(Bonus) Pregnant Woman Murders Mom, Stuffs Body in Suitcase | Heather Mack Deadly Duo Premiere

Welcome, LaMs. Welcome to the first episode in the Deadly Duo series. This series is exclusively for the Patreon LaM Fam. Whenever I do bonus episodes, I go directly into the episodes, so this one will be no different. But stick around to the end and I’ll let you know how to become part of the LaM Fam and get more of the Deadly Duo series. So let’s get into this bonus episode. In August 2014, a cab driver waiting outside the luxurious St. Regis Hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, noticed something about a suitcase in his trunk. It was leaking blood. A security guard who noticed the blood too, told the cab driver to take the suitcase to the police station, which he did. When officers opened the trunk, they found something straight out of a nightmare. Inside the suitcase was the body of Sheila Von Wisemack, a wealthy socialite from Chicago. Sheila’s remains were half naked and showing signs of extreme violence. Born on June 10, 1952, Sheila was a political science graduate who once worked as a researcher for Senator Ted Kennedy. She was known for hosting elegant parties bringing together musicians and literary figures. In 1996, she married, uh, James L. Mack, a, uh, renowned jazz musician and composer. He was 22 years older than her. James was a prominent figure in the music world. He guest conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and collaborated with legends like Nancy Wilson and Ramsey Lewis. James and Sheila had one child, a daughter, who they named Lois Heather Mack. She grew up in a lavish 1.5 million Italian Renaissance style home in Oak Park, Illinois, enjoying a privileged upbringing filled with extravagant holidays and toys. The relationship between Heather and Sheila was toxic, and that was putting it mildly. In 2001, the Macs took a Royal Caribbean cruise through the Mediterranean. During that trip, James injured his foot. But instead of getting proper medical care from the ship’s doctor, he was neglected. An oversight that eventually led to partial paralysis. James ended up filing a lawsuit against the Royal Caribbean, claiming that the injury left him partially paralyzed and forced to urinate in, uh, a bottle. But like most lawsuits, this one dragged on for years before anything was resolved. Then, in 2004, tensions inside the Mack household spilled into public view. Police were called to the home over complaints that Sheila was preventing James’s children from his previous relationships from visiting. According to those reports, she’d turn off the lights and pretend no one was home, just to avoid them. Then, on August 6, 2006, James died from a pulmonary embolism while on vacation with Sheila and Heather in Greece. Through his will, dated five days before his death, he had bequeathed his entire estate to heather. However, a UH judge in Cook County, Illinois awarded $500,000 from his estate’s settlement to Sheila. In 2011, a UH settlement was finally reached in the lawsuit from earlier 2001 after legal fees were taken out, Sheila was awarded $340,667 and and another 500,000 was directed to the estate of her late husband. The fighting between Sheila and Heather continued even after James died. Without his mediating presence, the relationship and the fighting got worse. Neighbors said they heard screaming matches that would spill outside with Heather cursing her mother out in full view of everyone. Between January 2004 and June 2013, Oak park police were called to their home 86 times for theft, screaming matches and domestic violence. In one report, Heather punched her mother’s broken ankle. That was on January 2010. Then in February 2011, she broke Sheila’s arm and yanked out the phone cord so she couldn’t call for help. A few months later, in July, she threatened her mother. Then in November 2012, she bit her mother. Despite all of this, Sheila rarely pressed charges. She kept trying to parent her daughter even as things spiraled out of control. Heather even dropped out of high school. In early 2014, she spent time in juvenile facilities with authorities, raising growing, uh, concerns about her mental health. Also in 2014, Heather had started dating a man named Tommy E. Schaefer. Tommy was born on July 13, 1993. He was an unemployed aspiring rapper known as Tommy X, E X X. He went to Oak park and River Forest High School, the same school as Heather, and they began dating while Heather was a senior. Of course, Sheila couldn’t Heather’s relationship with Tommy. She was so against it that she sold their house in Oak park and moved them into an apartment in Chicago’s upscale Gold coast just to put distance between them. But as you can figure out, that didn’t work. Heather ended up getting pregnant by Tommy anyway. And this wasn’t the first time. Sheila had already forced Heather into two abortions. Now Sheila was trying to get power of attorney to force her third. It was around that same time that Sheila booked a trip, an expensive getaway to Bali. She booked a stay at the five star St. Regis Hotel, reportedly hoping a luxury vacation could fix what had been broken for years, her relationship with her daughter. But it wasn’t just about mending the relationship. It was also a last ditch effort to convince Heather to to terminate the pregnancy. In the meantime though, Heather had stolen her mom’s credit card and used it to book a, ah, $12,209.59 business class flight To Bali for Tommy to join them. A, uh, 12, uh, that was just the flight. 