Bali suitcase murder case - Trial begins for Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer - 1/14/15, Denpasar, Indonesia

U.S. couple stand trial for grisly Bali suitcase murder

Reuters
January 14, 2015
5 hours ago


Wednesday, January 14, 2015 - U.S. citizen Heather Mack listens while sitting next to an interpreter in a court in Denpasar, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali January 14, 2015. REUTERS/Antara Foto/Nyoman Budhiana


Wednesday, January 14, 2015 - U.S. citizen Tommy Schaefer is seen inside a court in Denpasar, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali January 14, 2015 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. REUTERS/Antara Foto/Nyoman Budhiana

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - A U.S. man and his pregnant girlfriend went on trial on Wednesday for the murder of the woman's mother, whose battered body was found stuffed in a suitcase on Indonesia's resort island of Bali last August.

Tommy Schaefer and Heather Mack, both from Chicago, could face the death penalty if found guilty of the murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack.

"He is charged with premeditated murder, torture that led to death and hiding or disposal of the body," state prosecutor Eddy Wijaya told reporters after the first day of hearings at Denpasar District Court.

Mack, who is being tried separately, is charged with assisting Schaefer in the murder.

Prosecutors read out the charges against them, while judges asked the defendants to provide personal information.

The two, who arrived at the courthouse handcuffed together before being led to separate cells, did not submit a plea.

The next court appearance is set for next Wednesday.

Read more:

https://news.yahoo.com/u-couple-stand-trial-grisly-bali-suitcase-murder-101712380.html;_ylt=AwrBT7tci7ZUWssALVRXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzdWlsa25qBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDU1N18x

Bali suitcase murder: Heather Mack asked boyfriend Tommy Schaefer to hire hitman for $50k on mum (Video)

Cindy Wockner and Komang Erviani  |  News Corp Australia Network  |  January 14, 2015 10:10PM


Baby bump ... American Heather Mack at Denpasar District Court for her first appearance. Picture: Lukman S Bintoro

A PREGNANT teenager allegedly asked her lover to find hitmen to kill her wealthy mother for $US50,000 and the couple also discussed other ways of disposing of her.  
 
These allegedly included smothering the mother with a pillow or making her death look like a suicide on the beach.

Prosecutors allege that some of the grisly plan was contained within text messages the pair sent each other in the lead up to the killing.

The bombshell allegations were revealed for the first time at the Bali murder trial of Heather Mack, who is about seven months pregnant, and the father of her unborn baby, Tommy Schaefer.

~Snipped~

If convicted of premeditated murder the couple, including Mack whose baby girl is due on April 1, face the death penalty. The couple is also charged with murder, which carries a 20-year maximum sentence.

During Mack’s trial, Prosecutor Ni Luh Oka Ariani, read from an indictment which stated that Mack and Schaefer were in a relationship which her mother objected to.


Arriving at court ... Mack is now about seven months pregnant with Schaefer’s child. Picture: Lukman S Bintoro

Read more:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/bali-suitcase-murder-heather-mack-asked-boyfriend-tommy-schaefer-to-hire-hitman-for-50k-on-mum/story-e6frg6n6-1227185039529?nk=1ed28ea74fc30233272847608a978c71

RELATED:

Pregnant murder accused Heather Mack reunited with boyfriend Tommy Schaefer in Bali, pledging to name baby after grandmother (Video)

By Cindy Wockner and Komang Erviani  |  News Corp Australia Network  |  December 09, 2014 8:50AM


Emotional reunion ... Americans Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer are accused of killing Heather's mother Sheila Von Weise. Picture: News Corp Australia

Read more:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/pregnant-murder-accused-heather-mack-reunited-with-boyfriend-tommy-schaefer-in-bali-pledging-to-name-baby-after-grandmother/story-e6frg6n6-1227148781593

RELATED ARTICLES:

Sheila von Wiese Mack Dead: Daughter Heather Mack and Boyfriend Tommy Schaefer Arrested (+Photos, Pictures)

By Zachary Stieber, Epoch Times | August 13, 2014
Last Updated: August 13, 2014 5:06 pm


