Heather Mack – live: ‘Suitcase killer’ to plead guilty in Chicago court over 2014 Bali murder of socialite mom
“Suitcase killer” Heather Mack is expected to plead guilty in Chicago court today over the 2014 murder of her socialite mother in Bali, bringing some sort of conclusion to the shocking case.
In August 2014, Mack, then 18 and pregnant, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, then 21, bludgeoned Sheila von Weise-Mack, 62, to death with a metal fruit stand while on vacation at the luxury 5-star St. Regis resort on the Indonesian island.
The couple, who described themselves as “Bonnie and Clyde” in chilling text messages, then stuffed her body in a suitcase and left it in the trunk of a taxi.
They were both convicted of premeditated murder in Indonesia – narrowly escaping firing squad.
After serving seven years in a Bali jail (where her daughter was born), Mack was extradited to the US where she was arrested on arrival in Chicago and hit with fresh charges of conspiracy to murder in a foreign country in November 2021.
Since then, she has been behind bars fighting the charges.
On Thursday, Mack is expected to appear for a plea hearing in Illinois court where she has revealed her intentions to take a plea bargain.
Key points
Heather Mack to appear in court today
‘Suitcase killer’ reveals plans to plead guilty over mother’s murder
Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s body found in suitcase in Bali in 2014
What happened to Sheila von Wiese-Mack?
12:10 , Rachel Sharp
In August 2014, wealthy Illinois socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack took her troubled 18-year-old daughter on vacation to the 5-star St. Regis hotel in Bali.
After they arrived at the luxury resort, Mack used her mother’s credit card to buy a $12,000 business-class ticket for her then-boyfriend Tommy Schaefer to join them and a single night’s stay at the hotel.
In the early hours of the morning on 12 August 2014 – hours after Schaefer arrived – Mack, von Wiese-Mack and Schaefer were captured on hotel surveillance footage arguing in the lobby of the hotel.
Sometime after that, Schaefer bludgeoned von Wiese-Mack to death with the metal handle of a fruit stand.
Schaefer and Mack then stuffed her body into a suitcase and wheeled it down into the hotel lobby.
They hailed a taxi, loaded the suitcase into the trunk of the car and tried to check out of the luxury resort.
But, because von Weise-Mack had told the hotel not to let her daughter use her credit card, they were prevented from doing so and fled the scene.
The taxi driver – suspicious of the bloodied suitcase wrapped in hotel sheets – called the police who made the grim discovery of what was inside. The couple was soon tracked down to a budget motel and arrested on suspicion of murder.
Heather Mack to appear in court today
12:00 , Rachel Sharp
“Suitcase killer” Heather Mack is expected to appear in court today where she will plead guilty in Chicago court today over the 2014 murder of her socialite mother in Bali.
In August 2014, Mack, then 18 and pregnant, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, then 21, bludgeoned Sheila von Weise-Mack, 62, to death with a metal fruit stand while on vacation at the luxury 5-star St. Regis resort on the Indonesian island.
The couple, who described themselves as “Bonnie and Clyde” in chilling text messages, then stuffed her body in a suitcase and left it in the trunk of a taxi.
They were both convicted of premeditated murder in Indonesia – narrowly escaping firing squad.
After serving seven years in a Bali jail (where her daughter was born), Mack was extradited to the US where she was arrested on arrival in Chicago and hit with fresh charges of conspiracy to murder in a foreign country in November 2021.
Since then, she has been behind bars fighting the charges.
On Thursday, Mack is expected to appear for a plea hearing in Illinois court where she has revealed her intentions to take a plea bargain.
What we know about the chilling case of ‘suitcase killer’ Heather Mack
11:56 , Rachel Sharp
It’s a chilling case that has spanned two different continents and rumbled on for the best part of eight years.
Now finally, some sort of conclusion is about to be reached as Chicago woman Heather Mack is expected to plead guilty this week to her part in her mother’s heinous 2014 murder.
Infamously dubbed the “Suitcase killer”, Mack, then 18 and pregnant, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, then 21, bludgeoned her socialite mother Sheila von Weise-Mack, 62, to death and stuffed her body in a suitcase while on vacation at a luxury 5-star resort in Bali.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp delves into the case here:
The chilling case of Heather Mack
Welcome to The Independent’s liveblog
11:52 , Rachel Sharp
Follow all the latest updates as Heather Mack appears in court in connection to 2014 murder.
