An update in the Bali suitcase murder has gone viral. A couple has been sentenced in the killing of Sheila von Wiese-Mack. Von Wiese-Mack’s teen daughter, Heather Mack, will spend ten years in prison while her boyfriend and the father of her new baby, Tommy Schaefer, has been sentenced to 18 years behind bars. In the summer of 2014, Schaefer and Mack beat Sheila von Wiese-Mack to death as they were vacationing at the St. Regis Bali Resort and stuffed her body in a suitcase.
A young couple from Chicago has been sentenced for the killing of Sheila von Wiese-Mack. The sentencing of Tommy Schaefer and Heather Mack took place earlier today in a Denpasar court in Bali, Indonesia.
A three-judge panel decided that Heather Mack, 19, would be imprisoned for the next ten years for the death of her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack. The judges said that they believed Heather Mack deserved leniency because she recently welcomed a baby girl.
In March, Mack gave birth to a baby girl named Stella, who will be raised behind bars until she is two years old. One of the three judges said:
“Her newborn baby badly needs a mother’s love and breastfeeding.”
Local reporters spotted Mack getting drunk in her prison cell after learning her fate. One journalist explained:
“The soft drink bottle was in a plastic container, but we could all smell alcohol. There is no doubt that it was not lemonade in that bottle. She must have got it from somewhere to keep her calm.”
While Tommy Schaefer was spared the death sentence, he was thrown in prison for 18 years. The 21-year-old told the judges prior to hearing the verdict:
“Although I do take full responsibility for my actions, I am not a murderer.”
The Illinois man left the courtroom in a violent rage, insulted reporters, slapped two cameras to the ground, gave them the middle finger and told the journalists to have a great 2015.
Prosecutors have announced that they will appeal the case because they wanted 15 years for Mack. The duo got away with a slap on the wrist considering Indonesian law allows for execution by firing squad for anyone convicted of murder.
In August of 2014, the lovers made headlines after it was revealed that they beat Mack’s mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, at the upscale St. Regis Bali Resort.
It is believed that Sheila von Wiese-Mack was killed because she disapproved of the romance and wanted her daughter to get an abortion. After killing Sheila von Wiese-Mack, they stuffed her body in a suitcase and left it in the trunk of a taxi outside a Bali hotel.
Sheila von Wiese-Mack left her daughter a $1.5 million trust fund, which she has been using to pay her legal fees and for Stella.
What are your thoughts on the verdict in the Bali suitcase murder?
