"She has a lot of friends, a lot of people who knew her here, and I think this is going to be a real shock," stated Allen Parchem, an Oak Park resident.
Sheila von Wiese Mack, 62, tracked down Heather, her 19 year old college drop out daughter and the two set off for a ten day vacation together. No one knew that it would end as it has........... with Sheila's death. They were headed for a stay at the five-star St Regis Resort in Indonesia, where room prices start at $500 a night but can go up to $8,000 a night. While they had not been getting along well lately, Sheila wanted to try and work things out by continuing the family tradition of exotic vacations that they had started when James Mack had been alive.
The resort included a private beach, swimmable saltwater lagoon and 24-hour butler service. Sheila had been staying at the tropical paradise with her daughter for several days before Heather's boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, arrived on August 11th to join them. A close friend of Sheila's stated that the mother and daughter had been fighting before this vacation and Heather was running with a bad crowd. He added that Heather had also recently moved out of the family home and into a hotel room, which was why Sheila had had to track her down.
Friends of Sheila's claim that she did not like Heather's hip-hop artist boyfriend but she evidently allowed him to join them on their vacation. The CCTV at the hotel did capture Sheila and Tommy arguing in the hotel lobby later that evening but it has not been reported what the argument was about yet.
The next morning, Heather and Tommy checked out of the hotel and insisted on bringing the suitcase down to the curb themselves. The reports differ a bit as to what happened next but according to the taxi driver, the pair hailed him down outside the hotel and placed one metal bag in the trunk. The couple was seen on camera both speaking to the taxi driver and with the large suitcase outside at the curb They both went back into the hotel to find the other person they were with and pay the bill but after two hours, they had not returned.
He stated that he went back into the hotel and reported it to the hotel staff, who then went up to find the family's rooms empty. The manager and the driver noticed blood on the taxi bumper, opened the trunk and saw blood in the large, metal suitcase and immediately drove the cab to the police. It was there that the police opened the suitcase and found the bloody, half nude body of Sheila stuffed inside the suitcase. Sheila's body had been wrapped in a hotel sheet and was tied up with duct tape, Heather and Tommy were no where to be found in the resort but police spotted them on surveillance cameras leaving along the beach at the back of the resort.
The couple was found sleeping at another hotel in the Legian tourist area, about 6 miles away. They claimed that they had been taken captive by an armed gang early Tuesday morning and the gang had killed Sheila. They added that they had been able to escape the gang but didn't elaborate on how that was possible.
The police went up to the family's rooms and found them in disarray. They also found two smaller suitcase in the hotel garden that contained bloody hotel towels and they were seized as evidence. The preliminary autopsy report states that Sheila had been hit several times with a blunt object on the head and face but she also showed signs of a struggle. She had bruises on her arms and some of her fingers had been broken.
Sheila Mack is the widow of James L Mack, the late Chicago conductor and composer, who died on August 6 2006 while traveling in Greece with her and his daughter Heather. He had suffered a pulmonary embolism in his hotel room. He has been described as a "jack of all genres" who was comfortable with almost all types of music. He was a composer, conductor, arranger and producer who had worked on more than 60 albums with various artists. Mack worked as an arranger with such labels as Columbia, Capital, Brunswick and Chess.
Sheila had studied political science at Simmons College in Boston MA and went on to get a job working for Senator Ted Kennedy. She also worked with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and followed that with studying for ten years with Saul Bellow while working on a PHD at the University of Chicago. She had sold the family home in Oak Park in July 2013 for $650,000 and had planned on moving into an apartment on Lake Shore Dr with her daughter.
Friends of Sheila's have stated that several of them had suggested that she toss Heather out of the home because she was hanging with a "bad crowd" and she could quickly turn from a sweet girl to a vicious little monster. They added that Sheila would always take her back and try to make things work.
