American woman sentenced to 26 years in prison for killing her mother and concealing the body in a suitcase

Heather Mack, an American woman who was convicted of helping to kill her mother and hide her body in a suitcase during a holiday in Bali in 2014, has been sentenced to 26 years in prison. Originally, Mack was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Indonesia in 2015 but was released in 2021. However, upon arriving in the US, she was immediately arrested and charged with conspiracy to kill a US national. For the past two years, she has been in a Chicago prison awaiting sentencing. Judge Matthew Kennelly ruled on Wednesday that Mack, now 28 years old, will receive credit for the time she has already served, reducing her sentence to around 23 years. Prosecutors had recommended a 28-year sentence for Mack, who conspired with her then-boyfriend Tommy Schaefer to kill her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, and gain access to her $1.5 million trust fund. Prosecutors alleged that Mack, who was 18 and pregnant at the time of the murder, covered her mother's mouth while Schaefer struck her in the head with a fruit bowl. The body was later found stuffed inside a suitcase. After committing the crime, Mack and Schaefer left the suitcase with the body in the trunk of a taxi. The driver later alerted the police, leading to their arrest. Mack initially pleaded not guilty to the US charges but changed her plea after being offered a favorable deal by prosecutors. During her sentencing, Wiese-Mack's brother requested the maximum penalty, claiming that Mack had shown no remorse for the crime. Schaefer, who is also included in the US indictment, remains imprisoned in Indonesia.