U.S. woman's body found in suitcase in Bali

FlowerHair

Reclaiming my time
UPDATE: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-bali-suitcase-murder-20140919-story.html

An Oak Park man has confessed he killed his girlfriend’s mother in a luxury hotel on Indonesia’s Bali island, and the girlfriend has acknowledged helping him stuff the body into a suitcase, the Associated Press and CNN are reporting.

Heather Mack, 18, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, were arrested in Bali on Aug. 13, a day after the body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack was found in a suitcase inside the trunk of a taxi at the St. Regis Bali Resort.

So he confessed, huh...

I can't stand these two kids. I just shake my head.

ETA I wonder if he confessed so that the girl can go home to the US and have their baby???

I surely hope that he's not taking all the blame for her. I have a feeling she's very manipulative.
 
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Belle Du Jour

Well-Known Member
So he confessed, huh...

I can't stand these two kids. I just shake my head.

ETA I wonder if he confessed so that the girl can go home to the US and have their baby???

I surely hope that he's not taking all the blame for her. I have a feeling she's very manipulative.

If the girlfriend acknowledged helping him, she would still be considered an accessory after the fact. Not sure how harsh the laws would be in Indonesia for that charge, but I bet she still won't be going home any time soon. These two need to rot in the jail.
 

FlowerHair

Reclaiming my time
Update!
He gets 18 years, she gets 10. Their baby has been born. I don't feel sorry for them at all. Murderers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...end-lashes-s-handed-maximum-18-bars-Bali.html

Body in suitcase teen gets TEN years: Tearful Heather Mack sentenced for ‘sadistic’ murder of mother as boyfriend lashes out as he’s handed maximum 18 behind bars in Bali
  • Heather Mack, 19, from Chicago jailed for 10 years for killing her mother
  • Panel of judges were lenient towards Mack because she recently gave birth
  • Her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21 sentenced to 18 years imprisonment
  • He lashed out at photographers outside the court in Denpasar, Bali today
By RICHARD SHEARS and JENNY STANTON FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 06:23 GMT, 21 April 2015 | UPDATED: 12:36 GMT, 21 April 2015


Body in a suitcase teen Heather Mack cried as she was jailed for 10 years for the 'sadistic' murder of her mother today.

Her sentence came just minutes after her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, was jailed for 18 years at the same court in Denpasar, Bali and he violently lashed out at photographers.

Mack, 19, from Chicago was found guilty of helping Schaefer stuff the body of her mother into a suitcase.

Last month she was told she would not face the maximum sentence - the death penalty - but could be jailed for 15 years. Today the panel of judges decided to be lenient towards Mack because she recently gave birth.

'Her newborn baby badly needs a mother's love and breastfeeding,' the verdict said.

Following her sentencing, Mack spoke of her anger and sadness that her boyfriend would still be in prison when she was eventually released.

'He will still be in prison when I am freed and he is the father of my daughter,' she said.

'She will be a young girl and she is going to be without a father, while I will be out of prison. He should not have received 18 years like that.'

Meanwhile, Schaefer expressed anger outside the court for the first time since his arrest by lashing out and swearing at photographers. He hit two cameras.

It was a spontaneous display of anger he had not shown before, prompting observers to wonder if the same fury had surfaced in the hotel room where he murdered Sheila von Wiese-Mack.

Tears rolled down Miss Mack's face as the interpreter told her the judges were sending her to jail for the next 10 years.

The sentence has shown, however, that the judges had considered pleas by the defence that she was a young mother with a month-old baby and she had not contributed to the death of her own mother.

But Judge Suweda said: 'She failed to contact the police after the murder. Instead she had run away.'

Ni Ketut Novi Sri Wirani, Mack's lawyer, said: '10 years is better than the 15 years sought by the prosecution, so (we're) happy.'

Moments earlier, the judge jailed Schaefer to 18 years in prison. He said the violence of the crime - in which Schaefer was described as battering Mrs Von Wiese-Mack to death - had shocked Bali by its brutality.

'Taking into account the 340 chapter of criminal code and other related laws, (panel) declared that the defendant Tommy Schaefer has been legally and convincingly guilty of committing premeditated murder,' Judge Suweda said.

