An American woman convicted with her boyfriend for the gruesome murder of her mother in 2014 in Bali was deported from Indonesia last night, along with the six-year-old daughter she gave birth to while in prison. Bali officials are now considering banning her from ever returning to the island.
Heather Mack was released from Kerobokan Prison in Bali on Oct. 29, after serving seven years of a 10-year sentence. The 25-year-old, who was a teenager at the time of her crime, was granted early release for good behavior.
Mack was transported from the immigration detention center in Denpasar yesterday afternoon, under heavy escort that comprised officers from the Indonesian Police and FBI. She boarded her flight to Jakarta at around 7pm, and continued her journey to Chicago at 9:50pm, according to a statement issued today by the Head of the Bali office for the Law and Human Rights Ministry Jamaruli Manihuruk.
In August, Mack had filed for a stay permit for her daughter, who was raised at a foster home in Bali, to remain in Indonesia. Mack reportedly did not want her child to be hounded by US media. However, the request was not granted by Indonesian authorities, as her daughter was deported together with Mack last night.
Immigration officials in Bali are also recommending that Mack be placed on the island’s persona non grata list.
“[We are suggesting] for Heather Lois Mack to be included in the blacklist for life, while her daughter ES to be included in the list for six months,” Jamaruli said.
The murder case sent shockwaves throughout Bali and beyond in 2014. Mack, who was 19 years old and pregnant at the time of the crime, had been found guilty of assisting in the murder that her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, committed. Schaefer got 18 years for killing Chicago socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack and then stuffing the body in a suitcase at a luxury hotel on the island.