12, uh, thousand, uh, dollars. Now back to the night when police found Sheila. In the hours following the murder, investigators tried to piece together how Sheila ended up in the trunk of this car. They turned to surveillance cameras surrounding the area. The cameras caught Tommy and Heather wheeling a silver suitcase through the lobby at the st. Regis ballet resort. The couple then loaded the heavy luggage into the trunk of a waiting taxi. Instead of getting in, though, they told the driver they would come back after checking out of the hotel. And that’s when they fled the scene, Abandoning both the taxi and their luggage. An autopsy revealed that Sheila had died of asphyxiation after her nose was broken by blunt force trauma. The medical examination also uncovered multiple broken bones in her face and head. They also found defensive wounds on her hand that told investigators that she had fought back, that she saw it come in, and she tried to save herself. Indonesian police immediately launched a manhunt and alerted border control and transportation hubs so that the two had no way of getting out of the country. They tracked Heather and Tommy to another hotel nearby, just one mile away, and arrested them on the spot. During interrogation, Tommy confessed to killing Sheila. Investigators moved quickly to bill their cases before the legal clock ran out on their detention window, which in indonesia, they had a window, and it was set to expire by mid october. As they pieced things together, they found the murder weapon was a glass fruit bowl from the hotel room. Looking into Heather’s email, police were able to see that she’s the one who brought Tommy to Bali using her mother’s card. And they found out that this wasn’t even the first time Heather had done something like this. Just weeks before, Sheila had discovered charges for the Conrad Chicago hotel and called police. Officers showed up to the hotel to find Heather and Tommy partying in a hotel room with seven other people. That was Heather’s take, lie, exploit, repeat. Then, uh, text messages showed a premeditated plan. After Tommy landed in Bali, the the couple started texting back and forth about exactly how they would kill Sheila. They talked about timing the attack for when she was asleep. In one message, Tommy wrote, can’t we suffocate her together? Put your hand over her mouth, Heather text back. Just knock her out. Tommy answered, I promise you, Heather, relax your Bonnie. Do it. Then he sent her a photo of the fruit bowl handle from the hotel room, the same glass bowl he later used to kill Sheila. They even referred to themselves as Bonnie and Clyde and used code phrases like Quote, it’s time to say hi as code for it’s time to kill Sheila before switching to plain language to go through their plans. So basically, I don’t know why that was your code, because, I mean, it’s time to say hi. So anyway, we’re gonna go ahead and kill Sheila and we’re gonna just use this to hit her in the head. Okay, cool. So code words like what the hell? And I don’t know why a lot of criminals refer to Bonnie, uh, and Clyde, because I don’t know if you know this, but here, let me give you a little history. Bonnie and Clyde both died at the end. What is the point? Are, uh, you just. I don’t. I don’t get it. Anyways, and if that wasn’t enough, prosecutors found that Tommy had been getting murder advice from his cousin, Ryan Bibbs. So let’s tally up everything so far. So, number one, he already confessed. Number two, Heather left a clear twelve thousand dollar paper trail of bringing him to Bali. Number three, soon as he touched down, he was like, yeah, my plane’s at the gate, doll. So, uh, it’s time to say hi, meaning we’re gonna go ahead and kill your mom. So how are we gonna do this? Basically, everything in a text message. Even though they had code words, and I’m using heavy air quotes here because what in all the. Then on top of all of that evidence, he basically was like, hey, cuz. Text, text, text. What you doing? Text, text, text. I’m thinking about killing my girlfriend’s mom. Text, text, text. Got any pointers? Text, text, text. What is going on here? The only thing he’s missing. The only thing both of them are missing. I guess all three of them. It’s just the newspaper, the pictures, and the thumbs up, that’s literally. And the neon sign saying, redid it, redid it, redid it. Uh, like that’s literally all they’re missing here. So Ryan had sent them messages about different ways to kill Sheila. Suffocation, drowning, and even tips on how to avoid being seen by security cameras. And stay with me here because I know I’m