Police records show that they had been to the Mack residence 86 times between 2004 and 2013 and that they had all been between Sheila and Heather. They were domestic issues, theft and 911 hang-ups and neighbors state that the relationship between the two had become very abusive and volatile. They added that both Sheila and Heather would call on each other. The police state that there were not any arrests made but because Heather would have been a juvenile during most of that time, the records would have been sealed. The calls stopped when the house was sold and they moved.
Tommy Schaefer does have an arrest record which includes an outstanding warrant for his failure to appear on a marijuana possession charge in February 2013. He also was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct on July 23rd after he was described as being unruly with the police at the Conrad Hotel in Chicago IL. Sheila had called the police to complain that Heather and him had used her credit card to book the room and party, without her permission. She added that there were charges of $700 to $1,000 that she could not account for. It was when the police showed up at room 385, that Tommy became very unruly with them and was arrested. He had also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault in 2012 after he had been arrested for threatening a 44 year old Chicago man outside his place of work.
The pair is being held as suspects in Sheila's death and under Indonesian law, they can be held for 20 days as such. They will be offered help from officials from the US consulate and they do have a lawyer appointed for them right now. Heather has not spoken about the incident but has been repeatedly asking for a lawyer from the US for herself.
I have to wonder........ who does she think is going to pay for this lawyer to travel to and stay in Bali and does she really have no clue as to how the legal system works? She is in a foreign country and subject to those laws and legal system. A lawyer from the US isn't able to practice there. Tommy evidently knows enough about the legal system to try and cover his face in front of the cameras it seems.
Heather and Tommy will now get to enjoy some of the hospitality that exists in the prison system there. They probably will face the "standard" meals which consist of 5 slices of bread, a slice of papaya, a cup of overcooked vegetables and a banana. It is stated that no one really survives unless they receive food from outside, brought in by family or friends. There is not much to do each day and they will quickly find out that there really isn't a market for hip-hop music, little entertainment and no social media. Gone are the days of making all those posts to the social media accounts and uploads of their personal pictures.
I am at a loss for understanding how they thought they could get away with such an "elaborate" plot. They are on an island..... not easily left without being noticed. They figured that loading the suitcase and Shelia's body into a taxi would get them where? Was the taxi supposed to just magically make the suitcase disappear while they crept off? If you are going to make your escape from an armed gang that is willing to murder one person in your group.... don't you think that you should get further away than 9 miles to another hotel? These two are in for a very rude awakening as to what the future is going to be. It won't be paradise.
Sheila did not deserve to die the way she did and I can only hope that these two get all that they deserve............
Update Aug 14 2914:
Sheila Mack had traded in her Starwood travel points in order to go on this vacation with her daughter. Her friends had tried to convince her not to take heather with her this time because of the recent problems they had been having. Some wish that she had taken their advice but they agree that she overindulged Heather.
The police investigating the murder have stated that they have conducted blood tests and psychiatric tests in hopes of finding out what the motive behind the killing may be. They report that so far, they have not determined what the motive may have been, whether it was financial or if the couple was mentally unstable. They do report that both suspects are refusing to talk until they are joined by attorneys
Some friends of Sheila's state that they are shocked by the murder but they are not surprised by it either. Sheila never hid the various problems she had been having with her only child and she did not hide the fact that she did not like Heather's boyfriend Tommy. Heather had recently dropped out of college and moved into a nearby hotel. She evidently had difficulty in attending school when she was in high school as well and some of the frequent police calls to the home involved fights over attendance.
Her boyfriend Tommy, whose stage name was Tommy Exx had previously dropped out of college as well, to focus on his music. He describes himself at 6' 4" tall on his music website, as well as being a baller and hip hop head all of his life. Sadly, even though he states that he received a full scholarship to Northern Illinois University, he only attended for a year before transferring to Columbia......he evidently was not happy that he did not get a full scholarship to Tulane. He has a couple of music videos up loaded to youtube and a listing as being part of a show on June 5th. It has not been determined either if Sheila knew or planned for Tommy to join them later on this trip and that may also play a part in what may have happened.
