In 2014, the world was shaken by a peculiar image circulating the news: a silver suitcase that had been pulled from a black garbage bag with blood smears all over it. Authorities would later confirm inside it contained the remains of a fully grown woman who was allegedly murdered by her daughter.
Heather Mack, a Chicago teenager, had just inherited her late father’s entire estate following a settlement in 2011, per The Chicago Tribune. At that time, tension between Mack and her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, had brewed into a series of domestic violence incidents, per NBC Chicago. By 2013, the police had been called 86 times to their home on reports of Mack seriously injuring her mother and stealing her money. However, no charges were ever filed.
According to reports, tensions increased: Von Wiese-Mack’s disapproval of Heather’s high school sweetheart, Tommy Schaefer, led her to move them to another neighborhood. Yet, in 2014, 18-year-old Heather Mack became pregnant unbeknownst to her mother who had just booked a trip for them to vacation in Bali.
A Fatal Vacation
Police say Mack and her mom checked into the St. Regis Hotel. Upon landing, investigators say Mack stole her mother’s credit card to book Mr. Schaefer a business class flight to the location. Schaefer claimed he wanted to tell Von Weise-Mack in person about the pregnancy, investigators said.
However, those plans were interrupted by a heinous act.
On the evening of August 7, 2014, hotel surveillance footage showed Von Wiese-Mack arguing with Schaefer. Following that, police say he took a metallic fruit bowl and bludgeoned her to death in the hotel room by his girlfriend’s instruction. He then stuffed the mother’s body into the suitcase and the couple ditched the luggage in the back of a taxi. However, security guards discovered the blood on the suitcase and reported it to the police.
A Bonnie & Clyde Plot
Initially, the couple told authorities that Von Wiese-Mack had been murdered by robbers. However, Schaefer admitted to killing her and Heather admitted to helping discard her body. The two were charged by Indonesian authorities with premeditated murder. Heather was sentenced to 10 years and her boyfriend, 18 years.
After Schaefer’s cousin in Chicago was arrested on conspiracy charges after from accepting a bribe from Heather to kill her mother, the cousin then admitted to helping the couple figure out how to carry out the plot overseas, according to the The Independent.
Text messages also revealed the couple had a Bonnie and Clyde plot to obtain the wealth from Mack’s father’s estate and a $1.6 million trust fund from her mother, who Heather called a witch.
The Aftermath
Heather Mack gave birth to her daughter in prison. She raised her behind bars for two years. By 2021, pictures circulated on social media of Heather seemingly living her best life, posting pictures of her and her daughter and new international life.
However, her staycation was cut short when she was extradited back to the U.S. and separated from her daughter the moment she landed at the Chicago airport, police say. She remained in jail until she was sentenced to 26 years on a charge of federal conspiracy to kill a U.S. national, according to The Associated Press.