Sheila von Wiese-Mack, a 62-year-old widow from Oak Park, Illinois, was beaten to death on August 12, 2014, in her room at the St. Regis Bali Resort in Indonesia, and her body was stuffed into a suitcase and left in the trunk of a taxi outside the hotel. Her daughter, Heather Mack, and Heather’s boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, were convicted of the killing in Indonesia in 2015. Nearly a decade later, both were also charged in U.S. federal court, along with a third conspirator, in a case that has stretched across two countries and more than eleven years.
Who Sheila von Wiese-Mack Was
Sheila von Wiese-Mack lived in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, and later in an apartment on Lake Shore Drive after selling the family home to a developer in 2012.1Forest Park Review. Bali Investigators Finish Suitcase Murder Investigation She was the widow of James L. Mack, a Chicago-based conductor, composer, and music educator who died in 2006 at age 76.2Chicago Tribune. James L. Mack, 1929-2006 After his death, Sheila raised the couple’s daughter, Heather, on her own.3NBC News. Woman Whose Body Was Found in Suitcase Was Warned Not to Go
Much of the family’s wealth traced to a $1.5 million settlement with Royal Caribbean Cruises over a pool injury James had suffered aboard a cruise ship and alleged negligent medical treatment. A Cook County judge approved the settlement in 2011. After fees, Sheila received roughly $340,000 for her own claim, and about $500,000 went to James Mack’s estate; in June 2011 she was authorized to pay herself that amount as the estate’s sole beneficiary.4Chicago Sun-Times. Sheila von Wiese-Mack Murder Bali Suitcase Settlement Those funds, totaling roughly $1.5 million, would later figure into the motive prosecutors identified for her killing.
The Killing at the St. Regis Bali
Sheila traveled with Heather to the St. Regis Bali Resort in August 2014. Her sister, Debbi Curran, later said Sheila viewed the trip as a “chance for a new beginning” with her daughter.5CBS News Chicago. Heather Mack Sentenced Murder Conspiracy Mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack Prosecutors would later say Heather had been plotting to kill her for months.
On August 12, 2014, Tommy Schaefer beat Sheila to death in her hotel room, striking her in the head with the metal handle of a fruit bowl while Heather covered her mother’s mouth, according to prosecutors.6NPR. Bali Suitcase Murder Sentencing Heather Mack An autopsy confirmed multiple blunt-force injuries to her head.7CBS News. American Woman’s Body Found in Suitcase in Indonesia The couple then forced her body into a large suitcase.
Surveillance footage showed the pair loading the suitcase into a taxi outside the hotel. They told the driver, I Ketut Wirjana, to wait while they checked out, and said they would return. About two hours passed. When they never came back, hotel security noticed blood on the suitcase and directed Wirjana to drive it to the police station, where officers opened it and found Sheila’s body wrapped in a bloodstained bed sheet.7CBS News. American Woman’s Body Found in Suitcase in Indonesia Heather Mack, then 19, and Schaefer, then 21, were arrested the next day at another hotel about six miles away.8ABC News. US Teen Face Firing Squad Mom’s Suitcase Murder
A Violent Family History and the Motive
The relationship between Sheila and her daughter had been violent for years before the trip. Oak Park police responded to 86 calls at the family’s home between 2004 and June 2013, involving batteries, threats, thefts of cash and credit cards, property destruction, and missing person reports.9USA Today. Bali Murder Suitcase Chicago10Oak Park. Police Brass Knew Sheila Mack Feared Daughter Would Murder Her In February 2011, Sheila came to the Oak Park police station with a broken arm and reported that Heather had shoved her; that led to Heather’s first arrest for physical violence.11Oak Park. Heather Mack Case Was Red Flag for Oak Park Officer In April 2011, Heather told an officer she would “stop leaving bruises and just hit her in the head.”
