Chicago Native Heather Mack Sentenced to 26 Years in Federal Prison for Murder Plot
Heather Mack, a Chicago native who, along with her boyfriend, killed her mother during a vacation in Bali and left her body in a suitcase, has received a 26-year federal prison sentence. This comes after Mack served seven years in an Indonesian prison for the murder.
A Vicious Crime Unveiled
Mack, now 28 years old, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. Her lawyers requested a maximum sentence of 15 years, taking into account her time served overseas. However, prosecutors sought a 28-year sentence.
During the sentencing hearing, a federal judge handed down a 26-year sentence, as reported by LA News Center. The crime took place in 2014 when Mack and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, planned the murder through text messages. They ambushed Sheila von Wiese, Mack’s mother, in their hotel room at the St. Regis hotel in Bali.
Heather Mack of Chicago is mobbed by reporters as she arrives in court for her sentencing hearing at a district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, April 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati, File)
A Gruesome Act of Violence
Mack and her mother traveled to Bali together, while Schaefer joined them later on a separate flight without the victim’s knowledge. In a horrifying turn of events, Mack held her mother’s mouth shut while Schaefer beat her to death with a metal fruit bowl handle.
Afterwards, the couple attempted to clean up the crime scene and even changed the hotel linens. They then stuffed von Wiese’s body into a suitcase, which was later found in the trunk of a taxi that had refused to give them a ride.
The body of Sheila von Wiese Mack was found Aug. 12, 2014, stuffed into a bloody suitcase in the trunk of a taxi in front of the five-star St. Regis hotel. (Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP via Getty Images)
A Heartbreaking End
“The murder of von Wiese at the hands of the defendant and Schaefer was vicious,” federal prosecutors stated in a sentencing memo. They also revealed that von Wiese fought to stay alive, realizing in her last moments that her own daughter was responsible for her death.
Text messages exchanged between Mack and Schaefer were recovered by prosecutors, revealing their plans for the murder and their fantasies about inheriting money after her mother’s demise.
A police officer escorts suspect Heather Mack, 19, center, during an investigation at a police office in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali Aug. 13, 2014, after an American tourist’s battered body was found in a suitcase at an exclusive hotel on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali. (Sonny Tumbelaka /AFP via Getty Images)
Justice Served
Mack served seven years of her 10-year Indonesian sentence before being deported to the U.S., where she was immediately arrested. Meanwhile, Schaefer remains in prison overseas.
For any further information, please contact Michael Ruiz, a reporter for Fox News Digital, at michael.ruiz@fox.com or on Twitter: @mikerreports.
