GUILTY IL - Sheila von Wiese Mack, 62, in suitcase in Bali, 12 Aug 2014 *fnd guilty in Bali* #6

[Niner]

Any updates on what might have happened at the hearing? I'm just getting very old articles...

TIA!

 

[Niner]

Still getting old articles on this case.

Anyone know when her next court date is - and what might have happened at her last one on 4/6/22?

TIA if anyone can help!

 

[Niner]

@Kamille - you seem to be able to find recent articles - anything about Mack's next court hearing date? I'm over in Europe & just getting old articles.

TIA!

 

[Kemug]

Yep, I'm getting impatient too! Just a couple of comments -
1. KW should certainly have visiting rights, anything less would be downright cruel to both her and Stella, JMO.
2. I am reminded of the "Hart family" - the 2 women who drove themselves and their 6 adopted children off a cliff. Those 6 kids were taken from their families because it was thought that the women could offer the children a better life than their own natural but poor families could, with probably some substance abuse. In the event it would have been better to leave the kids where they belonged. Just saying.

 

[Kamille]

@Kamille - you seem to be able to find recent articles - anything about Mack's next court hearing date? I'm over in Europe & just getting old articles.

TIA!

Hi Niner, I have not been able to find anything about her last court hearing so I’m guessing that either a) her attorney was able to get another extension, b) it was put off until a later date for reasons pertaining to court delays related to Covid or c) a trial date was set but no media are particularly interested in this case anymore. I’m leaning towards b) and therefore no media were at the courthouse that day?

While we wait for more info on HM, here’s an interesting story about Michael Elkin, her original attorney with Vanessa Favia.

Heather Mack’s original attorney’s law license reinstated - Chronicle Media

 

[Kamille]

Speaking of VF, to my knowledge Stella is still living with her and her family and if I had to choose between that arrangement and sending her to live with “Aunt Diana” out in LA, I’d rather see her stay where she is. DRE is way too much of an aging socialite with an active adult social life to raise a young girl who needs some stability IMO. Not to mention her intention to exploit both Stella and HM with a documentary which has been in the works for years. At least VF has a stable home life and has other children to keep Stella company since she was raised with two other “siblings” in Bali. I do hope that VF is allowing Stella’s grandmother KW some visitation at least.

MOO

 

[Niner]

Thank you for the update @Kamille ! And I'm guessing you are probably right - it was "put off on a later date".

I'll check back in next week to see if anything "new" has happened!

 

[Niner]

@Kamille - another week has gone by - well almost! Any updates on court hearings yet?

TIA!

 

[Niner]

And bumping this up - @Kamille - just in case there "might" be an update yet?

TIA!

 

[Kamille]

Well it looks like the custody battle for Stella is coming to a head. Vanessa Favia is withdrawing as custodian. Not surprisingly, the judge doesn’t think “Aunt Diana” is a good fit and is willing to give temporary custody to Oshar if she can make it to the US and stay there for a while. It was suggested by someone that she could take Stella to Bali for the summer but the judge was having none of that. Not sure how Oshar thinks she’s going to leave her own children and husband behind but that’s where it stands at the moment. Kia Walker is also fighting but it appears she has no chance as the judge is trying to appease HM it seems.

Woman who raised Heather Mack’s child in Indonesia could care for her here — if she makes it in time

It wasn’t clear Friday whether Oshar Suartama could get to Chicago before Stella’s current caretaker, Vanessa Favia, has to relinquish custody. If she can’t, the child could wind up with Diana Roque Ellis of Beverly Hills, a friend of Mack’s murdered mother.

chicago.suntimes.com

Heather Mack wants daughter to stay in U.S., live with California friend of her murdered mother, new court filing claims

SNEED SCOOP: In a hand-written statement filed in court Wednesday, Mack says she no longer wants her 7-year-old daughter to go to Indonesia while Mack faces new charges in the Bali murder of Oak Parker Sheila von Wiese-Mack.

chicago.suntimes.com

Custody of Heather Mack’s daughter back up in the air: Could she spend the summer in Bali?