going to give a crazy idea. You could have just said, maybe don’t kill her. Maybe rethink killing somebody. Maybe just move out and start living your life with your rich AF girlfriend in exchange for these ideas. Again, heavy air quotes. Ryan was promised $50,000 out of Sheila’s inheritance. Honestly, I don’t. I don’t care if you offered me a billion dollars. I’m not helping you. Not helping you to Murder somebody. I’m not. On the night of August 7, 2014, security cameras at the St. Regis Hotel showed Sheila having an argument with Tommy in the hotel lobby. So basically, didn’t Ryan say, stay away from cameras? And literally the camera caught you dragging the suitcase out, leaving it in the taxi, and now it’s catching you on that night having an argument with Tommy. Then later on that night, Heather, who was 18 and pregnant at that time, let Tommy into her mother’s hotel room while Sheila was asleep. As the 62 year old lay in her bed, Heather held her mother down, covering her mouth, while Tommy used the metal handle of a fruit bowl to beat her to death. It wasn’t quick, it wasn’t impulsive, and it was 100% brutal. And Tommy didn’t stop until Sheila’s feelings face was shattered, uh, her nasal bone, her jaw all crushed. The force of the blows cut off her airway, and Sheila suffocated, inhaling her own blood while she fought for her life. Later, federal prosecutors would call this murder vicious and brutal. And they said that she died in agony. After the murder, they had to figure out what to do with the body. So they, uh, stuffed Sheila’s corpse into a suitcase. It wasn’t even easy to get it into the suitcase. Pregnant, Heather actually had to sit on the suitcase containing the body of her mother so that her boyfriend could zip it shut. Then they wheeled the suitcase through the luxury hotel like it was nothing, flagged down the cab, and loaded into the trunk. Meanwhile, forensic investigators were already closing in. There was blood everywhere. Traces were found near the murder scene and scattered throughout the hotel room. And the biological evidence left behind, uh, told a story step by step. And then there were the items they left behind. Heather’s debit card and her driver’s license. Okay, so my bad. She did have a neon sign saying me, I did it. The moment police found those, like I said, they knew exactly who they were looking for. So, okay, I apologize. I guess they didn’t leave out the neon blaring sign saying guilty, guilty, guilty. So they had text messages, they had video surveillance footage seeing them. And I, uh, mean, she literally left behind pictures, like, literal pictures, her ID and her debit card. So even if Tommy didn’t confess, I mean, it was an open and shut case, Johnson. When Indonesian police tracked them down, the story that Heather and Tommy initially gave was that Sheila had been killed in a robbery. And when police brought them in, forensic exams turned up blood on Tommy’s scooter. Yet another piece of the puzzle that tied them directly to the crime. And Heather ended up in the hospital getting some leg wounds, checked out. Injuries she claimed happened the night of the murder. After their arrest, both of them were taken back to the scene to walk police through what happened. Now, these crime scene reenactments were supposed to help their case, but they didn’t because they were completely lying. So their stories didn’t line up with what the crime scene basically told. And what this told investigators was that this wasn’t some heat of the moment fight. This solidified to them that this was premeditated murder. So through all the facts, their lives fell apart. And that’s when, on September 19th, Tommy admitted to killing Sheila. Heather admitted to helping him stuff the body into the suitcase. They were formally charged with premeditated murder on January 14, 2015. A, uh, crime that in Indonesia carries the death penalty by the firing squad. Both trials were held separately, but in the same courtroom with the same panel of three judges and the same prosecutors presiding over both cases. During his trial, Tommy claimed that he had killed Sheila only after she threatened to kill their unborn baby and choked him for half a minute. He argued that his actions were in self defense, but the prosecution pointed out the premeditated text, Exhibit A, B, C, D and E, your honor. They also pointed out the weapon picked out in advance because you could see the picture right here in the freaking text and the coordinating timing of the attacks. Because clearly, even though they have code, your honor, and he’s looking at the judge with dead eyes like G. Because even though they have code, your honor, you can clearly see that they coordinated the time of the attack. One of these premeditated texts happened on the night of the murder when Tommy text Ryan telling him that Heather was in the hotel room with her mother sleeping, quote, she wants me to right now while she’s snoozing. And this is when Ryan, being the genius, didn’t just suggest how to kill Sheila. This is when he told Tommy to make sure there were