Sheila Von Wiese Mack. (Newberry Library)


An Indonesian police officer escorts Tommy Schaefer, left, as he is brought to the police station for questioning in relation to the death of his girlfriend’s mother, in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Read more:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/874283-sheila-von-wiese-mack-dead-daughter-heather-mack-and-boyfriend-tommy-schaefer-arrested/

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Will of Chicago mother, former Oak Park resident slain in Bali filed in court


Sheila von Wiese | Sun-Times Library

Jon Seidel | jseidel@suntimes.com | @SeidelContent  
Aug. 25, 2014 6:31 p.m.

A will of a Chicago woman whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase two weeks ago on the resort island of Bali has surfaced in Cook County.

Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s will was filed late last week by Lance Taylor, an Oak Park attorney, more than a week after Indonesian authorities took von Wiese-Mack’s 18-year-old daughter and her boyfriend into custody in connection with the woman’s death.

Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer, 21, could be charged with premeditated murder and if convicted, face the death penalty.

But it’s still not clear from von Wiese-Mack’s will who stands to inherit her property. Taylor said only that he did estate planning in 2006 for von Wiese-Mack and her husband, the late James L. Mack.

“Having the will, I have an obligation to file it,” Taylor said.

Von Wiese-Mack signed her will Aug. 1, 2006 — the same day her husband signed his. She left her property to a trust but did not name its beneficiary. Neither did her husband in his will, signed five days before his death on Aug. 6, 2006. Taylor declined to discuss those details.

Read more:

http://oakpark.chicagotribune.com/2014/08/25/will-chicago-mother-slain-bali-filed-court/

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Bali suitcase murder: Tommy Schaefer, Heather Mack seen kissing, hugging as prosecutors mull charges

The body of 62-year-old Sheila von Wiese-Mack was found inside the trunk of a taxi at a Bali resort in August. Police say the couple argued with her in the hotel before the slaying, which cops believe took place inside one of the resort's rooms.

BY  David Boroff  /  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS  /  Monday, December 8, 2014, 11:07 AM



A Chicago man and his pregnant girlfriend accused in the Bali suitcase murder of her mother appear to be closer than ever.

Lovebirds Tommy Schaefer, 21, and 19-year-old Heather Mack, who were seen kissing and embracing each other in a jail cell as Indonesian police officially handed the murder case to prosecutors on Monday.

Prosecutors now have 20 days to decide whether to formally charge the couple. They can ask police for look for more evidence if they are not satisfied.

Schaefer and Mack are accused of beating her mother to death and stuffing her body in a suitcase. The body of 62-year-old Sheila von Wiese-Mack was found inside the trunk of a taxi at a Bali resort in August.

Read more:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/pictured-suspects-bali-suitcase-murder-close-article-1.2037676

Bali Suitcase Murder: Trial Begins for Chicago Couple Charged with Brutal Killing

By Johnny Dodd @Johnny_Dodd
01/14/2015 AT 04:20 PM EST


Heather Mack
Made Nagi/EPA/Landov

Tommy Schaefer and Heather Mack, charged with the brutal killing of Mack's mother and Chicago socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack during a vacation in Bali, traded their bright orange prison vests for clean pressed clothes Tuesday as guards led them into an Indonesian courtroom for the first day of their murder trial.

The bloodied body of von Wiese-Mack, 62, was found on Aug. 12, stuffed in a suitcase in the back of a taxi at the posh resort where she had been staying. Prosecutors charged Schaefer, 21, and Mack, 19, with premeditated murder, which makes the couple eligible for the death penalty.

Their trial, held in Bali's Denpasar District Court, will resume next week and the couple will enter their pleas at that time. Prosecutors claim that Schaefer beat Mack's mother with the iron grip of a fruit bowl.

