Prosecutors seek 28-year prison term for Heather Mack in mother's murder in Indonesia
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Prosecutors have asked a federal judge to sentence Heather Mack to 28 years in prison for her role in the grisly murder of her mother in Bali in 2014.
Mack has already served 7 years in prison in Indonesia for her mother's murder, but after she completed her sentence overseas and was deported to the U.S., she was arrested when she returned to Chicago in 2021 on an indictment charging her with conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
In June, Mack pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill a U.S. national, and her sentencing hearing has been set for Jan. 17.
In a sentencing recommendation filed on Wednesday, federal prosecutors sought an additional 28 years in prison for Mack, arguing she plotted to kill her mother, Sheila Von Wiese-Mack, "after inflicting years of physical, emotional and financial abuse" on her, so that she and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, could access more than $1 million from von Wiese-Mack's estate.
Prosecutors' sentencing memo included an image of Mack and her mother smiling aboard their flight to Indonesia, and prosecutors have said Mack began plotting to kill her mother before their trip started.
Under her plea agreement, Mack admitted to plotting with Schaefer to kill her mother while she and her mother were in Bali in 2014, using her mother's credit card to fly Schaefer to Bali, and letting Schaefer into her mother's hotel room as she slept, where Schaefer used the metal handle of a fruit bowl to beat von Wiese-Mack to death. Mack and Schaefer then concealed her mother's body in a suitcase, and placed it in the trunk of a taxi, only to leave it there and run off when the taxi driver wouldn't accept their fare.
Prosecutors' sentencing memo included an image of Mack at the rear of the taxi, and an image of the suitcase in which von Wiese-Mack's body was found.
"The murder of Von Wiese at the hands of the defendant and Schaefer was vicious. The evidence indicates Von Wiese struggled to stay alive, meaning that in the last moments of her life she realized that her daughter, and only child, was responsible for her death. Von Wiese had been worried that Mack would one day kill her, and it is hard to fathom the physical and emotional pain Von Wiese endured in the final moments of her life," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
Prosecutors also argued that Mack has shown little remorse for killing her mother, and has even sought to profit from her crime by trying to sell her story to the media.
"Mack's income potential is quite high. The story of her crime is world famous, and she has likely already entered into a media contract that is expected to earn Mack a significant amount of money. The money generated as a result of this heinous crime should go to the victim's estate rather than the defendant," prosecutors wrote.
Meantime, Mack's defense attorneys have asked the judge in her case to sentence her to the minimum of 15 years, with credit for the 7 years she's already served in prison in Indonesia.
Defense attorneys argued "it would clearly be a waste of public resources to pay hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars" to imprison Mack for any longer than the minimum sentence, and would further strain her relationship with her 8-year-old daughter, Stella, who was born while Mack was in prison.
"A limited sentence of incarceration for Ms. Mack will go a long way toward ensuring that Stella is not collaterally damaged. That is particularly the case where, as here, this Court could impose conditions such as house arrest or home detention upon Ms. Mack, which would still allow Ms. Mack and Stella to live and grow together in the closest and next best thing to a full mother/daughter relationship," defense attorneys wrote.
Mack's daughter is in the custody of a relative in the U.S., following an extensive court battle.
In seeking leniency for Mack, her defense attorneys also claimed she suffered from domestic violence at the hands of both her parents, as well as from her boyfriend, Schaefer. However, they also acknowledged the abuse went both ways.
"Ms. Mack painfully regrets the way that she treated her own mother, and of course regrets and is extraordinarily remorseful for her own pivotal role in Ms. Von Weise's murder," Mack's defense attorneys wrote, adding that she plans to "make this clear" in her own words when she speaks at her sentencing hearing.
However, prosecutors cast doubt on claims that Mack's mother abused her.
"Apart from Mack's own statements, there is little evidence to support these allegations. The government is not suggesting that the defendant and her mother shared a positive relationship. However, given Mack's countless false and misleading statements, any and all claims made by Mack should be carefully scrutinized. The objective evidence is that despite enduring years of abuse, Von Wiese loved her daughter and did everything she could to provide the best for her. Far from neglect or abuse, Mack was a child who was provided for financially and given many opportunities," they wrote.
Mack's defense attorneys said she "fully and genuinely accepts complete responsibility" for her crimes, and is not trying to escape punishment by accusing her mother of abuse.
"Her desire to better analyze the nature of the abuse and violence she suffered, and to grow and learn from it, is not some attempt to fashion an escape from culpability; but rather to better recognize, and avoid contributing to those same types of patterns with her own daughter, Stella, and in all of her other future relationships. That process will of course likely be a life-long endeavor," they wrote.
Mack is eligible for up to life in prison, but under terms of her plea agreement, if she is sentenced to more than 28 years in prison, she can withdraw her guilty plea.
If U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly were to sentence Mack to the 28 years sought by prosecutors, and give her credit for the time she spent in prison in Indonesia, she would remain in custody for about 16 years with credit for good behavior. If Mack were sentenced to the minimum of 15 years sought by her defense attorneys, and given credit for her time in prison in Indonesia, she would go free in about 4 years with credit for good behavior.
Schaefer is still serving his 18-year prison sentence in Indonesia for killing von Wiese-Mack, and also has been indicted in the U.S. on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges, meaning he likely faces arrest when he is deported from Indonesia.