Daughter, Boyfriend Suspected In Murder Of Chicago Woman In Bali
By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 14, 2014 8:30PM
A grisly murder in Indonesia involving a Chicago area woman, her daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend is making international headlines. The body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, was discovered stuffed in a suitcase left inside the trunk of a taxi in Bali Wednesday. Wiese-Mack's daughter, Heather Mack, 19, and Mack's boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21, were arrested but have yet to be charged in connection with the murder.
Von Wiese-Mack and her daughter were vacationing in Bali when they were joined by Schaefer two days into the trip, but all was not copacetic with the trio. Von Wiese-Mack discovered Mack and Schaefer used her credit card to ring up an expensive tab at the Conrad Chicago Hotel on Rush Street July 23. (Schaefer was arrested for disorderly conduct in the incident.)
Von Wiese-Mack and Heather Mack often engaged in heated, public shouting matches and, according to police, were seen arguing over who would pay for the hotel bill in Bali; Mack and Schaefer told hotel management von Wiese-Mack would pay it. An autopsy confirmed von Wiese Mack died of injuries sustained from being hit with a blunt instrument to the head and face. An official at the St. Regis said the incident is believed to have occurred in Schaefer's hotel room. They also demanded access to von Wiese-Mack's hotel safe, a request denied by management who said von Wiese-Mack left specific instructions she be the only one allowed access.
Heather Mack and Schaefer later checked in to a cheaper hotel nearby, but aroused suspicions when they checked in without luggage. Security were able to identify the pair after Mack filled out a voucher for Internet access at the hotel.
Police are putting Heather Mack through a psychiatric evaluation after Indonesian television broadcast her, donned in denim shorts and a gray hoodie, telling a group of reporters trailing her, "You are crazy." Neither Mack nor Schaefer have said anything to police, and they have requested to be represented by American attorneys.