Read more:

http://www.people.com/article/bali-suitcase-murder-trial-begins

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U.S. Couple Present Defense In Bali Suitcase Murder Case

By Trisha Sertori, Reuters
Jan. 21, 2015, 5:09 AM


An Indonesian plain clothes policeman escorts U.S. citizens Schaefer and Mack as they walk to their trial in Denpasar court, Bali

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - A U.S. man and his pregnant girlfriend presented their defense on Wednesday at a hearing where they stand accused of murdering the woman's mother, whose battered body was found stuffed in a suitcase on the resort island of Bali last August.

Tommy Schaefer and Heather Mack, both from Chicago, argued through their lawyers that the prosecutor's case lacked credible witnesses and was unclear on where the crime took place.

~Snipped~

Under Indonesian law, the defendant does not enter a plea until the end of the trial.

Read more:

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-couple-present-defense-in-bali-suitcase-murder-case-2015-1#ixzz3QX523CbM

______________________

News

Bali suitcase murder case: Trial error exposed as Sheila von Weise-Mack’s daughter and lover fight to escape firing squad for killing her  

Komang Erviani and Network writers | News Corp Australia Network | January 21, 2015 6:25PM

PAPERWORK blunder has been exposed in the police case against the teenager accused of murdering her wealthy socialite mother in Bali.  

Lawyers for heavily pregnant Heather Mack and her co-accused boyfriend Tommy Schaefer claim the prosecution’s case is “null and void” because it contains errors in detailing where the murder took place at the St Regis Resort in Nusa Dua.




If convicted of premeditated murder the couple face the death penalty. The pair is also charged with murder, which carries a 20-year maximum sentence.

Showing the first real sign of emotion since his arrest, Schaefer wept behind bars, before being taken into the courtroom.




Read more:

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/world/bali-suitcase-murder-case-trial-error-exposed-as-sheila-von-weise-macks-daughter-and-lover-fight-to-escape-firing-squad-for-killing-her/story-fnhrvhol-1227192563907?nk=2fc37706b9e60b3d44680abe16bbc82e

______________________

NEWS › ASIA › COURTS

Bali murder suspect allowed to access trust fund to mount trial defence

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 21 January, 2015, 5:37pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 21 January, 2015, 7:48pm

Reuters in Chicago



A Chicago-area woman will be allowed access to about 10 per cent of her $1.56 million trust fund to help pay for her defence on murder charges in the death of her mother at an Indonesian resort, an Illinois judge ruled on Tuesday.

Heather Mack, 19, is accused of murdering her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, while on vacation at a luxury resort in Bali last August.

Read more:

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1688408/bali-murder-suspect-allowed-access-trust-fund-mount-trial-defence

Prosecutors: Americans' Murder Trial Should Proceed in Bali

By  FIRDIA LISNAWATI


Heather Mack, 18, and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Tommy Schaefer, are both charged with killing Mack, mother, Sheila von Weise-Mack in Indonesia.

Updated at 7:16 AM CST on Wednesday, Jan 28, 2015

Indonesian prosecutors said Wednesday the trial of an American couple charged with murdering the woman's mother should proceed, defending their indictment against defense arguments that it has inaccuracies and should be annulled.

The badly beaten body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, was found in a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi outside an upscale hotel in Bali last year.

~Snipped~

Heather Mack, 19, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, both from Chicago, are being tried separately with the same judges and prosecutors teams at the Denpasar District Court on Bali.

Read more:

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Prosecutors-Americans-Murder-Trial-Should-Proceed-in-Bali-290048111.html#ixzz3QWfW6ecI

Judge in Bali suitcase murder case weighs petition to throw out charges

Claim argument over hotel bill led to beating death of US teen’s mother

Judge panel will decide whether to proceed with trial next week


Heather Mack, centre left, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, centre right, both from Chicago, walk out of a prison to the Denpasar district court in Bali, Indonesia, before their trial on Wednesday. Photograph: Firdia Lisnawati/AP

Lisnawati/AP
Associated Press in Bali
Wednesday 28 January 2015 08.55 EST

Indonesian prosecutors said on Wednesday the trial of an American couple charged with murdering the woman’s mother should proceed, defending their indictment against defence arguments that it has inaccuracies and should be annulled.