Mack, who is being held in Chicago’s downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center, has been at the center of an international legal saga ever since the gruesome discovery of her mother’s body inside a suitcase outside the St. Regis Bali Resort on Aug. 12, 2014.

chicago.suntimes.com

 

[Kamille]

And bumping this up - @Kamille - just in case there "might" be an update yet?

TIA!

Hi Niner, still haven’t seen anything about her criminal case but it seems they have been dealing with the issue of who will get custody of Stella behind the scenes. I assume that is being handled in a different court.

 

[Niner]

Hi Niner, still haven’t seen anything about her criminal case but it seems they have been dealing with the issue of who will get custody of Stella behind the scenes. I assume that is being handled in a different court.

Thanks for checking. I'm going to go ahead & put this on next Friday, 6/24/22 as the article above says they will be back in court.

 

[LinasK]

Well it looks like the custody battle for Stella is coming to a head. Vanessa Favia is withdrawing as custodian. Not surprisingly, the judge doesn’t think “Aunt Diana” is a good fit and is willing to give temporary custody to Oshar if she can make it to the US and stay there for a while. It was suggested by someone that she could take Stella to Bali for the summer but the judge was having none of that. Not sure how Oshar thinks she’s going to leave her own children and husband behind but that’s where it stands at the moment. Kia Walker is also fighting but it appears she has no chance as the judge is trying to appease HM it seems.

Woman who raised Heather Mack’s child in Indonesia could care for her here — if she makes it in time

It wasn’t clear Friday whether Oshar Suartama could get to Chicago before Stella’s current caretaker, Vanessa Favia, has to relinquish custody. If she can’t, the child could wind up with Diana Roque Ellis of Beverly Hills, a friend of Mack’s murdered mother.

chicago.suntimes.com

Heather Mack wants daughter to stay in U.S., live with California friend of her murdered mother, new court filing claims

SNEED SCOOP: In a hand-written statement filed in court Wednesday, Mack says she no longer wants her 7-year-old daughter to go to Indonesia while Mack faces new charges in the Bali murder of Oak Parker Sheila von Wiese-Mack.

chicago.suntimes.com

Custody of Heather Mack’s daughter back up in the air: Could she spend the summer in Bali?

Mack, who is being held in Chicago’s downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center, has been at the center of an international legal saga ever since the gruesome discovery of her mother’s body inside a suitcase outside the St. Regis Bali Resort on Aug. 12, 2014.

chicago.suntimes.com

I don't understand why they can't get an unbiased person- not someone that Heather picked to get custody of Stella, like a foster parent! Heather should have zero say in who raises her child!!!

 

[Kamille]

I don't understand why they can't get an unbiased person- not someone that Heather picked to get custody of Stella, like a foster parent! Heather should have zero say in who raises her child!!!

I agree that HM should have no say into who she feels is more convenient to her to raise her child but that appears to be what she is going for and the courts are facilitating her, likely because she hasn’t been convicted of anything in the US….yet. And it’s a tough decision for her it seems. She first thought that having Oshar take care of Stella in the US and perhaps take her to Bali for the summer, was the best thing. That would keep her Bali channels open should she actually get out of prison in a short period of time and she probably still wants to return there if possible. Then it appears she decided that having a very wealthy woman in Beverly Hills take Stella, and eventually her, in so they can both live a life of luxury sounded like a better plan. Likely, she’ll get both IMO.

Oshar will stay in the US as long as she can and then will probably also withdraw as custodian when her own family commitments make her return to Bali and Stella will then be bounced to “Aunt Diana” by default. Poor Stella. At this point, I wish they’d just let Oshar take her back to Bali for good. She really is the only parental figure Stella knows and has “siblings” and a large extended family there as well. Put the trust on hold for Stella only when she turns 25. If Oshar still wants to raise Stella, with no funds from her trust, then let her.

MOO

 

[Kamille]

A just retired Oak Park police sergeant and a mostly retired former Wednesday Journal reporter are writing a book about the life and death of Sheila Mack, the Oak Park woman notoriously murdered in Bali in 2014. Mack’s daughter Heather Mack and a boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, were convicted in Indonesian courts on charges related to the death.

