A crime that sounds like something out of a thriller movie but it’s tragically real. In 2015, Heather Mack, 19, of Oak Park, Illinois, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, conspired to kill Mack’s mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack in a luxury hotel in Bali, Indonesia.
The motive? Greed and $1.5 million inheritance.
They pounded Sheila to death with a fruit bowl, stuffed her body into a suitcase and tried to
flee.
Why did a young woman raised in wealth and privilege commit such a gruesome crime?
A Family Trip Turns Deadly
Sheila von Wiese-Mack was the widow of James L. Mack, a renowned Chicago jazz composer who inherited millions after his death.
Sheila struggled with her daughter Heather for years but in August 2014, she planned a
luxurious vacation to Bali, Indonesia hoping that it would help rebuild their relationship.
Instead, it became the stage of her murder
Unaware of Sheila, Heather had used Sheila’s credit card to fly Tommy Schaefer, her boyfriend out to Bali to help carry out the plan.
On the night of August 12, 2014, Sheila was asleep in her room at the St. Regis Bali Resort, Tommy entered with a fruit bowl from the hotel.
According to court documents, Heather held her mother down while Tommy repeatedly
smashed the heavy metal handle into her head. Sheila’s nasal bone and jaw were fractured, and she suffocated in her own blood.
The couple stuffed Sheila’s body into a suitcase and booked a taxi but when the driver wouldn’t accept their fare, they abandoned the suitcase in the trunk of the cab and fled.
The taxi driver suspiciously called the police which led to the swift discovery of the body.
Heather and Tommy quickly got caught at another hotel in Bali.
The Trial in Bali
Heather and Tommy were put on trial in Indonesia. The media attention was immediate. There was a wealthy pregnant teenager accused of helping kill her mother.
Adding to the drama was the fact that Heather gave birth to her daughter Stella while awaiting trial in a Bali prison.
In 2015, Heather was sentenced to 10 years in prison while Tommy received an 18-year
sentence. Many were outraged by Heather’s relatively light punishment believing she deserved more time behind bars for her role in the murder.
Returning to the U.S.
Heather Mack was released from the Indonesian prison and deported to the U.S. after serving just 7 years of her 10-year sentence in 2021, But as soon as she arrived, she was arrested again by federal authorities.
The U.S. government had filed additional charges against her, accusing her of conspiring to kill a U.S. national and committing the crime for financial gain.
Heather initially pleaded not guilty but eventually accepted a plea deal in 2023. Prosecutors
revealed that Heather had been plotting her mother’s death for months.
They described how Sheila died painfully, inhaling her own blood after repeated blows from
Tommy Schaefer.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly sentenced Heather to 26 years in federal prison, calling the crime “brutal and premeditated.”
He rejected the defense’s argument that Heather had been manipulated by Tommy or driven to violence by her strained relationship with her mother.
Despite serving time in Indonesia, Heather was given no credit for her seven years behind bars there. Under federal sentencing guidelines, she must serve at least 85% of her 26-year sentence which means she’s likely facing another 19 years in prison.
Heather was ordered to pay over $260,000 in restitution to her mother’s estate and $50,000
fine.
Was She Truly Remorseful?
Heather apologized for the crime at her sentencing stating, “There is no excuse for trying to
harm her.” But this apology rang hollow for Sheila’s family.
Her uncle Bill Wiese, delivered a powerful victim-impact statement
“If it were up to me, Heather would spend the rest of her life behind bars,” Wiese said.
He described the pain of knowing his sister died at the hands of her own daughter and
questioned Heather’s ability to ever truly reform.
“Sheila deserved better,” he added.
The Legacy of the Crime
Heather Mack had everything she could ever want yet she chose to throw it all away for the promise of an inheritance.
Her relationship with Tommy Schaefer was toxic, and together they plotted one of the most
shocking murders in recent memory.
Tommy remains in prison in Indonesia, serving his 18-year sentence. But he too faces federal charges in the U.S. meaning further legal consequences once his sentence abroad is completed.
Heather will spend decades behind bars, far from the daughter she gave birth to in prison. Her daughter has been raised away from her mother. According to court-appointed guardians, Stella now knows the truth and wants nothing to do with Heather.
In the end, Heather’s crime shattered her family and destroyed her future. Sheila’s death
remains a reminder of how far greed and betrayal can push someone, even within a family
