CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – After almost a decade, the legal saga of Heather Mack is finally coming to a close. Mack faces sentencing in a federal courtroom for her role in the gruesome murder of her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, at a Bali resort in August 2014. Last year, Mack pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder her mother, a U.S. citizen, on foreign soil. The case attracted international media attention and led to Mack’s arrest upon her return to the United States in 2021, after serving seven years in prison in Indonesia for her involvement in the murder.
At Mack’s sentencing, she faces a wide range of potential punishments, including a minimum term of 15 years in prison – which could see her released in as little as four years with credit for time already served – as requested by her defense team. However, federal prosecutors have requested a 28-year prison sentence for Mack, along with a $250,000 fine and about $260,000 in restitution to her mother’s estate.
Mack’s attorneys argue that she has changed dramatically in the past 10 years and intends to express her remorse at the sentencing hearing. Mack’s self-described godmother, Diana Roque Ellis, has also written a letter pleading for leniency on Mack’s behalf, attesting to Mack’s transformation and appealing to the court to consider her remorse.
In their argument for a lengthy prison sentence, prosecutors highlighted the brutal nature of the crime, which they described as the culmination of years of physical and mental abuse inflicted by Mack on her mother. They also mentioned Mack’s lack of remorse and her attempts to capitalize on her infamy through book and entertainment deals, even after being convicted in Indonesia.
Mack’s attorneys, on the other hand, pointed to the abuse she suffered at the hands of both her parents and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, who was also charged with the murder. They argued that incarcerating Mack for a lengthy period of time would not only cost taxpayers millions of dollars, but also hinder her from developing a strong bond with her young daughter, Stella, who was born while Mack was in prison in Indonesia and is now being raised by a relative in the U.S.
The details of the murder included Mack flying Schaefer to Bali using her mother’s credit card, extensive text message communication about their plan, and ultimately, the fatal beating of von Wiese-Mack by Schaefer. Mack and Schaefer then placed the body in a suitcase and attempted to flee but were ultimately apprehended and charged for the crime.
Mack’s sentencing will likely bring an end to a legal journey that has spanned nearly a decade, filled with international attention, abuse allegations, and dramatic twists and turns in the criminal justice system.
In addition to Mack, several others, including Schaefer and an accomplice, have also faced legal consequences for their roles in the murder. Despite the passage of time, the impact of this crime continues to reverberate through the lives of all those involved.