CHICAGO – A woman originally from Chicago has pleaded guilty in the U.S. for her role in a conspiracy to kill her mother while on vacation in Bali, Indonesia, in August 2014.
Heather Mack, now 27, pleaded guilty to a count of conspiring to kill her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, with her then-boyfriend, Tommy Schafer, according to The Associated Press. The plan was to get access to a $1.5 million trust fund.
Prosecutors say that at the time of the incident, Mack was 18 years old and pregnant. She reportedly covered her mother’s mouth in a hotel room as Schaefer hit her with a fruit bowl, according to the AP.
Wiese-Mack’s body was then put into a suitcase, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Mack and Schaefer tried to leave the hotel in a taxi but the taxi driver refused to accept their fare. Mack told hotel employees she was going to call her mother but ended up fleeing the hotel with Schaefer, leaving the suitcase in the taxi.
Mack and Schaefer were arrested at another Bali hotel the following day by Indonesian police, the DOJ said.
Mack and Schafer were convicted in Indonesia in 2015 for local criminal charges related to Wiese-Mack’s murder, according to the DOJ. Mack was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released after seven years. Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years and is still currently in prison in Indonesia.
Mack was arrested in Nov. 2021 after arriving in the United States based on federal charges related to the murder, the DOJ said. Schaefer has also been charged in the United States indictment. His charges are pending.
The DOJ said that Mack has pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to kill a U.S. national. She is expected to be sentenced on Dec. 18. She could face up to 28 years in prison.