Chicago attorney Michael Elkin states that he has been hired by Heather to help her find an attorney in Indonesia and possibly assist in representing her there. He states that she was not involved in Sheila's death. He adds that he has only met her a few times but not under what circumstances and his number was the first that she dialed when she was detained for Sheila's death.
Elkin went on to state that she had called him because she was thinking of going to the authorities and he advised her to go to the US Consulate. He adds that she sounded like she was trying to keep it together and needed help in getting to the consulate. She never made it he states, as the couple were taken into custody before she could get there. Elkin states that she refused to speak with her court appointed lawyer and he advised her to say nothing other than request an attorney. He added that even though he had requested that their call be private, there was a guard present in the room with Heather. Elkin stated that he wants nothing to do with Tommy' case which seems to be a very quick move to try and form a defense for Heather.
I'm sorry............. they are in Indonesia, not the US. They have their own laws and you can't expect to impose our laws and legal system on theirs just because an American has been accused of a crime there. She may not have literally killed her mother but it is kind of crazy to think that the public will believe that you did not think anything was "wrong" with a large, heavy..... bloody suitcase.
Sadly, as much as Sheila may have wanted to work things out with her daughter........ it may have been better if she had taken her friend's advice about the trip.
Further update August 14 2014:
New pictures have been released of Sheila and Heather from a couple of years back, evidently in one of their happier times. The description from the forensic expert reports that Sheila suffered from several blows with a blunt object and they were concentrated on her head and face. That would disprove an accidental blow that killed her.
The television has also been showing video of Heather dressed in a grey hoodie and laughing as she wandered through various rooms at the police station. She is heard telling the reporters following her that they were crazy. Elkin has been seen on television making the excuse for Heather that people react differently to stressful situations. The police have stated that they can find no evidence on the hotel videos of the gang that supposedly carried out the kidnapping and murder of the family.
It has been released that Heather had posted on Facebook from Bali and there is some question as to what her post meant. Tommy also had posted on his account that he was going to Indonesia, wasn't sure when he was coming back and that he probably was going to go to China afterwards. He evidently had planned on leaving the same time as Heather and Sheila but he had difficulties getting his passport and did not arrive until later. I suppose that both countries are great choices for an up and coming hip-hop "star."
The police have also stated that they believe that the murder happened in a room that was booked by Tommy. The couple had been taken into custody at a budget hotel that was located only about a mile from the St Regis after a day long search by police. They checked into that Risata Bali hotel without any luggage which immediately made the staff there suspicious. Their identity was confirmed when Tommy asked for a voucher to use for the internet and the hotel contacted the police.
Tommy has been seen on television in handcuffs while Heather seems to be allowed more freedom in the police station. At one point, she is seen trying to cover her face with a newspaper and complaining about cameramen filming her there. I think she still has to figure out that even though she is a US citizen....... she isn't in the US anymore. They play by their rules there. It should be very interesting what excuse they use for Heather being innocent of any knowledge of her mother's murder.
Update Aug 15 2014:
It has been reported that Tommy shared videos from the parties that were held at the Conrad Hotel on Rush St, Chicago, on his instagram account. He had snips of the partying, liqueur bottles, pictures of the lobby and even a video of him being arrested, which were posted to his account and youtube. The rooms at the Conrad start at $295 a night.
Elkin is still insisting that Heather is innocent or will be found innocent after trial if charges are even made and he is still upset that she had not gotten to speak to a lawyer after she was arrested. What????? So far, she has been detained but not charged. She was offered a court appointed lawyer who she refused to speak with. A representative from the US consulate has met with her and she is insisting that she have a US attorney in Bali. Evidently Heather has picked herself a lawyer that is also in Neverland with her. Tommy has also reportedly insisted on an attorney from the US to represent him.
The police have reported that witnesses observed Sheila, Heather and Tommy arguing in the hotel reception desk on Wednesday morning. Sheila reportedly stated that told Heather that she had paid for Tommy's flight to Bali, so Heather and Tommy should pay their hotel bill. Sheila was evidently outraged that Heather and Tommy had expected her to pay for their stay in the $650 a night hotel room. All three were then seen leaving the lobby area but Tommy and Heather returned at 11:26 am. They came back into the reception area with a large suitcase that was wrapped in a bed sheet and insisted that they did not want any help in putting it into the waiting taxi.
