She Was Found Inside a Suitcase in Bali, Now the Case Is Back in Court | Heather Mack Update

In August 2014, 62 year old Sheila von Wiesemak was on vacation in Bali with her 18 year old daughter Heather Mack. Heather’s boyfriend at the time, Tommy Schaefer, had also traveled there. On August 12, inside a room at the St. Regis Bali resort, Sheila was killed. According to the case details, Tommy struck her multiple times with the metal handle of a fruit bowl, causing fatal injuries. Afterwards, he and Heather placed her body inside a suitcase and tried to leave the resort with it in the trunk of a taxi. The driver later noticed blood on the suitcase and went to the police, which led to the case being uncovered. Both Tommy and Heather were arrested, tried in Indonesia and convicted. In 2015, Tommy was sentenced to 18 years and Heather received a 10 year sentence. Now that is just like uh, the shortest recap of the case if you want the full breakdown of how everything led up to that moment. Because it is a crazy case and a crazy after the case happened, it’s just all around crazy. I already covered this case in detail, so go back and listen to that episode because there is a lot more to it than that. I just basically said, now this is just an update episode because I saw um, something dealing with this case. So I wanted to come on here and do an update episode. So after serving part of his sentence in Indonesia, Tommy was released early for good behavior in February 2026 after spending about 11 years in prison. And remember that he was sentenced to like 18 years. Once he was released, he was deported. They were like, okay, you committed murder here, time to go. So once he was released, he was deported and sent back to the United States, but that’s not where his case ended. As soon as he returned, he was taken into custody again, this time on US Federal charges tied to the same murder. Those charges stem from a federal indictment that had actually been filed years earlier in 2017, but remained sealed while both he and Heather was still overseas. That indictment was unsealed on November 2021 when Heather returned to the US after her release and she was immediately arrested at Oare International Airport. Heather’s case has already moved Forward and in 2023 she pled guilty in federal court and admitted to the details of the plan, including texts about the plan leading up to the murder. In those messages, she wrote, quote, I need your help. You could just put your hand over her and I could grab the body. And Tommy responded, quote, must knock her out. I’m finding something right now, I’ll do it. So don’t forget to listen to that episode. The link is in the show notes. Below, you’ll hear the whole text exchange and everything that went with it. In January 2024, she was sentenced to 26 years in federal prison for. So this is now in the US and she’s currently serving that sentence in a facility in West Virginia and is expected to remain there until at leave March of 2044. But even in prison, she’s still in the headlines. And I have all of that information in that episode. That’s why I said there’s so much more than just what happened that day, the day of the crime, and even the day of the crime. This is just a crazy case. Tommy’s situation is now moving through the federal system. Separately, he appeared in a Chicago courtroom on February 26, 2026 for his arraignment in front of the U. S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly. During that appearance, he told the judge, quote, where my life is on the line, I’d rather speak for myself. Basically saying that he was considering representing himself, which, I don’t know where he comes off, but okay. Even though he was already convicted and served time in Indonesia, federal prosecutors are still able to pursue charges in the United States because the prior conviction occurred under a different government. So as explained by legal experts, double jeopardy does not apply in this situation since the charges are coming from a separate jurisdiction. The charges he is now facing in the US Include conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, conspiracy to murder a US national, and obstruction of justice. These charges are tied to the planet of the crime, not just the act itself. After some questioning, he admitted, quote, I’m not really sure how everything goes. Basically, he has no idea how to represent himself. And ultimately because, you know, he realized, oh, shit, I never went to law school. I have no idea about the law. If they asked me what the fifth Amendment is, I was just shrug my shoulders, so maybe I shouldn’t represent myself. So he ended up agreeing to have an attorney represent him for that appearance. His former attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin, had represented him previously but died in 2025. And at the time of his arraignment, it was unclear whether Tommy would retain new counsel moving forward. So he had that court, uh, appointed judge for that one appearance, but they don’t know if he’s going to continue trying to represent himself or he’s going to get a different counselor, another person tied into this case. Like two isn’t enough. There are more. Robert Ryan, Justin Bibbs. According to investigators, he was involved in the planning phase and provided guidance on how to carry out the murder in exchange for the money they expected Heather to receive. Now, let me tell you something. If you call me and say, hey, Kai, can you help me me with a murder, um, we stand to inherit $2.8 billion. Yes, I said billion. All you have to do is help us plan this out and we’ll give you half. I mean, I’m going to tell you my answer right now so you don’t have to waste your time calling me and asking me that. The answer is just making sure this is on. The answer is no. You know that Bugs Bunny face that says no? That’s what it looks like. Uh, no, No, I don’t give a frick how much money you tell me you’re standing to get. I’m not helping with a crime. I’m not helping plan a crime. I’m not helping commit a crime. I’m not helping hide a crime. It ain’t me, it ain’t Kai. Don’t call, don’t ask, because what will Kai do? Sing like a bird. I’m not the one. And look, if you don’t know, all you have to do is refer back to all of these episodes where I tell you I am not the one. So of course Robert was caught just along with Heather, just along with Tommy. They were all caught. And, uh, Robert, you didn’t get the money that you helped planned for, so he went to jail and he served a nine year sentence in, in Michigan and I guess he’s out by now. At this point though, Tommy remains in federal custody as the case continues to move forward through the court system. And there has not yet been a final outcome in his U.S. case and the proceedings are ongoing. So stay tuned for a final update on this case. I will have to put out, um, an alert so I can hear something about it. But in the meantime, everything said here is alleged because it’s not done yet. So don’t forget to go back to the previous episode if you missed the initial episode because when I tell you it’s crazy, um, I’m telling you it’s crazy. So if you missed that, go ahead and check the link in the show notes below and go back and listen to that case, even if you listen to it before, you might have forgotten something. So go back and listen to it if you want more crazy cases to listen to. I just put out a bonus episode in the Patreon and the synopsis of this episode is that this teenage girl was given to her uncle by her father, so his brother and said here she’s now your quote unquote common law wife, and they had kids together and the kids were severely mistreated. So that’s just the brief synopsis of the craziness that I just dropped into Patreon. So if you want to hear that, join the Patreon. Patreon.com Ah, LoveAndMurder at one of the bonus tiers. Not only do you hear that bonus episode, but you do get access to past bonus episodes that I don’t put out in the public. You hear me ranting even harder than I rant in, uh, the public lam. So this is the private slam. So you hear me ranting even harder. Um, you get after shows case extras. Like I said, you get bonuses. You help me keep this podcast listener funded and you become a voice of the victim as well. Patreon.com/loveandmurder Just choose one of the bonus tiers. So if you want bonus episodes, that starts at the $5 tier and above. Patreon.com loveandmurder and that is all I have for you today. Uh, thank you for joining me for this Thursday update and I will see you in tomorrow’s episode. Actually, I have a Friday episode coming out that you don’t want to miss. Bye.

Past Cases Mentioned in this Episode:

(Bonus) Pregnant Woman Murders Mom, Stuffs Body in Suitcase | Heather Mack Deadly Duo Premiere
https://murderandlove.com/bonus-pregnant-woman-murders-mom-stuffs-body-in-suitcase-heather-mack-deadly-duo-premiere/

Sources: (what the sources say)

https://people.com/bali-suitcase-killer-convicted-murdering-girlfriend-mom-out-prison-11914111 
https://people.com/crime/heather-mack-mother-ex-boyfriend-custody-child/ 
https://people.com/heather-mack-sentenced-26-years-prison-mothers-murder-8430769