no cameras around when it went down. So, prosecutor said, not just the incriminating text, your honor, but the fact that they put her in a suitcase. None of this screamed self defense. On April 21, 2015, the Denpasar District Court sentenced Tommy to 18 years in prison for premeditated murder. That’s it. 18 years according to their law. That’s wow. Which is exactly what prosecutors had asked for. Presiding judge Mae Suida called Tommy’s actions sadistic, but pointed to his politeness and visible remorse drew in trial as reasons for a more lenient sentence. And then what caught everyone off guard was Heather’s sentence. But first, on September 23, 2015, Ryan was arrested in Chicago on federal charges related to the conspiracy. He pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit foreign murder and was sentenced to nine years in prison on June 2, 2017. As for Heather, psych evaluation showed that she was diagnosed with depression at 15, and later with a personality disorder marked by rage and impulsivity. I, uh, mean, yeah, with money, you can say anything. But then again, back in the day, the people at the juvenile facilities were saying that something’s wrong with her mental health. So, okay, I gave her that. Sheila tried. She really tried to get help for her daughter. She pushed for therapy, for medication, for some kind of structure. But Heather regularly refused medication and therapy. School records backed up what Sheila was dealing with. Heather bounced from one school to the next, expelled for everything from fighting to substance use to outright threatening staff and students. One teacher even said that she was manipulative and calculating beyond her years. She could turn on the charm for adults when she wanted something, but around classmates, she was intimidating and aggressive. But what really stood out was the ongoing theft. Heather regularly stole from her mother. Credit cards, jewelry, cash, and spent it on whatever she wanted. Drugs, parties, and a boyfriend like Tommy. Looking back, every red flag was waving long before Bali. Bill Wise, Sheila’s brother and Heather’s uncle, described a, quote, downward spiral of crazy behavior between the mother and the daughter. A, uh, family friend said, quote, it was mystifying as to how Sheila was always lovely, gracious, and kind to me and her other friends, and yet so unremittingly caustic to Heather. Federal prosecutors said that Heather plotted her mother’s murder so she can get her hands on the more than $1.6 million from Sheila’s estate. So, side note, not only was Heather the beneficiary of her father’s estate, but she was also the beneficiary of a separate 1.5 million trust fund from her mother. Now, it’s not like this trust fund was being held away from her. It was set up to pay Heather small annual payments until she reached the age of 30. And so she got paid every year until she was 30 for just being there. And then when she turned 30, she would receive the balance of the $1.5 million. So literally, all you needed to do was live and not spend like crazy and, uh, maybe save or invest intelligently. And then by the time you inherit the rest of your money at 30, you would probably have been even more rich. And literally, without lifting a finger to work, all you had to do was just be you. But that wasn’t enough. And people. And the prosecutor said Heather wasn’t exactly known for her patience or responsible spending. Ah, uh, I’m known for my patience and my responsible spending. Leave me a trust of $1.5 million. Prosecutor Frank Ranguses. I probably said that wrong. Said, quote, she could have changed her mind if she was unhappy in the household. She. She could have simply walked away. But she didn’t, because she wanted the money. And then attorney Frank pointed out all the times Heather had stolen from Sheila even once, taken as much as $100,000. After her arrest, she’d made a legal move to tap into her trust again, filing an emergency motion asking for $150,000 to cover her defense. In 2015, Cook County Associate Judge Neil Cohen approved 150,000 from her trust to cover her legal bills in Bali. On top of that, he allowed her to access another $2,240 for food and personal expenses. Judge Cohen said, quote, the money is hers. But he also laid down a condition. None of this money can go to Tommy. Things got even more complicated when Heather’s Indonesian attorney requested a lump sum of $200,000. Why? I already paid you $150,000. Why would you possibly need another $200,000? So that raised red flags, and Sheila’s brother Bill, who was acting as the estate administrator, voiced, uh, serious concerns that the extra money could end up being used for bribes. Over time, the back and forth between Heather and her uncle only got worse as they fought over control of the trust. So, basically, if Heather was still out, her uncle would have been next because he’s coming between her and her money, and that’s apparently all she cares about. Heather said, quote, I didn’t kill for the money. It was for my freedom and Stella’s freedom. Or so I thought at the time. So