‘Suitcase killer’ Heather Mack sentenced to 26 years for mother’s Bali murder: Updates
Mack, now 28, appeared in federal court in Illinois, where she was given a 26-year prison sentence for the Bali murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack
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“Suitcase killer” Heather Mack was back in court in Illinois on Wednesday to be sentenced over the 2014 murder of her mother at a luxury Bali resort.
Mack, 28, was sentenced to 26 years in prison.
In the courtroom, she was confronted by her family members who told the judge she should not be granted any leniency over Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s murder.
Prosecutors sought a 28-year sentence while Mack’s attorneys are asking for 15 years with credit for seven years spent in an Indonesian prison.
The tragic case began in August 2014 when Illinois socialite von Wiese-Mack, 62, took her then-18-year-old pregnant daughter on vacation to the St. Regis resort.
Mack’s boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, flew out to the island and the pair bludgeoned von Wiese-Mack to death, stuffed her body in a suitcase and left it in the trunk of a taxi.
Both Mack and Schaefer were convicted of murder in Indonesia in 2015.
Mack served 7 years in prison before being deported and arrested as soon as she stepped foot on US soil.
After two years in federal prison awaiting trial, Mack reached a plea deal in June, pleading guilty to conspiracy to kill a US national.
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‘Suitcase killer’ Heather Mack is sentenced to 26 years in US prison for Bali murder
Next: Statement from Heather von Wiese-Mack’s sister
Next to speak is Heather Mack’s cousin Lindsay Lococo, who is reading a statement to the court on behalf of her mother – Heather von Wiese-Mack’s sister – Debbi Curran.
Victim’s sister reveals trauma every time she sees a suitcase
Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s sister spoke of the trauma every time she sees a suitcase, after her sibling’s body was stuffed inside one and dumped in a taxi in Bali.
In the statement, Ms Curran said that von Wiese-Mack was a “warrior mom” who had her “head and face bludgeoned and her bloody body stuffed into a suitcase.”
“Whenever I travel or simply see a suitcase [she said she sees] “horrific images” [in her mind] “that are impossible to erase during the day or night,” she said.
Von Wiese-Mack’s family members sobbed loudly in the court as the statement was read.
Heather Mack mouths ‘I love you’ at family
Heather Mack mouthed “I love you” at her family as they sobbed in the courtroom and called for her to get the harshest possible sentence.
Next: Stella’s guardian addresses the court in statement
A statement from Lisa Hellmann – who is Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s niece – is now being read to the court by relative Carolyn Wiese.
Ms Hellman was granted guardianship of Stella in 2022 and continues to care for the eight-year-old now.
Heather Mack exploited her daughter, says family
In Lisa Hellman’s statement, she told the judge that Heather Mack had exploited her daughter Stella – who was born behind bars in a Bali prison.
“Heather Mack knowingly and willingly put her daughter into exploitative situations time and time again for monetary gain, without regard to the detrimental consequences such actions could have on Stella,” she said.
She pointed out that Mack was receiving money from a production company during the custody battle over her daughter.
Ms Hellman said that Stella, now eight, has told her therapist multiple times that she doesn’t want to be raised by or speak to her mother.
She asked the judge to give Mack the longest possible sentence of 28 years for Stella’s sake so that the little girl “has the time, protection, safety and resources she needs to have a fully developed adult brain, and strong emotional armour before she has to face her connection to Heather”.
Next: Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s close friend Diane Edelman
Next to speak is Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s close friend Diane Edelman.
Ms Edelman slammed Heather Mack for treating her mother like “something to be beaten up, scrunched up and discarded like a piece of paper”.
She told the judge that Mack had many chances not to go through with her plans to murder her mother but chose to carry them out.
If she is released, she said she fears she “will do it again”.
Next: Heather Mack’s father’s cousin Onita Mack
Next to address the court is Heather Mack’s father’s cousin Onita Mack.
Mack is the daughter of socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack and famed musician James L Mack, who died in 2006.
Onita Mack described a dysfunctional home life for Mack, where James was scared of von Wiese-Mack and
She told the judge that she and their other family members that von Wiese-Mack would not allow them to see Mack because they are Black.
Next: Social worker who worked with Heather Mack and Sheila von Wiese-Mack
A social worker who worked with Heather Mack and Sheila von Wiese-Mack years before the murder is speaking now.
She told the court that von Wiese-Mack isolated her daughter from her family.
Next: Heather Mack’s legal team asks for leniency
Heather Mack’s attorney Michael Leonard is asking the judge for leniency claiming that she was not a “leader or organiser” in her mother’s murder.
He also claims that Mack was “groomed” and that her mother was trying to marry her off to a 36-year-old man.
Prosecutors instead claim that Mack was worried about this relationship – and that Mack’s claim about this is another attempt to shirk responsibility.
Next: Prosecutors ask judge for 28 year sentence
Prosecutors are now asking the judge to hand down the harshest possible sentence of 28 years.
Justice Department prosecutor Frank Rangoussis said that the sentence is warranted based on how vicious the murder was, the premeditated nature of the crime, and Mack’s history of abusing her mother.