Lawyers for Heather Mack waived her right to a detention hearing Wednesday on federal murder conspiracy charges stemming from the 2014 slaying of her mother at a Bali vacation resort.

       The decision means Mack, who was arrested by the FBI last week after being deported from Indonesia, will be held in custody while the charges are pending, though her lawyers could renew a request for bond at any point.

       Mack, 26, pleaded not guilty last week to an indictment charging her with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and obstruction of justice in the killing of her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, whose bludgeoned body was found stuffed into a suitcase at the upscale St. Regis Bali Resort.

       Also charged with the same counts was her boyfriend at the time of the murder, Tommy Schaefer, who is still in prison in Bali.

       At Mack’s Nov. 3 arraignment, both her attorney and prosecutors asked for more time to gather evidence needed for a detention hearing.

       Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Kinney said he was seeking to subpoena medical and psychiatric records for Mack that allegedly describe previous “violent attacks” on her mother before the murder, which he said would illustrate her ongoing “danger to the community.”

       Even if Mack’s detention hearing had gone forward, she stood little chance of winning release. The murder conspiracy counts carry up to life in prison if convicted, and in order for her to be granted bond, her lawyers would have to convince the judge she does not pose a risk of flight or a danger to others.

       Heather Mack is mobbed by reporters as she arrives in the courtroom for her sentencing hearing at a district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, on April 21, 2015. Mack, who served more than seven years in an Indonesian prison for killing her mother at a luxury resort in Bali was indicted on federal murder conspiracy charges and taken into custody by FBI agents at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Nov. 3, 2021. (Firdia Lisnawati/AP/AP)

       Mack was released from prison in Indonesia and ordered deported last week after serving seven years and two months of a 10-year sentence for helping Schaefer kill her mother, allegedly to gain control of Mack’s $1.5 million trust fund.

       The federal indictment, filed under seal in 2017, was made public at the request of prosecutors shortly before FBI agents took Mack into custody as she left the Delta Air Lines flight at O’Hare’s Terminal 5.

       Mack’s California-based attorney, Brian Claypool, told the Tribune last week that he thinks federal investigators filed charges only after deciding they weren’t happy with Mack’s 10-year sentence in Bali. He said the FBI helped Indonesian authorities behind the scenes with the investigation and prosecution, which he said showed they’d decided to “trust the process” overseas.

       “It’s all sour grapes, all high drama and no legal traction,” he said. “We will be filing a motion to get these charges thrown out.”

       Mack was convicted in 2015 of helping Schaefer kill her mother in order to gain access to a $1.5 million trust fund set up after her father’s death. Mack was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released early for good behavior. Schaefer, who admitted to fatally beating von Wiese-Mack, was sentenced to 18 years and remains behind bars.

       Federal prosecutors in Chicago, meanwhile, charged Schaefer’s cousin, Robert Bibbs, with helping in the murder plot. The FBI learned of Bibbs’ involvement after analyzing text messages found on Schaefer’s phone.

       Bibbs, 31, is serving a nine-year prison sentence in Michigan for coaching the defendants on how to carry out the murder in return for a share of the anticipated multimillion-dollar estate. He is eligible for parole Dec. 26, 2024.

       Heather Mack waives detention hearing, will be held without bond on federal conspiracy charges stemming from mother’s Bali slaying

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