They returned to the desk and stated that they would be leaving but that Sheila would be paying the bill when she checked out later. All three of them had originally planned to leave Thursday morning, which was why there had been an argument about how it would be paid before they left. Heather and Tommy did ask to access the safe deposit box that is believed to have held their passports and Sheila's jewelry but they were denied, They were told that Sheila had insisted to the staff that only she be allowed to access the box. They then told the staff that they had more bags to collect but instead of returning to the room, they left from the rear of the resort.
Tommy and Heather then called for another taxi to take them to the airport and when they approached immigration there, they reported that their passports had been lost. Officials there explained to the pair that they would have to report the passports lost at the embassy and the couple left the airport. They then took another taxi to the Risata, which is near the airport. They were found asleep there at about 8:30 am, the next morning and taken into custody.
Police report that they are examining pieces of glass found in room 616, that may have been part of the murder weapon. They are hoping to find fingerprints that would tell them which person was the last to hold that object. Police have found video evidence that the only people to enter that room were Tommy and Heather........ not an armed gang.
It has also been reported that Heather may have been adopted as well as having been extremely disturbed for many years. She has been described by a life long friend as being very spoiled and prone to physical and verbal tantrums until she got her way. The friend adds that Heather got much worse after the family received millions of dollars from a settlement. Mr Mack had cut his foot while on a cruise in 2006 and Sheila had won a settlement due to negligence causing the injury. It has also been reported that heather claimed to be pregnant and that the police took her to a doctor to have her checked medically.
Sheila has also been described as having mood swings during her stay in Bali. She could be very nice to the staff and the next time they saw her, she would be storming through in an aggressive manner. They also report that Sheila and Heather had numerous heated arguments and the staff was afraid that they would come to blows at times. Sheila and Heather arrived in Bali on August 4th and stayed at the Siminyak Hotel first before moving to the St Regis on Aug 9th. Heather did acknowledge that her mother was dead but would not give details nor would she explain why they had changed hotels. They may have just wanted to try a different hotel or it may have been due to the behavior of both of them that caused the move.
I am not sure how I am supposed to believe that Heather is completely innocent. Evidently, her call to Eklin was about how to replace the "lost" passport and not really about turning herself in. I guess that maybe..... after the heated argument over payment, Heather went up and took a nap and never questioned why Tommy would have a large suitcase, wrapped in a sheet and smeared with blood. I guess she never thought to ask why they were sneaking out of the hotel and running to the airport either without passports, instead of just asking mom to open the safe and hand them over. Maybe she didn't want to wake her mother from a "nap" or something.
Update Aug 15 2014:
Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer have been formally charged with the murder of Sheila Mack on Friday. The police there state that the charges stem from evidence that has been collected and eyewitness accounts. They added that the couple has not been cooperating with law enforcement.
Authorities in Oak Park IL have been busy examining the records of the 86 different calls to the Mack home over the past years. It has been reported that the majority of those calls were for missing person complaints, some were 911 calls that had been hung up on and some were domestic problems and thefts. The authorities may be trying to gain a better understanding of what the dynamics of the relationship had been between Sheila and Heather. There has not been much said about Tommy or if there was much of a relationship between him and Sheila.
Update Aug 16 2014:
Police report that they had found bloody sheets, a bloody towel and a bloody vase at the scene inside the St Regis and that they believe the vase was used to bludgeon Sheila on her head and the back of her neck. The couple is still not talking to police and they report that they are awaiting the results of a pregnancy test that was given to Heather.
Sheila's body will be returned to the US on Monday for further investigation and no funeral plans have been released yet. Sheila had spent the final years of her life trying tp help repair the relationship between her and Heather. She sought help from anyone in the Oak Park area from therapists, doctors, teachers and even friends to try and get Heather on a better path in life. She never gave up on her daughter, no matter what had happened.