~Snipped~

The couple’s lawyers said last week the prosecutors’ indictment contained inaccuracies that could lead to multiple interpretations of the suspects’ activities and the crime scene, raising questions of whether other people had entered the victim’s room and killed her.

They also objected to the citing of communications between the defendants on cellphones as evidence of premeditated murder, arguing that cellphone communications are prone to manipulation. Based on these arguments, they asked the judges to annul the indictment

~Snipped~

Presiding judge Made Suweda postponed the trial until Monday when the judge panel would decide whether or not to proceed.

Read more:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/28/bali-suitcase-murder-us-couple-mother-trial

By Crimesider Staff / AP / February 2, 2015, 4:00 PM

Bali trial to proceed for Americans accused in "suitcase murder"

BALI, Indonesia -- An Indonesian court decided Monday to go ahead with the separate trials of an American couple charged with murdering the Chicago woman's mother while vacationing on the resort island of Bali last year.

The three-judge panel overruled defense arguments that the indictment submitted by prosecutors had inaccuracies and should be annulled. Hearings will resume Wednesday at Denpasar District Court in the provincial capital of Bali.

"The indictment is fully qualified both formally and materially according to the law," said presiding judges Made Suweda. "Therefore, the defense objections are rejected."

Read more:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trial-to-proceed-for-couple-accused-in-suitcase-murder/

Cradling her bump, U.S. teen looks drained as she is told she WILL face trial in Bali: Pregnant woman, 19, and her boyfriend face prospect of firing squad if found guilty of killing her socialite mother

. Heather Mack, 19, cradled growing baby bump at court appearance
. Stands accused of murder with boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, in Bali
. Pair said to have killed Mack's mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack in August
. She is seven months pregnant and due to give birth to child in April
. Couples defence team argued inaccurate indictment should be annulled
. Judges rejects application and say their separate trials will go ahead

By Sam Matthew for MailOnline

Published: 07:58 EST, 2 February 2015  | Updated: 11:48 EST, 2 February 2015


Heather Mack, 19, cradled her growing baby bump as she learned she would stand trial over the murder of her socialite mother on Bali


Heather Mack and her co-accused lover, Tommy Schaefer, 21, appeared at court in Denpasar wearing matching white shirts


The young lovers were handcuffed to each other as they arrived at court on the resort island


The pair were sent to the island's notorious Kerobokan Prison in December ahead of the trial

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2936367/Pregnant-teen-accused-murdering-socialite-mother-Bali-stuffing-body-suitcase-cradled-growing-bump-told-face-trial.html

Bali Suitcase Murder: Heather Mack Says She's 'Innocent'

By Johnny Dodd @Johnny_Dodd
02/04/2015 AT 08:45 PM EST

The Chicago teen accused of the brutal murder of her mother, whose body was discovered stuffed in a suitcase last August at a luxury hotel in Bali, has been busy in recent days making phone calls from the prison where she's being held.

Earlier this week, Heather Mack, 19, reportedly reached out to her hometown newspaper The Chicago Tribune and the office of a Cook County judge to maintain her innocence and express her frustration over the fact that her Indonesian criminal defense attorney has only received partial payment for his work on her case.

Last month, a judged ordered the release of $150,000 from her $1.56 million trust fund to be used for her legal defense, but only after her attorney filed detailed billing statements. Only $50,000 has been approved for payment, said the interim trustee, because none of the required paperwork has been submitted.

~Snipped~

Mack blamed her Chicago-based attorneys, who have worked on her case since her arrest last August and have never been paid, for the delay in the release of funds to her Indonesian attorney. She reportedly intends to have them fired, claiming that they are "denying me a fair chance of defending myself."

"We are aware of Heather's interview," Mack's attorney Michael Elkin tells PEOPLE. "But to date I haven't received a disengagement letter."

