Tommy Schaefer, a 32-year-old from Chicago, has been returned to the United States to face federal charges related to the 2014 murder of Sheila Von Weise in Bali, Indonesia. He was arrested while traveling back to the U.S. and is charged in the Northern District of Illinois with conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy to commit foreign murder of a U.S. national, and obstruction.
Prosecutors allege that Schaefer conspired with his girlfriend, Heather Mack, to kill Mack’s mother while Mack and Von Weise were on vacation in Bali. According to court documents, Mack arranged for Schaefer’s travel to Bali with the intent of carrying out the murder. The indictment states that before the killing, Schaefer discussed possible methods with his cousin Ryan Bibbs through exchanged messages. In December 2016, Bibbs pleaded guilty for providing advice on how to carry out the crime. Documents also show that Mack had asked Bibbs if he knew anyone willing to kill her mother for money.
The indictment further alleges that Schaefer and Mack planned when and how they would commit the murder and executed their plan on August 12, 2014, inside Von Weise’s hotel room. Afterward, it is alleged they placed her body in a suitcase and loaded it into a taxi trunk.
Both Schaefer and Mack were convicted by Indonesian authorities for crimes connected to Von Weise’s death in 2015. Mack received a ten-year prison sentence in Indonesia but was released early; after returning to the U.S., she pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and was sentenced in June 2023 to 26 years in prison. Schaefer was sentenced in Indonesia to eighteen years but was released early due to sentence reductions for good behavior before being returned yesterday.
If found guilty on all counts, Schaefer could face up to life imprisonment for two counts and up to twenty years for obstruction, as well as fines up to $250,000. Sentencing will be determined by a federal judge based on guidelines and statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros of the Northern District of Illinois, and Special Agent in Charge Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI Chicago Field Office announced these developments.
The FBI is conducting the investigation into this case.
Acting Deputy Chief Frank Rangoussis from the Justice Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Marie Ursini are prosecuting this case with assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
“An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