Heather is described as a talented dancer who attended Oak Park and River Forest High School. She has been in court before and has a juvenile record. It has been reported that she was arrested in Dec 2011 for domestic battery, aggravated battery and battery charges after a violent fight with her mother. Heather was represented by a lawyer that her mother hired and she was placed on one year court supervision after she was found guilty of battery. She was ordered to undergo counseling and anger management as part of a violence prevention program. It has been reported that she also spent parts of 2012 living in two different community based juvenile facilities for youth in need of life skills, mental health issues and education. Heather did complete the court ordered program but after Sheila moved in 2013, things only got worse between them.
Reports state that they argued over everything from school attendance to Heather's boyfriend. Friends state that Sheila never felt that her life was in danger but that she was more worried about heather. She always wanted to show Heather the better things in life and wanted to continue the family tradition of exotic trips despite their differences. Heather does have several half-siblings from James Mack's first marriage but they have not had much contact with her since his death in 2006. One half sister, Katherine Mack, who lives in New York, stated that she hadn't seen her in over a decade but her father had always spoken highly of Heather.
I am sure that Sheila had wanted the best for her daughter......... the daughter who may now be facing the death penalty in a foreign country.
Update Aug 17 2014:
Even though Heather and Tommy are still refusing to talk with police until they have US attorneys present, police in Bali state that they have enough evidence against the couple to charge them with premeditated murder. They state that they have eyewitness accounts as well as fingerprint evidence and videos to support their claim.
The police have reported that Sheila died from asphyxiation caused by a broken nose bone and along with the defensive injuries she had, she suffered from a broken neck. The autopsy found that the breaks to her neck and nose also extended to both sides of her jaw and impaired her breathing. Police believe that she was standing when the blows occurred and that Sheila died sometime on Tuesday night. She was alive at 3:45 am Tuesday because she is seen on CCTV and three hours later, she called down to the front desk to have a wake up call at 10 am. She reportedly did not answer the wake up call at that time.
The argument that Sheila and Tommy had happened on Monday, the same day that he arrived from the US and checked into the hotel. Police have also reported that they could find no psychological problems with either Tommy or Heather after they had been tested. The couple could face the death penalty, death by firing squad, if they are found guilty of the crime.
Update Aug 18 2014:
It has been confirmed that Heather Mack is pregnant and it seems that she is not happy with the way she is being treated while in jail. Elkin, her attorney in the US has stated that it is believed that she is about 2 months pregnant. He adds that Heather had told him that she has been sexually assaulted at least three times since she has been in custody, she has found needle marks on her body from unknown sources and she hasn't been given enough water. He stated that she sounded incoherent or dazed at times during their phone conversation the other night which she claimed to be from "vitamin" pills she is being given, Elkin adds that his calls to Mack have been facilitated by staff from the US Consulate and that Heather had not mentioned the assaults to staff there.
Heather and Tommy have been reported to have been outraged by the police for giving them food from KFC. They evidently feel that the move was racially motivated and upset that the police would think that they would want to eat fried chicken because they are black. Tommy is said to have remarked that it is food for the lower echelon of people. The police countered by explaining that a meal from KFC is not a cheap thing in Bali and not something a lower wage earner in Bali can even think to afford. Seriously.........I did not think that you get to pick what dinners you get while you are in custody. The police have said that they already are giving the couple special treatment in comparison to a citizen from their own country.
Sheila Mack's body is set to be flown back to the US on Wednesday, accompanied by an FBI agent who is posted in Bali. The US Embassy is assisting the FBI agent who had arrived in Bali to investigate the possibility of criminal activities the couple may have been involved with in the US. Police have stated that Sheila was beaten with both a vase and a glass ashtray, both of which were broken in the attack. They added that she was not killed in her own hotel room but in Tommy's room that he was sharing with Heather. The police are trying to confirm the possibility that Sheila was very upset after finding out that Heather was pregnant and the possibility that she had gone to the other hotel room in a continuation of the previous argument.
