The boyfriend of Heather Mack, the Chicago woman convicted of helping kill her mother during an exotic Bali vacation, wants to bar the court from receiving regular updates on the health of the couple’s daughter, born during the trial, Mack’s attorneys say.
Mack, 20, is serving 10 years in an Indonesian prison and gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Stella in March. She is raising the child in prison per local custom until age 2. A volunteer attorney appointed by the court has since arranged for biweekly checkups on the child’s health and development, and reports those findings back regularly to a Cook County judge.
In Cook County court Tuesday, Peter Schmiedel, Stella’s court-appointed guardian, reported the baby was a little underweight but healthy after a recent hospital visit. But he also informed Judge Neil Cohen that Mack’s boyfriend, 22-year-old Tommy Schaefer, of Oak Park, had instructed Schmiedel to cease communicating Stella’s health to the court — something Cohen found troubling.
“I have a personal feeling that if there’s one thing everyone can agree upon, it’s concern for the welfare of Stella,” he said. “It’s beyond me why anyone would not want it communicated that she’s doing well under bad circumstances.”
Attorneys declined to speculate afterward why Schaefer wants to stop the court from hearing about his daughter’s health.
Mack and Schaefer were convicted in April of the murder of 62-year-old Sheila von Wiese-Mack, whose body was discovered in a suitcase left in a taxi during a lavish August 2014 vacation with her daughter. The woman’s friends and siblings say von Wiese-Mack planned the trip as a new beginning for her and her daughter’s troubled relationship, and that von Wiese-Mack did not know her daughter’s boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, also had traveled to the island.
Mack and Schaefer were convicted in April of the murder, which garnered international attention with each development, including the revelation that Mack, then a teenager, was pregnant. Mack gave birth to Stella during the trial.
While the criminal proceedings played out in Indonesia, a battle over Mack’s $1.56 million trust has ensued in Chicago. Mack’s uncle, the trustee, argues Mack should be prohibited from reaping financial benefit from her crime under Illinois’ slayer statute, which states that a person who unjustifiably causes the death of another person cannot receive property as a result of the death of that person. Stella is next in line for the money.
About one-third of the trust has been spent on legal fees and investment losses. Cohen since has denied Mack further access to the money after her conviction until the slayer statute question is resolved.
Mack’s attorneys said Mack wants to keep open communication with Schmiedel, the guardian, and it is Schaefer who wants to impose a ban on the regular health updates. The agency responsible for checking on Stella also provides the mother and daughter with medical services and food packages, attorneys said.
Cohen said if Mack’s attorneys work on an order stating Mack’s consent alone would be sufficient enough for the communications to continue, he would sign off on it.
“I really don’t think this child should be used as a pawn,” Cohen said. “(Communication) could only serve to Heather’s benefit.”
One of Mack’s attorneys, Michael Elkin, said he was surprised by how well Stella is doing and how capable Mack is of raising her child in prison conditions. He said he speaks with Mack almost every night and “Stella is doing great.”
“The amenities and the guards are coupled with a place full of women who are a good support system,” he said.
Twitter @marwaeltagouri