But Rasul Freelain and Bill Dwyer say that their book, titled Malice: When Lambs Become Wolves, will also focus on CVP, a largely undiscussed and criminally overlooked circumstance when children and teens commit violence against their parents or caregivers.

Sheila Mack, and violence toward parents, subject of new book - Oak Park

But Rasul Freelain and Bill Dwyer say that their book, titled Malice: When Lambs Become Wolves, will also focus on CVP, a largely undiscussed and criminally overlooked circumstance when children and teens commit violence against their parents or caregivers.

www.oakpark.com

 

[Kamille]

The book I posted about above should be interesting. So sad to once again read about the abuse Sheila suffered in The years leading to her murder. They claim to be going to Bali to interview people there as well. I wonder if they’ll be able to interview TS and what he will tell them considering he’s also facing charges in the US on his release.

 

[Curious Me]

... At this point, I wish they’d just let Oshar take her back to Bali for good. She really is the only parental figure Stella knows and has “siblings” and a large extended family there as well. Put the trust on hold for Stella only when she turns 25. If Oshar still wants to raise Stella, with no funds from her trust, then let her.

I totally agree with your take on the matter at this point, @Kamille. Stella really considers Oshar her stable parental figure, regardless of what anybody else thinks or says. How long can Oshar possibly stay in the US away from her own life and family? For Stella's well being the courts need to protect Stella from anymore trauma. It was exactly how you described, Stella had a sense of security with Oshar and her family. The heck with what mother-abuser, and IMO, mother-murderer Heather wants. All decisions should be towards what's best for Stella. I know Heather hasn't been convicted here and all, but still I will worry if the day ever comes where she is allowed to raise Stella. MOO, Heather is an unfit person.​

 

[Niner]

Friday, June 24th:
*Custody Hearing (@ am CT) –IL - Sheila von Wiese-Mack (62) (killed in Bali 8/12/14 by daughter & her bf) - *Heather Mack (19 @ time of crime/26) Federal indictment, charged & arrested (11/3/21) & arraigned (11/3/21) with conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy to commit foreign murder of a U.S. national & obstruction of justice. Plead not guilty (11/3/21). Held without bond.
Info on Mack’s previous crime & case info from 11/12/21 reference post #476 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...-aug-2014-fnd-guilty-in-bali-6.593581/page-24
1/18/22 Update: Mack & defense attorney Jeff Steinback appeared in federal court via telephone Tuesday afternoon, where the judge granted Steinback's request for additional time to review pre-trial discovery provided by the government. Mack is due back in court on 4/6/22.
6/20/22 Update: The fate of Heather Mack’s 7-year-old daughter is once again up in the air after a Cook County judge said she will rule Friday, 6/24/22 on new temporary living arrangements for the child — including whether the girl should return to Indonesia for the summer. Stella has since been in the custody of Vanessa Favia, a former attorney of Mack’s. But Favia’s attorney told Cook County Judge Stephanie Miller on Monday that Favia no longer wants to serve as Stella’s custodian. And later in the same hearing, Stella’s court-appointed advocate recommended she spend the summer in Bali with the woman who raised her while Mack was behind bars there. The idea prompted immediate questions from the judge about her own jurisdiction, as well as heated objections from others petitioning for custody of Stella. An attorney for one petitioner noted that, “we don’t know if that child’s ever coming back.”

 

[whatthewhaat]

I'm curious about the cousin seeking custody of Stella. I don't think we've heard of her yet?

"Also seeking custody of Stella are her paternal grandmother, Kia Walker, and Mack’s cousin, Lisa Hellmann of Colorado."

Heather Mack’s daughter back in care of woman who raised her in Indonesia

Oshar Suartama confirmed for a judge Friday that she had arrived in Illinois and had reunited with 7-year-old Estelle Schaefer, known as Stella. The child’s therapist has told the judge “there’s no question” Stella sees that woman “as her mother and the primary caretaker in her life.”

chicago.suntimes.com