Overview
- Schaefer appeared in federal court in Chicago on Thursday and entered a not guilty plea as U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly ordered him detained and set a tentative trial date of January 11, 2027.
- U.S. authorities say he faces charges including conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy to commit foreign murder of a U.S. national, and tampering with a victim, offences that carry a potential maximum of life in prison.
- Schaefer initially told the judge he wanted to represent himself before agreeing to be represented, at least for now, by court-appointed attorney Matthew Madden.
- He was released from Bali’s Kerobokan Prison after roughly 11 years of an 18-year sentence, received routine sentence remissions for good behavior, moved to immigration detention, and was deported to the United States this week.
- Prosecutors allege he and Heather Mack plotted to kill her mother to access a $1.5 million trust, with von Wiese-Mack beaten with a fruit-bowl handle and her body placed in a suitcase; Mack pleaded guilty in the U.S. in 2023 and is serving a 26-year federal sentence, while co-conspirator Robert Bibbs served nine years.