On Friday, the 16th of June 2023, Heather Mack, an American woman accused of plotting the murder of her mother and putting the body inside a suitcase while on vacation in Bali almost ten years ago, finally pleaded guilty in federal court.
According to court records, Heather L. Mack, 27, was pled guilty to one count of conspiring to kill the U.S. citizen in the 2014 death of her mother, Sheila A. Von Wiese. According to one of her attorneys, Michael Leonard, the two other 2017 allegations against her — obstruction of justice and conspiracy to murder in a foreign country — were dropped as part of a plea bargain with the prosecution.
Heather Mack and her then-boyfriend, Tommy E. Schaefer, were convicted of murder in Bali, Indonesia. Mack was released seven years later and returned to Chicago in 2021, where she remained in custody. Schaefer, who received an 18-year prison sentence in 2015, is still detained in Bali.
The highest sentence for murder conspiracy in the United States is life imprisonment. However, Mack’s attorneys hope that the plea deal they came to with federal prosecutors will result in a sentence of no more than 28 years in prison, perhaps even less. The deal is not binding on the judge, who will sentence Mack on the 18th of December, 2023.
Despite the prosecution’s objections, Heather Mack’s attorneys contend that she should be given credit for her seven years in prison in Indonesia.
One of Mack’s attorneys, Michael Leonard, explained why Heather Mack decided to accept the plea deal: “In this case, a couple of the counts had up to life in prison, so obviously the risks above that are eliminated if the judge accepts the cap that we’re proposing, which is 28 years.”
Family members of Von Wiese (Mack’s mother) said in a statement following the plea hearing that they were “very relieved that the mastermind of Sheila’s murder admitted her guilt today,” according to The Associated Press.
According to court records, Mack, who was 18 at the time, planned Schaefer’s trip to Bali using her mother’s credit card. The couple’s plan to murder Von Wiese were discovered in a text message.
Based on court records, Schaefer strangled and murdered Von Wiese while her daughter was there, after which the couple left the hotel with the body-containing bag by a taxi while trying to run away.
Following the court records, Mack informed Schaefer days before Von Wiese’s murder that she intended to give him a portion of her fortune once her mother passed away.
Schaefer said, “I can’t wait to be rich.”
Mack was carrying a baby at the time her mother was murdered. A relative is currently raising Mack’s daughter. Mack had previously mentioned having a tense relationship with her mother in some interviews.
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