Mack, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to kill a US national in federal court in Illinois on Friday morning to access a $1.5million trust fund with his boyfriend friend at the time, Tommy Schaefer. The pair compared themselves to Bonnie and Clyde and planned murder in chilling text conversations.
During the brief hearing, she told U.S. District Judge Matthew Kelley, “I plead guilty.”
Under the agreement, prosecutors recommend a maximum sentence of 28 years in prison, taking into account his seven years in Indonesian prison. After spending time in Indonesia and the United States, she could be released in 2042 if she is sentenced to 28 years. She is celebrating her 46th birthday. Stella, her daughter born in prison in Bali, will grow up.
Judge Kelley warned he could breach sentencing guidelines, which imply a life sentence.
“I have to decide,” he said. Mack cannot appeal under the contract. Mack told the judge earlier that she had been hospitalized “a few times” for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as a child.
Von Wiese-Mack’s siblings welcomed the plea offer and told reporters they hoped the judge would agree to the prosecution’s settlement with Mack after meeting their murderous ‘mastermind’ niece at the court.
After the brief hearing, William Wiese and Debbi Curran expressed relief that Mack had finally accepted some culpability in the horrific crime and criticized the “corruption” of legal proceedings in Indonesia, where she was freed after seven years.
“After almost nine years, we are very pleased that the mastermind of Sheila’s murder has accepted her guilt today,” they said.
We will speak on behalf of our sister Sheila throughout the sentencing process to obtain justice. The Indonesian corruption that stood in the way of fair justice eight years ago has been heartbreaking.
“Thanks to the excellent work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, we are optimistic for a sentence that more adequately reflects the horrific and premeditated crime.”
Mack has spent virtually his entire adult life in prison since his arrest in Bali in August 2014.
Mack, 18, and Schaefer, 21, killed von Wiese-Mack, 62, at the 5-star St. Regis resort in Bali on August 12, 2014.
Mack allegedly covered Schaefer’s mother’s mouth while beating her. They put his body in a suitcase, called a taxi, and put it in the trunk. After failing to leave the luxury resort with her mother’s credit card, the couple escaped, leaving the bloodstained bag behind. They were detained in a cheap hotel for murder.
Mack, the daughter of socialite von Wiese-Mack and famous musician James L. Mack, was pregnant with Schaefer’s child at the time of the murder.
Prosecutors discovered that she had carried off her lover on a $12,000 business class ticket hours earlier using her mother’s credit card. After arriving, surveillance footage showed the group bickering in the hotel lobby. Schaefer arrived 12 hours after von Wiese-Mack’s death.
“I know what I can handle… Witches make humans vibrate.” I know his ticks. So much with her… I know her habits, what she does, and when. escaping from prison…I’ve been watching her for years…I know what I’m controlling by watching her routine. I am sneaky. Smart and attentive, trust Bonnie. Mack replied, “Don’t fool anybody and underestimate me,” according to US court records.
Mack’s mother was abused dozens of times, according to Oak Park police records.
Mack broke his mother’s arm, bit her and hit her in at least 35 confrontations with police between 2008 and 2013. Von Wiese-Mack told a detective in 2013 that Mack could kill her, a little over a year before his death.
Mack and Schaefer were both convicted of premeditated murder in Indonesia in 2015 and narrowly spared the firing squad. Mack was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Schaefer to 18 years.
Mack gave birth to Stella in March 2015 while in prison, raising her for two years before international custody disputes.
After it was revealed he taught the two killers alternative murder tactics, Schaefer’s cousin Ryan Bibbs, then 24, was convicted of conspiracy to kill von Wiese-Mack and sentenced to nine years in prison in 2017.
After serving seven years in Bali, Mack was released in October 2021 and reunited with her six-year-old daughter Stella.
His release was brief.
Five days later, the 26-year-old was deported from Indonesia and apprehended by FBI officials at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
She was charged with two counts of conspiracy to kill abroad and one count of obstructing justice. Schaefer’s 2017 indictment charged her with the same crimes.
Since then, she has been in Illinois awaiting trial, saying she served her sentence in Indonesia.
Mack changed his plea earlier this month, preventing the case from going to trial in Chicago on August 1.
Mack told the New York Post last week: “I did almost 10 years in prison. ‘I thought I had done my time, so I was eager to be judged,’ she added.
After sitting for so long, I know what to do. I’m fine being a criminal in America. From the US government’s perspective, I wouldn’t be a criminal if I didn’t plead guilty and they didn’t charge me.
She added: “I could become a police officer and work for the government.” I could carry a gun in public. Schaefer is serving an 18-year sentence in Indonesia before facing US allegations.