Read more:

http://www.people.com/article/heather-mack-innocent-bali-suitmase-murder

Bali suitcase murder trial: daughter says boyfriend beat her mother after threat

. Heather Mack testifies that mother threatened to kill couple’s unborn baby
. They face possible death by firing squad if found guilty


Heather Mack, left, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, arrive at a courtroom in Bali on Wednesday. Mack, 19, and Schaefer, 21, are being tried separately. Photograph: Firdia Lisnawati/AP

March 11, 2015

An American woman charged with premeditated murder in the death of her mother on Indonesia’s Bali island told a court Wednesday that her boyfriend killed her mother in anger after she threatened to kill their unborn baby.

~Snipped~

In her first questioning in court Wednesday, Mack, who is eight months’ pregnant, said Schaefer beat her mother with a metal soup bowl after Von Wiese-Mack made the threat in an argument. Von Wiese-Mack objected to their relationship.

“The blow was not so hard ... and my mother was still resisting,” Mack said. “I asked Tommy to stop and then I ran into the bathroom.”

Mack said when she left the bathroom, she found Schaefer on the bed trying to give her artificial respiration.

“Tommy said my mother was not breathing,” she said. Mack said she also tried to revive her but it didn’t work.

Read more:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/bali-suitcase-murder-trial-mack-boyfriend-mother

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U.S. man admits to killing girlfriend's mother in Bali suitcase murder case

Reuters

March 12, 2015 12:07 PM

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - - A U.S. man confessed in an Indonesian court on Thursday to killing his pregnant girlfriend's mother, in a grisly case in which the victim's battered body was found in an abandoned suitcase on the resort island of Bali.

Tommy Schaefer and Heather Mack, both from Chicago, are being tried separately and have been charged with premeditated murder in the death of Shiela von Wiese-Mack.

Schaefer has argued self-defense, telling the court Wiese-Mack attacked him in anger because she objected to the couple's relationship.

"She squeezed my neck for about 20 to 30 seconds so I couldn't see because my eyes were watering," Schaefer said, describing through an interpreter the moments leading up to the murder.

Read more:

http://news.yahoo.com/u-man-admits-killing-girlfriends-mother-bali-suitcase-160724282.html

Bali Suitcase Murder: Heather Mack Sobs as Boyfriend Testifies About Killing Her Mother


Tommy Schaefer and Heather Mack in Bali, Indonesia, on Friday. Firdia Lisnawati/AP

By Steve Helling @stevehelling 03/13/2015 AT 08:25 AM EDT

As courtroom scenes go, it was a dramatic one.

Pregnant Chicago teen Heather Mack, on trial in Bali for the brutal murder of her mother, sobbed as her boyfriend testified about the killing.

Mack, 19, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, are accused of the premeditated murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack last August. The victim's bloody and beaten body was found in a suitcase.

On Thursday, Schaefer testified at Mack's trial. He said von Weise-Mack had gotten angry upon finding out her daughter was pregnant. He claimed she had threatened to kill their unborn baby, called him a racial slur and tried to strangle him for nearly 30 seconds.

"She was angry at me when she knew that Heather was pregnant," Schaefer testified, his voice breaking.

Read more:

http://www.people.com/article/heather-mack-breaks-down-boyfriends-testimony

US teen on trial over Bali suitcase murder gives birth

AFP
March 18, 2015
14 hours ago


© Fournis par AFP Heather Mack, an American teenager on trial on the Indonesian island of Bali over the murder of her mother, has given birth to a baby girl, prison official says

An American teenager on trial on the Indonesian island of Bali over the murder of her mother, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase, has given birth to a baby girl, a prison official said Wednesday.

Heather Mack, 19, who could be given the death penalty if found guilty of premeditated murder, was taken from Kerobokan jail on Bali to hospital on Tuesday and gave birth in the evening, said the prison chief Sudjonggo.

The baby is in good health and Mack could return to the jail as early as Thursday, he said.

"If no family members or other parties can look after the baby, the baby can be cared for in prison until she turns two," he added.

Read more:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-teen-on-trial-over-bali-suitcase-murder-gives-birth/ar-BBikVYz

Baby of Bali Murder Suspect Heather Mack Sick With Jaundice
Updated at 7:30 PM CDT on Friday, Mar 27, 2015

New mom Heather Mack spent Friday with her newborn daughter, Stella, at a pediatric clinic in Bali. There are reports that the baby remains sick with jaundice.

