Heather Mack pleads guilty in role of 2014 murder of mother in Bali
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It has been almost nine years since police said Heather Mack helped kill her mother at a luxury resort in Bali - stuffing her body in a suitcase.
On Friday morning, Mack pleaded guilty to charges so as to avoid going to trial.
CBS 2's Tara Molina was in court for the hearing where Mack entered the plea.
Under the plea deal, Mack would serve a maximum of 28 years in prison rather than life. But the judge in the case gets the final say – and could decide 28 years isn't enough.
She was charged with conspiracy to kill a U.S. National. Her plea dismisses additional charges - including obstruction of justice and another conspiracy charge with planning the murder while still in the states.
Prosecutors say Mack helped her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer kill her mother, Sheila Von Wiese-Mack, at a Bali resort.
She was tried and found guilty in Indonesia and served seven years in prison before being deported back to the United States in 2021. Mack, Oak Park native, was arrested upon arriving at O'Hare International Airport and was charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
"After almost nine years, we are very relieved that the mastermind of Sheila's murder admitted her guilt today," said Sheila Von Wiese-Mack's brother, Bill Wiese.
It has been a long road to justice for Sheila Von Wiese Mack's brother, Bill, and sister, Debbie. They were in court Friday to hear their niece's guilty plea - and say they're finally one step closer.
"Debbie and I also agree with the plea agreement," said Bill Weise.
He said the family is hoping for an appropriate sentence.
"We are hopeful for a sentence that more appropriately reflects the heinous and premeditated nature of the crime," said Bill Wiese.
Under the plea deal, Mack, now 27, could be free in her 50s. But that, again, is if the judge in the case agrees to the plea agreement.
If he doesn't accept it, Mack could withdraw her guilty plea and choose to go to trial – or to renegotiate a plea.
All this started in 2014. Mack was 18 years old when she convicted overseas in Indonesia of helping her boyfriend kill her mother, then stuff her in a suitcase in order to gain access to a trust fund.
Mack served a seven-year sentence before she was deported.
While in prison in Bali, Mack gave birth to her now 7-year-old daughter, Stella, who is in the custody of a cousin following an extended custody battle in Cook County court.
Mack was charged with conspiracy and obstruction of Justice when she landed in Chicago in 2021, and has been in custody since.
Her attorney said today her sole priority is reuniting with her now 8-year-old daughter, who is in the custody of a cousin following an extended custody battle in Cook County court.
Mack's Defense Attorney Michael Leonard says she's not the same person.
"She's much more mature, she's much more empathetic. She's grown as a human as I think we all would do over the course of ten years. We're very different people from 18 to 28," he said.
Leonard says the most important thing for her is reuniting with her daughter.
"I mean the most important thing for her is reunification with her daughter. I mean that's the most important thing on her mind, that's forefront above anything including jobs, careers, where she'd live," Leonard said. "She wants to be reunited with her daughter who she had a great relationship with during her incarceration in Bali and by all accounts was a fantastic mother. We'd like to see her get back to Stella, if it can't be on a full-time basis, in way that she can have meaningful contact with her going forward."
Meanwhile, Schaefer's mother, Kia Walker, said her "nightmare" is "not over yet."
"I'm so overwhelmed," Walker said.
Schaefer is still in Bali, serving an 18-year prison sentence.
"I pray that he makes it out," Walker said.
Mack is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18.