Sheila had taken her daughter on holiday to repair their relationship, but it put an end to it, for good…
At a luxury resort in the tropical paradise of Bali, the crystal water, palm trees and dazzling white Indonesian sands attracted tourists from all around the world.
Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, was one of these visitors, booked into a five-star hotel ready to soak up the exotic beauty of the island. But Sheila never got to enjoy her holiday – her battered body was found stuffed into a suitcase and hidden in the boot of a car.
The wealthy American academic had been murdered, and when her two killers were put behind bars, they took with them a third prisoner – a newborn baby.
Glamorous socialite Sheila lived in Chicago with her only child Heather, 19. Sheila was the widow of jazz and classical composer James L. Mack, and Heather was the sole beneficiary of a £1million trust fund.
Sheila had a difficult relationship with her daughter. She’d filed dozens of complaints against her with the police, for battery, theft and truancy, even a missing person’s report after Heather once ran away. But friends and family claim Sheila never gave up trying to repair her relationship with Heather.
In April 2014, Heather started dating aspiring rapper Tommy Shaefer, 21, and Sheila didn’t approve. The couple held a party in a hotel using Sheila’s credit card, which further cemented her disapproval.
Beaten and dumped
But in an attempt to reconcile with her daughter, Sheila paid for the three of them to go on holiday together. In August 2014, Sheila and Heather travelled to Bali to stay at the exclusive St Regis Bali Resort, and Tommy arrived a few days later. But the trip soon turned sour when Sheila found out Heather was pregnant.
On the morning of August 11, Heather and Tommy called a taxi to the hotel and heaved a large, silver suitcase into the boot. Then they left the driver, saying they’d be back after checking out of the hotel. But they didn’t return.
After a long wait, the taxi driver saw blood on the suitcase and called the police. Officers opened the case and discovered Sheila’s half naked body wrapped in hotel bedding inside. A forensic examination revealed she’d died from a blunt force to the face which fractured her facial bones, causing her to suffocate. She had bruises on her arms and broken fingers.
Authorities found Heather and Tommy hiding out in a budget hotel about nine miles away. They claimed they’d been taken captive at the resort by an armed gang, who had killed Sheila, but they’d managed to escape.
The young couple was taken to Bali’s notorious Kerobokan jail – a place known for being overcrowded and rife with crime. Reports of Heather’s pregnancy hit the press and on March 17 this year. she gave birth to a baby girl and named her Stella.
Heather was allowed to keep her in the crowded cell. When local press asked about Stella’s welfare, Heather revealed she had six fingers on her left hand and would need surgery to remove the extra digit.
With baby Stella just days old, her parents Heather and Tommy faced their trial. They wore plastic rings to signify their marriage ‘in spirit’. Heather’s was red, Tommy’s was blue.
At a court in Indonesia, they were told they’d both been spared the death penalty and sentences of less than 20 years had been recommended. Heather and Tommy both wept at the unexpected news – many thought they’d face the firing squad or at least a life sentence. It seemed their remorse and a newborn baby had swung the trial in their favour.
Self defence
Tommy tearfully described hitting Sheila with the metal handle of a heavy fruit bowl as they argued in her hotel room about Heather being pregnant. He told the court he was defending himself because Sheila was angry and tried to strangle him.
"She squeezed my neck for about 20 to 30 seconds. I couldn’t breathe. I had blood going to my head," he said. "I couldn’t see for a moment because my eyes were so watery and I was distraught, I had no idea what was happening. I was almost about to black out and I grabbed it and started swinging."
Heather had been there. She said she never wanted her mum dead and she’d just ‘panicked’ during the argument and run into the bathroom. But she admitted that she’d helped Tommy force Sheila into a suitcase before loading it into the taxi and escaping via a rear exit. The couple had tried to leave Bali but their passports were in the hotel’s safe deposit box.
Heather strongly denied the charge, but the prosecution said she’d sat on top of the bulging suitcase so the zip could be fastened. It was a grisly image.
The prosecution also insisted that the young lovers had planned the murder, revealing Heather had once suggested to Tommy that they should hire a hitman and pay him £32,000 to kill her mum.
Both were found guilty by a three-judge panel. Tommy Shaefer was sentenced to 18 years for murder. Heather Mack was sentenced to 10 years for being an accessory to murder.
The judge described the killing as ‘sadistic’ but said Tommy’s politeness and remorse meant he didn’t receive a longer sentence. "Although I do take full responsibility for my actions, I am not a murderer," Tommy said after the verdict.
Heather received a shorter sentence than the prosecution had suggested because of baby Stella. Afterwards, she was allegedly seen joking with photographers while swigging out of a smuggled-in Sprite bottle that ‘reeked of alcohol’. She said she was sad she’d be released before Tommy.
"He will still be in prison when I am freed. 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."
Heather is allowed to keep her baby with her until she is two years old, but she hasn’t revealed any further plans. Despite very poor conditions in prison, the young mum has refused offers to have Stella raised by a family in Bali and it’s a decision that’s been criticised. Perhaps now Heather understands the unconditional love of a mother, but it was too late to save Sheila.