US mum could face longer stay in Bali jail after murder confession
An American woman who admitted murdering her mother in Bali in a jail-house confession on YouTube, could face a longer jail sentence, Indonesian authorities have revealed.
Heather Mack and then-boyfriend Tommy Schaefer are both in Indonesian jails for the murder of Mack’s mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, in August 2014.
The pair was found guilty of killing the 62-year-old former wife of jazz composer James L. Mack, and stuffing her body into a suitcase after an argument in an upmarket Bali hotel.
But after reviewing the online confession, authorities say Mack, who is serving a 10-year sentence for the murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, could have her jail term increased.
"If Mack is indeed the mastermind of the murder, the video can be used as evidence in the case, and the sentence should be heavier than it is now," Ashari Kurniawan, a public relations official in the Bali prosecutor's office, told Reuters.
US woman admits to framing boyfriend for her mother's murder
Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer’s case attracted world wide media attention, driven partially due to the savagery of the crime, the potential for death sentences and by the fact that Mack was pregnant, and then gave birth, behind bars.
She is now raising the baby, Stella, behind the walls of Keroboken prison.
Mack had claimed that she killed her mother, who she held responsible for her father's death in 2006.
But Mack's aunt Debbie Curran said she does not believe the latest confession.
"Since the brutal murder of my dear sister, Sheila, two and a half years ago, our family has had to endure endless lies about what actually happened in Bali," Ms Curran said in a statement to St Louis media.
"Heather Mack's stories about her relationship with her mother and the events in Bali have changed so many times; it is impossible to discern truth from deception."