who the hell is Stella, you ask? In March 2015, about a month before sentencing, Heather gave birth to a daughter she named Stella. Under Indonesian law, Stella was allowed to stay with Heather inside her cell at Karabokin Prison. It wasn’t ideal, but it did give them a chance to bond, even behind bars. Now, I know some people will be like, oh, my God, she was in prison. No, no, no. Just it probably didn’t look like a prison, you know, and she was probably in different wing for pregnant women and stuff like this, women with children. So it’s not like with the worst of the worst of the worst, and she just has A baby there around these people. This arrangement only lasted until Stella’s second birthday, though by law, she had to leave the prison by March 17, 2017. And even after that, she had frequent access to her daughter. Heather often said her daughter was her lifeline. Quote, stella is all I have with me all the time that keeps away the depression that prison brings. You know what else can keep away the depression that prison brings? Not murdering your mother. On April 21, 2015, Heather was convicted of being an accessory to her mother’s murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The judges said that they were lenient towards Heather because she had given birth to her daughter while in custody. Well, you know what else she did while she was pregnant? Are you serious? While behind bars, Heather gave several interviews to the media. Yeah, you gave her leniency. And she looks like she’s very, very remorseful. She made all kinds of claims about her mother, accusing Sheila of having multiple personality disorder, substance abuse issues, and even racism. Cuz if all else fails, just say she’s a racist. But Sheila’s friends and surviving families shot down all of those allegations, calling them outright lies. Later, Heather changed her tune. Quote, I absolutely regret what happened. I loved my mom. I still do. She wasn’t evil and she didn’t deserve to die the way she did. Despite the chaos that brought her there, Heather ended up becoming what officials called a model prisoner. And I’m honestly not going by what they’re saying because they also gave her 10 years because she gave birth, like, while she was in custody for something that she did. She learned the Bahasa Indonesia language and taught Zumba classes and even acted as a translator for other inmates. Tommy got yearly sentence reductions for good behavior. But according to some fellow inmates, he was far from stable, described by others as delusional and, quote, deeply paranoid. He was spouting weird ideologies and staying by himself in his cell a lot, according to other inmates. So basically, like I said, I’m not going by their legal system because I don’t know what they’re seeing because everybody else is seeing something else and they’re just seeing, oh, these are some good people who are doing really well and are model citizens. Like, that’s not what everybody else is seeing. Quote, During a visit to the prison a few months ago, I was told that Tommy is wearing new clothes and is spending money on food and other items. He previously lived very modestly with help coming from charities and from his mother, Kia Walker. Other prisoners believe he might have a woman in his life now. Wow. So what model prisoner? I don’t, I don’t see remorse. This dude is living it up like, what model prisoner? And you’re just giving him time off. In the end, Heather served seven of her 10 years and was released in 2021. But hold on, hold on before you choke on your rage. Her freedom did not last long. Once she landed back in Chicago, she, she walked right into a new legal storm. The wheels of the US Federal prosecution had begun turning silently throughout her Indonesian incarceration. In November 2021, when Heather was deported back to United States, as her plane was touching down in Chicago’s o’ Hare International Airport, federal agents were waiting on her. Heather, then 27, was immediately arrested. Unfortunately, her six year old daughter was with her at the moment of her arrest. Poor little girl has been through so much in her little six years of life. The legal basis for this airport arrest was a sealed 2017 federal indictment against both Heather and Tommy. When they got back to the U.S. this indictment was unsealed and had charges far more serious than those she faced overseas. Heather was charged with conspiracy to kill a, uh, US national and obstruction of justice. Heather initially entered a not guilty plea, but in June 2023, she agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to kill a US National. This change of heart came after prosecutors offered what attorneys described as a good plea deal. As part of this agreement, two other charges against her, the conspiracy to kill in a foreign country and obstruction of justice, were dropped. By this point, Heather had already spent two years in a Chicago prison waiting for the resolution of her case. Federal prosecutors asked the court to give Heather 28 years in prison, plus five years of supervised