BADUNG – A US national who killed his girlfriend’s mother and stuffed her body in a suitcase was deported from Bali on Tuesday night (Feb. 24, 2026), after completing an 18-year prison sentence at Kerobokan Class IIA Penitentiary in Badung.

Tommy Schaefer, an American citizen, was released after fully serving his sentence for the 2014 murder of Sheila von Wiese Mack at the St. Regis Bali Resort in Nusa Dua. Following his unconditional release, he was immediately transferred to immigration authorities for removal to the United States.

“He has completed his sentence in full. After his release, we handed him over to immigration for deportation to his country of origin,” said Moretska Victor Noya, Head of Inmate and Juvenile Guidance at Kerobokan Prison, on Wednesday (Feb. 25, 2026).

According to prison officials, Schaefer was released on Feb. 17, 2026, at around 12:00 p.m. local time. During his incarceration, he participated in correctional programs and received several remissions, which reduced the overall duration of his sentence in accordance with Indonesian law.

Felucia Sengky Ratna, Head of the Bali Regional Office of the Directorate General of Immigration, confirmed that the deportation was conducted under strict supervision.

“The deportation was carried out via I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, with close escort by officers from the Denpasar Immigration Detention Center until the individual boarded the aircraft bound for the United States,” she stated.

Internationally Notorious 2014 Suitcase Murder

The case attracted global attention in August 2014 after the body of Sheila von Wiese Mack was discovered inside a suitcase placed in the trunk of a taxi at the luxury resort in Nusa Dua.

Schaefer and his then-girlfriend, Heather Lois Mack — the victim’s daughter — arrived in Bali on Aug. 11, 2014. Prosecutors later revealed that instead of vacationing, the couple discussed plans to kill Wiese Mack.

On the morning of Aug. 12, 2014, Wiese Mack was fatally assaulted in her hotel room. Investigators found that her head was repeatedly struck with a bowl, resulting in her death.

After the killing, the couple placed her body inside a suitcase and loaded it into a taxi. They told the driver they needed to settle matters at the hotel reception but never returned.

The taxi driver, Ketut Wirjana, became suspicious after noticing bloodstains on the suitcase. He reported the matter to hotel security and later to South Kuta Police. Officers subsequently discovered the victim’s partially unclothed body inside the suitcase.

Police arrested Schaefer and Heather within a day at another hotel near the crime scene. The case remains one of Bali’s most widely reported criminal incidents, remembered for both its brutality and the shocking attempt to conceal the victim’s body in luggage at a prominent tourist destination.