Young Illinois Lovers Found Guilty of Murder but Indonesian Judges Spare Their Lives

Heather Mack and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer were both found guilty Tuesday of premeditated murder in the beating death of her mother, former Oak Park socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack, at a Bali hotel resort last August.

Mack, 19, was sentenced to 10 years in an Indonesian prison and Schaefer, 21, to 18 years. Both of them cried as the verdict was read. The three justices who judged the case said they were lenient on Mack because of the recent birth of her baby, Stella.

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

They have one week to appeal the verdict. Mack and Schaefer could have been sentenced to execution by firing squad. Instead, prosecutors — who called the killing “sadistic” — sought sentences of 15 and 18 years for Mack and Schaefer.

The judges went even further in their leniency, citing their compassion for the baby, who needs a mother, and Schaefer’s politeness and expressions of remorse. Outside of court, however, Schaefer swore angrily and struck at the news cameras, hitting two of them, reports the Daily Mail.

Schaefer and Mack met at Oak Park-River Forest High School. When he’s released from prison, his newborn child will be graduating high school herself.

The 4-week-old newborn Stella — whose very existence was cited at trial as the reason for the killing — will remain in prison with Mack. Indonesian law allows newborn babies to stay in prison with their mothers for two years after birth. Mack, the beneficiary of a $1.3 million trust fund upon the death of her mother, said she would be designating a sizable portion of the trust fund toward Stella’s care.

“Dear God, I know you don’t hear from me quite often, and I sometimes have acted like a jerk, but please have mercy on my soul and that of my daughter Stella, as I miss my mother and father so very much. Amen,” Mack said in a statement from her attorneys.

Mack gave birth to her daughter on March 17, just a few days after Schaefer described in court how he killed Mack’s mother by hitting her with a metal fruit bowl in a room at the St. Regis Hotel. Mack said her mother objected to her relationship with Schaefer, who testified that von Wiese-Mack was enraged by the pregnancy and attacked Schaefer, tried to strangle him and threatened to kill their unborn baby.

Schaefer confronted von Wiese-Mack, 62, had the metal bowl hidden under his shirt when he entered room 317 to meet with Mack and her mother, and during the argument he used the bowl to strike her in the head. Schaefer said he brought the bowl to protect himself.

“She squeezed my neck for about 20 to 30 seconds. I couldn’t breathe. I had blood going to my head and my eyes were so watery,” Schaefer testified. “I couldn’t see for a moment because my eyes were so watery and I was distraught, I was in a state of mind, I had no idea what was happening. I was almost about to black out. And I grabbed it and I started swinging.”

As he struck the woman, Mack ran and hid in the bathroom, according to her testimony.

After von Wiese-Mack died, the two stuffed her mother’s bloody, lifeless body into a suitcase. Heather Mack sat on top of the suitcase so Schaefer could fasten it shut. Then they carried the bag to a taxi. The body was discovered by police when Mack and Schaefer did not return to the taxi.

Mack and Schaefer fled to another hotel in a nearby town where police tracked them down and arrested them a day later. The couple claimed they had been kidnapped and held hostage, but later admitted to playing a role in Mack’s mother’s death.

Forensic experts determined that von Wiese-Mack died of suffocation due to broken bones in her face caused by the metal bowl.

Prosecutors, citing text messages between Mack and Schaefer, said the murder was premeditated.

MORE ON THE BALI MURDER of SHEILA VON WIESE-MACK

• Tommy Schaefer Tells How He Killed von Wiese-Mack After She Demanded Her Daughter Get an Abortion

• Confessions Made in Bali Resort Murder of Oak Park Woman: Police

• Racial Slur Said to be Motive in Oak Park Woman’s Murder

• Von Wiese-Mack’s Will Filed; Daughter Kept in Solitary Confinement

• Teen Jailed in Bali is Pregnant, Claims She’s Being Sexually Assaulted and Fed KFC

• Teen Accused of Mom’s Murder in Bali Not a ‘Crazy, Cold-Blooded Killer,’ Says Lawyer

• Slain Mother’s Relationship with Daughter Said to be Volatile

• Illinois Woman Killed at Posh Bali Resort and Stuffed into a Suitcase