release, a, uh, $250,000 fine and 262,000, uh, $708 in restitution. They called her, quote. The driving force of the conspiracy was pointed out that she had been thinking about killing her mother as early as February 2014. Then she brought Tommy in to help carry it out. Prosecutors argued that Heather had tried to land media deals and profit off of the very crime that put her behind bars. That move only made things worse in the eyes of the public. And a lot of people already thought her Indonesian sentence was too light, especially considering what the prosecutors had called a vicious and brutal murder was where Sheila was inhaling her own blood as she died. Prosecutors told the court that 28 years was a fair and necessary sentence for what they called a, uh, quote, heinous crime, but not more than what was deserved. Her defense team, uh, asked for a 15 year sentence instead. They argued that she should get credit for the seven years she’d already served in an Indonesian prison. They also said keeping her locked up longer was. Would be a huge cost to taxpayers. And since when did that matter to y’? All? During sentencing, Bill, uh, asked the judge to impose the harshest sentence possible, telling the court that Heather, quote, has never shown remorse. If it were up to me, Heather would spend the rest of her life behind bars. On January 17, 2024, Judge Matthew Kennelly sentenced Heather to 26 years in federal prison. He gave her credit for the two years she’d already spent in custody in Chicago waiting for trial. And under federal rules, she could earn time off for good behavior. So all told, she’s likely looking at around 23 more years behind bars. Bill said, quote, 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. She so rightly deserves. Sheila’s sister, Debbie Curran, said, quote, I can’t look at a suitcase without imagining my sister’s body bludgeoned and stuffed into it. The 1.6 million dollar trust fund that was originally set up for Heather, well, that got sorted out in June 2018, and now it’s in the hands of Stella. Stella ended up as the sole beneficiary of the entire estate. At first, Heather agreed to hand over, quote, a significant percentage of her $1.3 million trust fund to care for Stella. So she had agreed to about half a million dollars. But after her 2023 conviction in US court, Judge Matthew Kennelly took it a step further. He ordered restitution and made it clear that if Heather ever profits from books, interviews, or any media appearances, quote, the trust can go after that money, so it benefits Stella instead. So basically, you ain’t making money off this murder. This agreement also held a stipulation. Quote, Heather Mack shall not receive any property benefit or other interest by reason of Sheila Von Wise death, directly or indirectly. That decision was backed by Illinois’s slayer statute, a law that blocks anyone who kills from inheriting from their victim. The irony, fighting Heather’s repeated attempts to get access to the money burned through half the estate in legal fees. So she meant what she was going to do was give her daughter half a million dollars. And that’s literally basically what this selfish ass left that little girl. Basically half a million dollars. I’ll give or take, because they said 1.3, and, you know, half of 1.3 is a bit more than $500,000. As for the custody, there was a long back and Forth in court at first, four different people stepped up to fight for custody of Sheila. Lisa Hellman, a maternal cousin from Colorado. Kia Walker, Tommy’s mother, Diana Roque Ellis, a close friend of Sheila’s and Osha Swartema, the woman who cared for Stella in Indonesia while Heather was locked up. Heather said that she wanted Diana to raise Stella. After 12 days of testimony, Cook County Judge Stephanie Miller said that custody would go to Lisa. And Lisa was the maternal cousin from Colorado. Stella had already been shuffled around quite a bit. First she was placed with attorney Vanessa Favia, then moved to osha’s case in Indonesia. So the judge’s decision aimed to finally bring her some type of stability. Fast forward to March 10, 2025. Heather is back in the headlines. She’s now part of a group of women alleging that they were sexually abused by a former corrections officer named Brittany hall at, ah, the Metropolitan Correctional center in Chicago. Since then, Heather has been moved to a correctional facility in West Virginia. Meanwhile, Tommy is still in the Indonesian prison serving his 18 year sentence. He also faces the same US indictment after he’s deported from Indonesia. Tommy called the US indictment vengeful and claimed he never intended to kill Sheila until an argument. You know what else is vengeful? You killing Sheila. He says he thinks it’s Sheila’s family who pushed for the US Charges. I mean, what were they supposed to do? Say, okay, well, it’s all over, and at the same time, just look at the evidence as the reason for the charges, not to mention his confession. In letters to his friends after his conviction, Tommy described himself as a victim of Heather’s psychological