Former Oak Park Police Detective Rasul Freelain later testified that Sheila told him directly, in early 2013, that she believed her daughter was going to kill her. Freelain sent a memo to his deputy chief documenting that fear.10Oak Park. Police Brass Knew Sheila Mack Feared Daughter Would Murder Her
Federal prosecutors alleged the killing was planned in advance and driven by a scheme to gain access to Sheila’s roughly $1.5 million estate.6NPR. Bali Suitcase Murder Sentencing Heather Mack Heather’s defense team later argued she had suffered domestic violence from her mother and from Schaefer, but prosecutors said there was “little evidence to support these allegations” beyond Heather’s own statements.12CBS News Chicago. Prosecutors Seek 28-Year Prison Term for Heather Mack
The Indonesian Convictions
An Indonesian court convicted both defendants in 2015 and described the killing as “sadistic.” Schaefer received 18 years for premeditated murder. Heather Mack received 10 years; the court cited what it called her lesser role in the actual killing and the fact that she had given birth to a daughter during the trial. Schaefer had claimed self-defense, asserting that Sheila reacted violently upon learning her daughter was pregnant; prosecutors rejected that account, citing evidence of months of planning.13BBC. Bali Suitcase Murder
The U.S. Federal Case
The FBI had assisted Indonesian authorities from the earliest stages, analyzing messages and emails on the suspects’ devices.14Chicago Tribune. Do the New Federal Charges Against Heather Mack Constitute Double Jeopardy A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois indicted Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer on July 26, 2017. The indictment stayed sealed while both remained in Indonesian prison.15CourtListener. United States v. Mack
Because both had already been convicted in Indonesia, the U.S. prosecution raised double jeopardy questions. Legal experts explained that the “separate sovereign” doctrine allowed a second prosecution because the United States and Indonesia are different sovereigns. Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and former U.S. attorney, called a double jeopardy challenge a likely “losing argument.”16WTTW News. Explainer: Expert Says Overseas Conviction No Bar to US Charges Under Department of Justice policy, federal prosecutors also had to show a “substantial federal interest” that remained “unvindicated” by the Indonesian case.14Chicago Tribune. Do the New Federal Charges Against Heather Mack Constitute Double Jeopardy
Heather Mack’s Federal Sentence
Heather Mack was released from her Indonesian prison on October 29, 2021, after serving about seven years and two months. She was deported on November 2, 2021, arriving in the United States with her six-year-old daughter, Stella, and the 2017 indictment was unsealed.17Chicago Tribune. Heather Mack Begins Deportation Journey Back to US
On June 16, 2023, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to kill a U.S. national. Her plea agreement dropped two other counts that could have carried life and capped her exposure at 28 years.18ABC 7 New York. Heather Mack Murder Charges Sheila von Wiese Bali
On January 17, 2024, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly sentenced her to 26 years in federal prison, ordered $262,708 in restitution to her mother’s estate, and imposed a $50,000 fine.19ABC 7 Chicago. Heather Mack Case Sentencing Prison Sentence Suitcase Murder The judge credited about two years she had spent in U.S. custody but not the seven years served in Indonesia.20NBC News. Suitcase Killer Heather Mack Sentenced Federal law requires her to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before she is eligible for release.5CBS News Chicago. Heather Mack Sentenced Murder Conspiracy Mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack
Sheila’s brother, Bill Wiese, told the court Mack had “never shown any remorse” and said, “The world knew that justice was not served in Indonesia nine years ago. We are relieved that the court today gave Sheila the justice she so rightly deserves.”5CBS News Chicago. Heather Mack Sentenced Murder Conspiracy Mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack Debbi Curran’s statement, read by her daughter, said: “I can’t look at a suitcase without imagining my sister’s body bludgeoned and stuffed into it.”21VPM NPR News. Woman Gets 26 Years for Helping Kill Her Mother in Bali Mack herself told the court, “There’s no excuse for trying to harm her. I am responsible for my decisions.”19ABC 7 Chicago. Heather Mack Case Sentencing Prison Sentence Suitcase Murder
The Third Conspirator: Ryan Bibbs
The FBI investigation identified a third participant: Robert Ryan Justin Bibbs, Tommy Schaefer’s cousin. Court documents said Heather Mack had asked Bibbs whether he knew anyone who would kill her mother for money, and that Bibbs then advised Schaefer on methods of killing, including drowning and suffocation.22U.S. Department of Justice. Chicago Man Pleads Guilty Aiding His Cousin and Heather Mack Murder Arrested in September 2015, Bibbs pleaded guilty in December 2016 to one count of conspiracy to commit the foreign murder of a U.S. national and was sentenced in June 2017 to nine years in federal prison.23People. Heather Mack Boyfriend Cousin Sentenced Helping Suitcase Murder Mom
Tommy Schaefer’s Return and Pending Trial
Schaefer served more than 11 years in Indonesia before remissions for good behavior reduced his sentence. He was deported from Bali on the evening of February 24, 2026, arrested by the FBI on the return flight, and landed at O’Hare International Airport the following morning.24Chicago Sun-Times. Tommy Schaefer FBI Bali Indonesia He faces a three-count federal indictment: two counts of conspiracy to kill a U.S. national in a foreign country and one count of obstruction. Each conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.25U.S. Department of Justice. Tommy Schaefer Returned to Chicago to Face Federal Charges
At his arraignment on February 26, 2026, Schaefer told Judge Kennelly he wanted to represent himself, saying, “where my life is on the line, I’d rather speak for myself.” The judge allowed it but called the choice a “really bad idea.” Schaefer then let defense attorney Matthew Madden represent him and pleaded not guilty.26Chicago Sun-Times. Tommy Schaefer Wants to Represent Himself Judge Kennelly set trial for January 11, 2027.27NBC Chicago. Convicted Suitcase Killer Back in US for Trial Wants to Represent Himself
Sheila’s Granddaughter
Heather Mack gave birth to a daughter, Estelle “Stella” Schaefer, in an Indonesian prison during the 2015 trial. Stella lived with her mother behind bars until age two and returned to the United States with her in November 2021.28Fox 32 Chicago. Heather Mack’s Daughter Ordered Into Custody of Cousin After a contested Cook County proceeding, Judge Stephanie Miller named Lisa Hellmann, a maternal cousin of Heather Mack and niece of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, as Stella’s legal guardian in February 2023, rejecting a competing petition from paternal grandmother Kia Walker.29Chicago Sun-Times. Heather Mack Stella Sheila von Wiese-Mack
At Heather Mack’s federal sentencing, Hellmann testified that after learning the details of her grandmother’s murder, Stella “doesn’t want to speak to her mother” and “does not want to be raised by Heather.”5CBS News Chicago. Heather Mack Sentenced Murder Conspiracy Mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack Stella lives in Colorado in Hellmann’s care.