Heather Mack Bali: Oak Park woman convicted of killing mother, stuffing body in suitcase, arrested at O’Hare airport Chicago

Mack, 26, was launched from jail on Friday after serving seven years and two months of a 10-year sentence. Her then-boyfriend, who was additionally convicted within the killing, was sentenced to 18 years and stays in jail.

She was taken into custody once more as quickly as she landed.

Mack initially deliberate to go to Los Angeles together with her 6-year-old daughter Stella earlier than returning to Chicago, however the FBI instructed her she would as an alternative must return on to Chicago.

Mack and her earlier boyfriend Tommy Schaefer now face federal costs of conspiracy to commit homicide and obstruction of justice.

Within the federal indictment unsealed Wednesday, prosecutors allege Mack and Schaefer deliberate the homicide whereas nonetheless within the U.S. earlier than finishing up the plot in Bali.

Mack will stay in federal custody till a minimum of subsequent Wednesday after showing in a Chicago courtroom right this moment.

Talking to the I-Crew’s Chuck Goudie, U.S. Lawyer John Lausch stated the 2017 indictment remained sealed till her return to Chicago Wednesday.

“It is a flat out witch hunt,” stated Mack’s lawyer Brian Claypool. “The U.S. attorneys are indicting Heather Mack for against the law that she was already prosecuted for in Indonesia.”

However is it? Convicted of serving to to kill her mom whereas touring together with her in Bali, the crimes she and Schaefer at the moment are accused of occurred, a minimum of partially, whereas nonetheless in the USA.

“That is what provides the federal government the jurisdiction to convey these costs and since there is no double jeopardy bar they’ll do it,” stated ABC7 Authorized Analyst Gil Soffer.

RELATED: Heather Mack released from Bali prison after murder of mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack in 2014

Von Wiese-Mack’s household thanked the FBI for his or her work Wednesday, saying in an announcement, “”We’ve got been concurrently mourning the lack of our stunning sister Sheila, retaining her spirit alive, helping within the quest for justice, and advocating for the wellbeing of Stella.”

And the kid’s paternal grandmother, Kia Walker, stated she plans to combat for guardianship.

“I would really like custody of my granddaughter. I would really like the chance to offer a protected house for her,” she stated.

“She has maintained a relationship with Stella. She has had common contact together with her. Kia tried to get guardianship earlier than, when Stella was born,” stated Michael Goldberg, the paternal grandmother’s lawyer. “Kia loves her granddaughter. She needs what’s finest for her. She stands prepared, keen and in a position to take care of her and to like her and to be there for her.”

Walker got here to the airport Wednesday morning, hoping to see her granddaughter, however the woman was whisked away.

Schaefer known as Walker as she was leaving the airport, and he declined to touch upon the state of affairs.

Walker stated she talks to her son twice every week, and he absolutely helps his mom making an attempt to get custody.

Mack’s lawyer vowing to combat any makes an attempt to take away the six-year-old from the short-term guardian her mom has chosen for her. Mack’s rapid downside nonetheless will likely be to combat these costs. If convicted, she faces as much as life in jail.

The killing generated nationwide and worldwide consideration for years, partially due to images of the suitcase that appeared far too small to carry an grownup girl’s physique.

The badly overwhelmed physique of her mom, rich Chicago socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack, was discovered within the suitcase contained in the trunk of a taxi parked on the upscale St. Regis Bali Resort in August 2014.

Mack reportedly had a troubled relationship together with her mom, with officers within the U.S. confirming that police had been known as to the household’s Oak Park, Illinois, dwelling dozens of instances.

Mack, who was nearly 19 and some weeks pregnant on the time of the incident, and her then-21-year-old boyfriend, Schaefer, have been arrested a day after Wiese-Mack’s physique was discovered after they have been discovered at a lodge about 6 miles from the St. Regis.

Their daughter, Stella Schaefer, was born shortly earlier than her mother and father have been convicted in 2015. Underneath Indonesian regulation, she was allowed to reside together with her mom in her cell in Kerobokan feminine jail till she turned 2, when Mack gave custody of her younger daughter to an Australian girl till her launch from jail.

The Related Press contributed to this report.