tactics. I was manipulated and controlled by an uneducated, evil, controlling person with a primitive mindset. So, okay, let’s break that down, shall we? She’s uneducated, but she was able to control you. And she has a primitive mindset, but she was able to control you. So what does that make you interesting? He claimed Heather, uh, had systematically convinced him of her mother’s abusive nature. So tell her, pack your bags and come live with me, Not, I’m going to kill her. If her mother was abusive, you, you don’t agree to kill her mother. You just say, I’ll take you away from this abuse. So still again, how did she control you and manipulate you? How? You were your own person. Quote, I let her use and abuse me. I let her feel like it was okay to use me as her rag doll. He portrayed himself as having been a, quote, good kid before meeting Heather. Oh, yes, it is all Heather’s fault. You were just amazing before Heather. He then claimed that their conversations regularly centered on her hatred towards her mother. I mean, you could have just said, you know what, woman? You’re getting on my nerves constantly talking about your mother like this. I’m gonna peace out and find some other girl. You could have also said, you know what? I don’t like how your mom’s treating you. Come live with me and you can be away from your mom. There’s so many other ways you can handle this. And now you want to blame her because you couldn’t control your own self. According to Tommy, Heather claimed her mother had been cruel to her father and even suggested Sheila might have been responsible for her father’s death. Quote. She said she hated her mom for what she did to James. She used to always tell me she had a feeling that her mom killed her dad when she was 10, which we all know that’s not what happened. Tommy also acknowledged that he was complacent, saying, quote, however controlling this monster was, holding myself 100% accountable for my role in this tragedy is very important to me. Which, let’s be honest, in any of those clips from the letter lambs, did you hear him holding himself even 2% accountable for this? That, I mean, that’s a great way to wrap a bow over a shitstorm. However controlling this monster was, holding myself 100, you didn’t hold yourself even 1% accountable. 5. 5% accountable. You just added this sentence to the end. That’s it. You. That was just a bunch of words. Uh, those close to Sheila, like Elliot Jacobson, called Tommy, quote, an intricate part of the murder and dismissed his attempts to absolve himself of guilt. Quote I would not rely on Tommy as an authority. Tommy is expected to be released from Indonesian prison as early as April 2026, and then will face the US charges. Ryan is also still in jail. What did y’ all think about this case? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. And that is the first episode of the new bonus series titled Deadly Duels. If you want more of this series, which we’re gonna have one episode come out every month that is part of the ten dollar bonus tear in the Patreon. And don’t despair. I know some of you in the Patreon, you’re like, well, I don’t pay the $10. You came in under a sale, so. But that was still part of the $10 plan. So if you came in under a sale price, don’t worry, you’re going to get deadly duos. So like I said, one bonus episode a month of Deadly Duels will be coming out. You want to get this series, then head on over to the Patreon patreon.com forward/love and murder and choose the $10 a month tier. That tier is actually called Sing Like a Bird. So with that tier, not only do you get Deadly duos, but you also get two bonus episodes a month. You get ad free episodes, intro free episodes and you get all the case extras that come with most cases that I put out. Plus you get all of my past bonuses that I have in there. There’s sometimes bonuses where I talk about my life. You see, when I go on trips, all that stuff, you get that all for the $10 plus. Most importantly, you become a voice of the victims and help me continue with Love and Murder and continue getting these victim stories out there and continue shouting from the rooftops to get justice for these people. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder so don’t forget, you can sign up for any bonus tier that’s there if you just want to be a voice of the victims and maybe get one bonus episode or whatever you want. But if you want to get the deadly duos, then definitely go to the Sing Like a Bird tier, which is a $10 a month tier and you will get the Deadly Duels bonus episode on top of everything else that you already get for the ten dollar a month tier. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder thank you for listening to this very first episode of Deadly Duos. This episode is on all the platforms that just as a preview episode, but from here on out, the rest of the episodes will only be found on the Patreon. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder thank you for listening. Uh, thank you for your support and I’ll see you in the next Deadly Duos episode. Bye.