spots on the case in his trunk. The grisly outcome of what was supposed to be a mother-daughter vacation received global attention as both Schaefer and Mack went on trial for murder in Indonesia. They were each convicted in 2015.

Schaefer received an 18-year sentence, but, thanks in part to good behavior, he was released in February 2026 after serving 11 years. He was then deported. On his way back to the United States, Schaefer was arrested on federal charges of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, one count of conspiracy to commit foreign murder of a U.S. national and obstruction of justice for his role in von Wiese-Mack's killing.

A 2017 federal indictment against Schaefer and Mack was unsealed in November 2021 when Mack was arrested in the United States after serving seven years of her 10-year sentence in Indonesia.

The Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy Clause, which prohibits Americans from being prosecuted twice for the same crime, doesn’t come into play in this case because Mack and Schaefer was previously convicted in Indonesia. "Double jeopardy applies if it's the same government that files the same charges against the same defendants," Richard Kling, a clinical professor of law at the Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Tech and a practicing attorney, tells A&E Crime + Investigation.

The conspiracy charges stem from messages sent before and during the Bali trip in which Schaefer discussed killing von Wiese-Mack with Mack and his cousin Robert Ryan Justin Bibbs. Mack, who'd had a tumultuous relationship with her mother, wanted to access a million-dollar trust, and Schaefer and Bibbs expected to benefit from Mack's financial windfall.

Just because Schaefer texted Bibbs about the murder while in Indonesia didn’t mean they could avoid federal charges in the U.S. "Federal law can reach to actions or conduct or criminal wrongdoing that occurs overseas," Wayne Unger, a professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law, tells A&E Crime + Investigation.

Schaefer had been represented by Chicago attorney Thomas Durkin, but Durkin died in 2025, so at Schaefer’s arraignment on February 26, 2026, he expressed a desire to represent himself. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that he told Judge Matthew Kennelly, "Where my life is on the line, I’d rather speak for myself."

While every defendant has constitutional right to defend themselves, "pro se litigants are a nightmare for the judge and the prosecution," Kling says. "Trial judges know the case is going to go on appeal if the defendant loses, and so they want to make sure that a record is adequate for the appellate court to decide whether or not the guy had a fair trial."

Kling adds that Judge Kennelly, who oversaw Schaefer's arraignment and sentenced Mack in her federal case, "is one of the most experienced judges in the building, so he is ever vigilant in terms of how to protect the record."

After questioning from Kennelly, Schaefer admitted in court, "I'm not really sure how everything goes," per the Chicago Tribune. The judge encouraged Schaefer to accept legal guidance, and Schaefer agreed to let attorney Matthew Madden represent him that day.

If Schaefer doesn't continue with Madden or another lawyer, he's risking a negative outcome, Kling says, as he will likely not file pretrial motions or get discovery to prepare for trial.

Kling adds that a lack of legal knowledge doesn't mean Schaefer will get a pass for any mistakes: "The United States Supreme Court has said a defendant who represents [themself] is held to the same standard as an experienced criminal defense attorney. He's not going to be able to come in later and say, 'Well, I didn't know what I was doing because I'm not really a lawyer.'"

In regards to Schaefer’s conspiracy charge, Michael Benza, a professor at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law, tells A&E Crime + Investigation, "You don't have to prove that they completed the crime, but you have to prove that there was an agreement among this group of people to commit the crime."

Unger specifies that while text messages can show that an agreement exists, an act demonstrating that the agreement was sincere is also necessary for a conviction. "Here, because the actual killing occurred, that in itself is the evidence of the sincerity of the agreement," he says.

In 2015, Bibbs was arrested on federal charges of conspiring to kill von Wiese-Mack. The following year, he agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit the foreign murder of a U.S. national. In June 2017, he was sentenced to nine years in prison.

In her own deal, Mack pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to kill a U.S. national in June 2023. She received a 26-year sentence in January 2024.

Unger notes that because the other members of the conspiracy opted for deals instead of going to trial, "the authenticity of those text messages has not been proven in court." If the text messages are authentic, he says that for Schaefer, "We can assume that they will be extremely damaging."

Kennelly scheduled Schaefer's trial for January 2027. Unger emphasizes that Schaefer has a constitutional right to a trial, and it's up to the prosecution to prove his guilt. But, he adds, "Based on my research into the case and the evidence that's available in the public domain, if I was his defense counsel, I would strongly encourage him to accept a plea deal. That's probably the best outcome he's going to get."