A woman has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for plotting to kill her mother and stuffing her body in a suitcase in Bali, Indonesia back in 2014, according to federal prosecutors. Heather L. Mack, the woman in question, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to kill a U.S. national and was sentenced by Judge Matthew F. Kennelly of U.S. District Court in Illinois. The sentence falls just short of the 28 years sought by prosecutors, who also recommended additional measures such as five years of supervised release and restitution payments exceeding $260,000. Judge Kennelly referred to the crime as “brutal and premeditated.”
In terms of credit for time served, Mack will receive recognition for her stay in a Chicago jail since November 2021, but not for the years she spent imprisoned in Indonesia, as confirmed by prosecutors. Following the sentencing, there has been no immediate response from Mack’s legal representatives, while the prosecutors have chosen not to comment on the matter.
The incident took place in 2014 when Mack, who was 18 at the time, orchestrated her boyfriend, Tommy E. Schaefer, to travel to Bali. Prosecutors allege that the couple exchanged text messages discussing the murder of Mack’s mother, Sheila Von Wiese. On August 12, 2014, Schaefer went to Von Wiese’s hotel room, where he beat her to death with Mack present, according to court documents. The couple then attempted to clean the room and placed Von Wiese’s body inside a suitcase, which they left in a taxi after fleeing the hotel.
An autopsy revealed that Von Wiese’s cause of death resulted from the blunt force inflicted upon her, which caused fractures in her nasal bone and jawbone. Schaefer, Mack’s boyfriend, was sentenced to 18 years and remains imprisoned in Indonesia. Prosecutors stated in a sentencing memo that Von Wiese had expressed concerns about Mack potentially killing her, and police reports documented previous episodes of Mack attacking her mother. Court documents also suggest that the couple planned to obtain money from Von Wiese’s estate after her death, illustrating their calculated approach to the murder.
Prosecutors depicted Mack as lacking empathy and remorse in their memo, highlighting her responsibility for planning and executing her own mother’s murder, as well as her extensive efforts to conceal the crime. They emphasized that Mack’s lack of remorse and empathy, coupled with her ability to commit heinous acts for personal gain, instills fear and suggests her potential for further atrocities.
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