'Therefore the defendant is sentenced to 18 years in jail.'
He described Schaefer's actions as sadistic, but said his politeness and remorse during the trial saved him from the heavier punishment - the death sentence.

'Although I do take full responsibility for my actions, I am not a murderer,' Scahefer said after hearing the verdict.

The sentences mean Schaefer will be 39 years old when he is released from Kerobokan Jail. When Mack is released, her daughter will be 10 years old.

The judge said: 'In my decision I have made a special judgment because Heather has a baby who needs a mother. For Tommy, I call the crime sadistic.'

Mack was found guilty of helping her boyfriend put her mother's body in the case before it was loaded into a taxi at the upmarket St Regis Hotel in Bali.

Her lawyers told the court that her young age, the fact that she has a one-month-old baby and the claim that she had no part in the actual death of her mother should see her receiving a reduction.


Earlier today, Mack was all smiles and showed no nervousness when she arrived at Denpasar District Court.


Asked if she was concerned that the judges were expected to hand down long prison sentences for her and Schaefer - who are both from the Chicago area - she said she was ready for whatever they decided.

'Anything... I'm prepared for anything,' she said.

But sitting in front of the judges in a white blouse, Mack's earlier smiling bravado fell away and she began to weep as she listened to the judge outlining the case.

The prosecution claimed the couple had planned the death of Mrs Von Wiese-Mack, based on text messages that had passed between them.

The court has already heard from the prosecution that Schaefer went to Mrs Von Wiese-Mack's hotel room, which she was sharing with daughter, carrying the heavy fruit bowl, which was evidence that he intended to use it on her.

Mack's defence team claimed that during the fatal argument between her mother and Schaefer, she had run and hid in the bathroom - but had then helped her boyfriend push her mother's body into the suitcase because she panicked and he was the father of the child she was carrying.

In the final hours before Mack learned of her fate, she told People magazine that tending to her newborn daughter keeps her from dwelling on what the coming day may bring.

She is allowed to keep her baby in prison with her for two years and Mack said she could not bare to give her up.


'I don't want to separate my family,' she said. 'It's too painful to think about having to be separated from my angel.'

When they were first arrested last August following the discovery of the battered body of Mack's 62-year-old mother in a suitcase that had been placed in the boot of a taxi, they could have faced a mandatory death sentence for premeditated murder.

But Mack claimed she had not been party to her mother’s death and had only assisted her boyfriend in stuffing the body into the suitcase after she panicked.

For his part, Schaefer argued that he had hit Mrs Von Wiese-Mack with the metal part of a fruit bowl after she grabbed him by the throat during an argument in her room at the hotel.

He claimed there had always been dissent between Mrs Von Wiese-Mack and himself because she objected to his relationship with her daughter - particularly after she learned her daughter was pregnant with his child.

Mrs Von Wiese-Mack was the widow of highly regarded jazz and classical composer James L. Mack, who died in 2006 at the age of 76.
 

FlowerHair

Reclaiming my time




There are many more photos if you follow the link in my previous post.
 

FlowerHair

Reclaiming my time
I wonder what prison is like in Bali

I don't think it's a lot of fun.

I may have posted this before, but this crime reminds me of a Swedish crime some years back when a girl had egged on her boyfriend to kill another girl.

I honestly feel that Heather got a too light sentence. They planned the murder together.

Where is her baby going to go when she's 2? To the US?
 

bklynbornNbred

Well-Known Member
Her sentence was absolutely too light.

I wonder since daughter can't profit from the murder is the mothers estate is in a trust for the granddaughter?

There are times that arrangements are warranted but in this case I personally wouldn't make that child stay in prison with the mother until she is two. Breastfeeding is important but the daughter facilitated a murder. The baby will survive with can milk and doesn't need to bond with mother that will be in jail. She's using that child to get low security when she should be in maximum with Big Bertha waiting at the door.
 

Pat Mahurr

Pun intended
"She is allowed to keep her baby in prison with her for two years and Mack said she could not bare to give her up."

^^ I've never heard of this before.

'He will still be in prison when I am freed and he is the father of my daughter,' she said. 'She will be a young girl and she is going to be without a father, while I will be out of prison.'
It sounds as if she'd rather be in prison with him than be free to care for her baby without him.
She's a nut. He's a violent nut.
 