...According to reports, Mack noticed Stella had yellow skin earlier this week and took Stella to a clinic at the prison. A prison doctor told reporters Stella would need to be treated at a hospital.

...It is not known if Stella will remain at the hospital or be taken back to the prison due to her current medical condition.

Read more:  http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Bali-Murder-Suspect-Heather-Macks-Baby-Sick-With-Jaundice-297842711.html

Sheila Von Wiese-Mack (DOD Aug 2014)
Heather Mack, def

This is the first photograph revealing the face of murder-accused U.S. teenager Heather Mack's baby.

Little Stella Schaefer is being cared for in prison by Mack, 19, who allegedly murdered her socialite mother Sheila Von Wiese-Mack in a plush Bali hotel last August before stuffing her body in a suitcase, together with her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21.




http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3028512/The-photograph-revealing-face-American-body-suitcase-teen-s-baby-arrives-court-boyfriend-deny-murdered-mother.html

(Who is the defendant flipping off in the vid of the arrangement of her def partner? Reminds me of Jodi Arias and he many flipping pics. )

The pictures disturb me the most.
She reminds me of Amanda Knox and Jodi Arias with the "attitude" she is presenting.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3031654/Smiling-bars-Bali-body-suitcase-teen-declares-didn-t-kill-mother.html

SHOCKING Twist In Bali Suitcase Murder: Heather Mack & Boyfriend WON’T Face Death Penalty In Gruesome Slaughter
Posted on Mar 31, 2015 @ 5:48AM

Heather Mack and her boyfriend will NOT face the death penalty in the Bali trial in which they’re accused of murdering her wealthy mother, and stuffing the body in a suitcase.

Prosecutors in Indonesia’s Denpasar District Court Tuesday announced the sentences they’re seeking for the accused murderers. They asked the court for a 15-year sentence for the 19-year-old Chicago native, and an 18-year stint for her 21-year-old boyfriend Tommy Schaefer in the Aug. 2014 killing of Sheila von Wiese-Mack.

Read more:  http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2015/03/bali-suitcase-murder-heather-mack-escapes-death-penalty/

U.S. pair accused in Bali suitcase murder may hear verdicts Tuesday
Mon Apr 20, 2015 7:55am EDT

(Reuters) - An Indonesian court is expected to deliver its verdicts on Tuesday on a U.S. couple accused in connection with the gruesome murder of an American woman whose body was stuffed into a suitcase on the resort island of Bali.

...A panel of three judges is expected to announce its verdicts in Denpasar District Court, but it was not clear if the couple would be sentenced the same day.

Read more:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/20/us-indonesia-crime-idUSKBN0NB17220150420

US couple jailed over 'sadistic' Bali suitcase murder

AFP
Gde Putra Wicaksana
2 hrs ago

A US couple were given long jail terms Tuesday for the "sadistic" murder of the woman's mother, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase outside a luxury hotel on Indonesia's Bali island.

Tommy Schaefer, 21, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of Sheila von Wiese Mack on the resort island and jailed for 18 years.

His girlfriend and the victim's daughter, 19-year-old Heather Mack who was pregnant at the time of the crime, was found guilty of assisting in the murder and given a 10-year prison term.

Read more:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/us-couple-jailed-over-sadistic-bali-suitcase-murder/ar-AAbqctl

Moving to from Developing Stories to Closed.

US man arrested over Bali body-in-bag murder plot
AFP  1 hour ago

Chicago (AFP) - Police arrested a Chicago man Wednesday in connection with an alleged murder plot that resulted in a dead body found stuffed in a suitcase in a taxi outside a Bali resort.

Robert Ryan Justin Bibbs was charged by the US Department of Justice with advising his cousin Tommy Schaefer and his cousin's girlfriend Heather Mack on how to go about killing Mack's mother, Sheila Von Wiese, during an Indonesian vacation in August 2014.

