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American killer in Bali ‘suitcase murder’ case deported from Indonesia to face US charges

Tommy Schaefer, convicted of killing girlfriend Heather Mack’s mother in 2014, apologised to the victim’s family after his early release

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Tommy Schaefer sits next to an interpreter during his trial in Denpasar on January 14, 2015. Photo: Antara/Reuters
Agence France-Presse
An American convicted of killing the mother of his then-pregnant teenage girlfriend at an Indonesian luxury hotel was deported on Tuesday after his early release from prison, immigration authorities said.
Tommy Schaefer, 32, was released last week from prison on the island of Bali and moved to an immigration detention facility there on Friday. He boarded a flight late on Tuesday bound for the United States, a local immigration official confirmed.

Schaefer is set to appear in a Chicago courtroom on Thursday on conspiracy charges stemming from the 2014 murder. Court records show he is scheduled to appear at the Dirksen US Courthouse on Thursday for his arraignment before District Judge Matthew Kennelly.

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His former lawyer on the case, Thomas Durkin, died last year, and it is unclear from the court docket whether he has hired new counsel.

Tommy Schaffer is escorted by police after his arrest in Bali on August 13, 2014. Photo: AFP
Tommy Schaffer is escorted by police after his arrest in Bali on August 13, 2014. Photo: AFP

In 2015, a Bali court sentenced Schaefer to 18 years in prison for the murder of Sheila von Wiese Mack. He was released seven years early for good behaviour.

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“After TS completed his sentence, our duty is to ensure that he is not within our sovereign territory, considering that the serious crime he committed has disturbed public order and prevailing legal norms,” local immigration agency head Felucia Sengky Ratna said, referring to Schaefer by his initials.

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