Young Woman and Boyfriend on Trial in Connection with Her Mother’s Death
Oak Park, Ill. is once again the focus of media attention as news that a young woman formerly of Oak Park and her boyfriend went on trial in Bali, Indonesia last Wednesday, in connection with the murder of the women's mother last year.
Heather Mack, 19, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, both from Chicago, are being tried separately at the Denpasar District Court in Bali. The judges and prosecutors are the same in both trials according to published news reports.
The badly beaten body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, was found in a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi outside the St. Regis Hotel, an upscale lodge in Bali last Aug.
Schaefer and Heather Mack who reportedly is pregnant, could face the death penalty if found guilty of the murder.
"He is charged with premeditated murder, torture that led to death and hiding or disposal of the body," state prosecutor Eddy Wijaya reportedly told reporters after the first day of hearings at Denpasar District Court.
Mack is charged with assisting Schaefer in the murder.
The two, who arrived at the courthouse handcuffed together before being led to separate cells, did not submit a plea.
Bali police conducted a four-month investigation into the murder case including a re-enactment with the defendants at the luxury hotel where Wiese-Mack's body was found.
Other evidence submitted to prosecutors included Closed Caption (CCTV) footage showing the couple speaking to a taxi driver after dropping the bloodied suitcase along with other luggage outside the hotel.
Mack and her mother had a troubled relationship and von Wiese-Mack had frequently reported that her daughter punched and bit her, according to reports cited by Oak Park police and Chicago media.
Von Wiese-Mack had recently moved to a condominium in Chicago. Her husband, and Heather's father, classical music composer James Mack, died in 2006.
According to Indonesian broadcaster Trans TV, the couple was found by police last Aug. sleeping in a hotel room in Kuta, a town about 6 miles from the St. Regis and allegedly told police they were taken captive by an armed group whose gang members were the ones who killed von Wiese-Mack.
The taxi driver reportedly said the couple hailed him at the St. Regis, placed the suitcase in the trunk, along with two bags in the backseat, then went back into the hotel and did not return, Trans TV reports.
After two hours, the taxi driver said he entered the hotel and spoke to employees, who went to the family's rooms and found them empty. When the taxi driver and a manager opened the trunk, they reportedly saw blood on the luggage and drove the car to a police station, where the woman's body was found inside a hard-sided grey piece of luggage, Trans TV reported.
Surveillance footage reportedly show the victim argued with Schaefer in the hotel's lobby.
Both Heather Mack and Schaefer attended Oak Park River Forest High, from which he graduated in 2011 and she withdrew during her junior year in 2013.
Described as a cultured woman with an MBA who worked for Sen. Ted Kennedy and Studs Terkel at different points in her life, Von Wiese-Mack reportedly moved from Oak Park to Chicago's Gold Coast about a year before she was murdered.
Latest Stories
- South Suburban College Addresses Potential Faculty Strike with Commitment to Resolution and Transparency
- COOK COUNTY CLERK-ELECT ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP OF TRANSITION TEAM
- Chicago Native Receives Grammy Nomination
- Country Club Hills School District #160 Celebrates Progress with Release of Illinois Report Card
- JARRARD INC. ADDS SENIOR LEADERS IN RESPONSE TO CONTINUED STELLAR GROWTH
Latest Podcast
A.L. Smith - Harold Washington Legacy Committee