Read more:  http://news.yahoo.com/us-man-arrested-over-bali-body-bag-murder-224614011.html

In Exclusive Interview, Heather Mack Details Her 'Complicated' Relationship With Mother She Was Convicted Of Helping to Murder
By Johnny Dodd  09/28/2015 AT 03:00 PM EDT

The road that led Heather Mack to a prison cell in Bali, Indonesia, for her role in the grisly murder of her mother was messy, often violent and marked by warning signs that it would end in tragedy.

According to exclusive interviews with Heather Mack and a family friend, Heather and her mother – whose battered body was discovered stuffed in a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi in August 2014 – were entangled in a dysfunctional, co-dependent relationship from which neither could break free.

...Perhaps too close: Heather describes Sheila was an overbearing mother who lavished her with gifts – but also made her sleep in the same bed with her every night.

Read more:  http://www.people.com/article/exclusive-interview-heather-mack-complicated-violent-relationship?xid=email-truecrime-20150930PM-20955756-hd

Sentence cut....Read the comment section.

U.S. body-in-suitcase killers have their Bali sentences cut for Christmas - but British drugs mule granny is still on death row

"....While Mrs Sandiford has been in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan Prison, Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer murdered Miss Mack’s mother in an upmarket Bali hotel in August 2014, went through the Indonesian court system, received their long jail sentences and have now been granted a small cut in their jail time of one month.

‘It’s not a huge cut when you consider they’re doing 10 years and 18 years, but it makes you wonder why Lindsay Sandiford faces death with no remission and the Americans who actually kill someone are shown leniency,’ a jail visitor familiar with the Sandiford case said today...."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3375196/U-S-body-suitcase-killers-Bali-sentences-cut-Christmas-British-drugs-mule-granny-death-row.html

Cousin of Heather Mack's boyfriend who advised the killing of Mack's wealthy mother in Bali is sentenced to nine years in prison


"... The man who advised Heather Mack and her boyfriend on how to kill a wealthy American vacationing in Indonesia has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
Robert Bibbs, 26, from Chicago, was sentenced Friday for his part in advising his cousin, Tommy Shaefer, and Mack on how to beat her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack to death in 2014.

Schaefer and Mack stuffed the woman's body in a suitcase after Schaefer used a fruit-stand handle to bludgeon the millionaire heiress in Bali.

Bibbs used text-message emojis to illustrate possible killing methods and to show his approval for the plans...."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4565142/Man-used-emojis-advise-killers-sentenced.html

EXCLUSIVE: 'Body In A Suitcase' killer Heather Mack rarely sees her two-year-old daughter as she parties in prison with her lesbian lover and uses money meant for child support to buy crystal meth


"....Attorney Wiese, speaking from his law office in Denver, Colorado, added: 'I've seen many pictures and videos that Heather posts on social media showing the partying, drinking and going out to restaurants. I do not understand how this happens in prison. It's just crazy, it's like she's dancing on Sheila's grave, she doesn't show any remorse at all.'

In August 2014, Mack and Schaefer murdered her mother, millionaire Chicago socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack, in an upmarket hotel in Bali, Indonesia, dumped her destroyed body in a suitcase, hailed a taxi and fled. They plotted to kill her in a bid to take her inheritance.

Schaefer got eighteen years imprisonment and Mack ten, even though it was her own mother. Ever since then, Mack hasn't show on inch of remorse for what she's done ...."

".... Stella is being cared for by Oshar Putu Melody Suartama, a Balinese Australian, who befriended Mack during the trial three years ago. Sheila's brother Wiese is the executor of Sheila's million-dollar estate and the family fear that most of the monthly allowance given to Stella for her upkeep is being siphoned off by Mack to pay for her drugs and alcohol.

Heather sees her daughter less than once every two weeks - although she can request a visit any time - and it's always with her giurlfriend Rafael, who ironically has more say in Stella's life than Schaefer, who can't see his daughter.

In the eyes of Indonesian Law, Schaefer has no right to Stella now that she's out of the prison unless he and Stella have new blood tests, but that can only happen with Mack's permission and she won't agree to it....."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4607630/Body-Suitcase-Heather-Mack-parties-lesbian-lover.html