Ms. Tarabotti

Well-Known Member
'I don't want to separate my family,' she said. 'It's too painful to think about having to be separated from my angel.'

So it's too painful to think about being separated from your daughter but it's not too painful to kill your mother? Right.

And just how will you be explaining this to your daughter when she grows up--Sweetheart, the reason that you don't have a grandmother is because Mommy and Daddy did a bad thing........
 

chicitygirl

Well-Known Member
So much for Bali having harsher punishments. I just knew they were going to get the firing squad. They killed that poor woman in cold blood and only have to serve 10 years. What a shame. There's folks in jail longer than that on drug charges here. How is it that he's seen in pics with the baby and she gets to keep this child in prison? Here in the U.S., they'd have no access to the baby since they're inmates. They're getting all kinds of privileges that criminals here don't get.
 

ThickRoot

Well-Known Member
So much for Bali having harsher punishments. I just knew they were going to get the firing squad. They killed that poor woman in cold blood and only have to serve 10 years. What a shame. There's folks in jail longer than that on drug charges here. How is it that he's seen in pics with the baby and she gets to keep this child in prison? Here in the U.S., they'd have no access to the baby since they're inmates. They're getting all kinds of privileges that criminals here don't get.
Girl just everything you said! I just knew they were gonna get death by firing squad. 10 and 18 years? Wow. So the U.S. justice system would've actually been harsher -- amazing. This is ridiculous what about the poor baby why does she have to suffer cause they're scum, ugh.
 

aviddiva77

Well-Known Member
Huh. How mind blowing at their sentences and the fact that she gets to keep her baby for 2 years.

While I think it's ridiculous in this case, is this something we could replicate for non-violent crimes in the US?
 

FriscoGirl

Well-Known Member
I can't even wrap my mind around this. How is the girl so unaffected? It's like she didn't even hate her mother enough to feel remorseless. She felt absolutely nothing?

She is treating this like it is ALL a BIG INCONVENIENCE to her and her little family. I have yet to read were she is quoted as saying she missing her mom; wishes her mom was here, etc… She may not be a sociopath, but there is definitely something clinically wrong with her.
 

fasika

Well-Known Member
Following her sentencing, Mack spoke of her anger and sadness that her boyfriend would still be in prison when she was eventually released.

'He will still be in prison when I am freed and he is the father of my daughter,' she said.

'She will be a young girl and she is going to be without a father, while I will be out of prison. He should not have received 18 years like that.'

WTF. She's nuts. Totally nuts.

They need to monitor her really closely so she doesn't kill her child when it's time to separate.

'Although I do take full responsibility for my actions, I am not a murderer,' Scahefer said after hearing the verdict.

 

ScorpioBeauty09

Well-Known Member
I'm surprised they didn't get the death penalty. This is a country that is about to execute 9 Australians for drug smuggling. Whatever. There's something creepy about these two indeed. Maybe Dateline will do a report on this. I'd totally watch.
 

JustSitNBePretty

Well-Known Member
Wow, I watched some of the videos on that website flowerhair posted, and just wow at everything. First that girl seems so spoiled, like she can't even imagine anything bad happening to her. I'm just amazed at her audacity and how she's sticking by her boyfriend's side as tho he didn't just murder her mother in cold blood! She should be very afraid of him. They both seem to have no regrets or remorse and they seem to be treating this like an inconvenience. And that girl is loving the attention and spotlight. I wonder whose paying her court fees and giving the money to provide for the baby.

Also, Indonesian jails seem to be very lax. She was on her iPhone and just joking around with reporters like nothing. They aren't outfitted in head to toe in an bright orange prison suit and many times they weren't even handcuffed.
 

JustSitNBePretty

Well-Known Member
I'm surprised they didn't get the death penalty. This is a country that is about to execute 9 Australians for drug smuggling. Whatever. There's something creepy about these two indeed. Maybe Dateline will do a report on this. I'd totally watch.
Yeah, I'd be interested in some coverage on these two and I'm sure the girl would jump at the chance since she's sticking by her boyfriend and seems to be acting as though she doesn't have a care in the world. I wonder what's going through their minds. Do they miss America or family? Do they realize their young adult years are about to be stripped from them? Do they regret how their life has turned out? With that story they concocted, did they really think they were going to get away with the murder and just return back to the US without any suspicion?
 
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