Heather Mack settles with her mother’s estate
A yearslong legal battle over the estate of Heather Mack’s murdered mother ended with a quiet — and confidential — settlement this month.
Lawyers for Mack and her uncle, William Wiese, confirmed Wednesday they had resolved the case but would not disclose details.
“Heather’s glad it’s over,” Vanessa Favia, Mack’s attorney, said.
“Bill Wiese is very pleased,” Leonard LeRose, Wiese’s attorney, told the Chicago SunTimes.
A court order filed June 8 states that, except for the benefits spelled out in their settlement agreement, “Heather Mack shall not receive any property, benefit or other interest by reason of Sheila von Wiese’s death, directly or indirectly.”
It also states that, “Heather Mack is hereby deemed to have predeceased Sheila von Wiese and Stella Schaefer.”
The settlement comes nearly four years after Sheila von Wiese- Mack’s body was found stuffed into a suitcase outside the St. Regis Bali Resort in August 2014.
Her death triggered an international legal saga that led to the convictions in Indonesia of Mack and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, for the murder.
Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years in prison for beating von Wiese- Mack to death.
Mack is serving a 10- year sentence for helping.
Mack gave birth to Stella, Schaefer’s daughter, during their 2015 trial.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors in Chicago also charged Schaefer’s cousin, Robert Bibbs, with helping plot the murder. He is now serving a nine- year sentence in a Michigan prison and is not due out until January 2025, records show.
There are also signs that Mack could one day face prosecution in the United States.
Mack found herself in a legal pickle in the civil case over her mother’s estate one year ago. Cook County Judge Neil H. Cohen ruled in May 2017 that Mack had waived her constitutional right not to incriminate herself in that matter by talking to “anyone who would listen at any time” about her mother’s slaying.