As the investigation continues, I would think that Heather and Tommy will have long hours to contemplate the fact that jail is not going to be and the police will not be catering to their every whim or wish. It has been suggested that the couple may be returned to the US for prosecution but I highly doubt that. This was a crime in a foreign country and we have no right to take the accused back home to prosecute another country's case. As for food from KFC......... it is free and better than what the other prisoners can even hope to be fed there.
Update Aug 18 2014:
Tommy has evidently been keeping his head down and his mouth shut but he has been spotted wearing a sharp orange outfit in recent pictures. Heather on the other hand still must think that she is the queen bee in fantasyland. There were reports that she had claimed that her pregnancy was ectopic but police in Bali have stated that it checked out as a normal pregnancy.
Her claims of assault were vague before but she now states that she believes that it was the guards who were touching her inappropriately. She told Elkin that she found out that not all the guards wear guard uniforms and these were the men that had been touching her.Elkin, her US attorney, has stated that he and Heather had met "socially" before and that was why she had contacted him while in jail. I am not quite sure how that does happen but I will give him that one. He has stated that the couple was much happier with their McDonald's meals after the fit they threw for being given food from KFC. He did add that he was concerned that Heather is not receiving enough water and has not been treated very well. I think it is time for Elkin to stop complaining about Heather's treatment, which seems to be with kid gloves since she is a US citizen and time to face the truth of the charges she will face.
Elkin states that he is preparing to fly to Bali to meet with Heather and he is busy rounding up the help he will need..... translators and experts. He adds that he has not found a lawyer for her there yet...... the list he was given was full of lawyers who are jacks of all trades and master of none. He would not comment on a report that the couple may be returned to the US to face trial there. Good thing Elkin because I don't think that there is much of a possibility for that. As far as the "mistreatment" of Heather............ cry another tear somewhere else. Heather should be much more concerned about the charges she faces and the very fact that her mother is dead........... not if she has cool clothes and the right fast food to please her palate.
Update Aug 20 2014:
New details have been released by the police about the evidence they have against the couple. It seems that they are very lucky that Sheila Mack had not chosen a budget hotel to stay in because they have plenty of evidence as to the timeline and movements of the couple.
Sheila was not killed in room 616 as reported earlier. Tommy is seen on camera leaving his room, 616 in the early hours of the morning, dressed in dark clothing. He tool the elevator down to the third floor and enters Sheila's room, 317 either by knocking or using a keycard. He is then seen leaving the room with the silver suitcase over his shoulder and using the stairs instead of the elevator. He misjudged the floor he was on and had to lug the suitcase down from the seventh floor to the sixth.
Sheila's body had to be contorted and stuffed into the suitcase but they could not apparently close it completely. Apparently they felt that wrapping the suitcase tightly with a hotel sheet would keep the lid closed. He changed his clothes and early in the morning, called for the bellboy to collect their luggage. The suitcase with Sheila's body was on the bottom of the pile of luggage on the trolley that the bellboy was pushing. Tommy is seen on camera putting that bag in the back of the taxi before the couple when back inside the hotel.
Heather and Tommy have evidently not been formally charged with the crime and the police state that they could be in custody for several more weeks before they are charged. They are being held at separate police stations presently but it is expected that they will end up being held at Kerobokan prison after they are charged. It seems that the police don't play games there either........ after the hissey fit the pair threw over being served KFC, the police decided that they will do just fine eating dinners that are rice based local food. The police also report that, sadly, there is not much for the pair to do but read the newspaper, though I guess Tommy will have plenty of time now to concentrate on his music. They added that there is no possibility that they will be returned to the US to stand trial for a crime committed in Bali. They have stated that they have extensive camera footage of the movements of all three as well as statements from at least 16 witnesses so far.
Update Aug 21 2014:
Heather and Tommy have reportedly been both placed on suicide watches after the police stated that they appear to be depressed. They have added that Tommy seems to be doing better but it is difficult to accurately assess their feelings since they still refuse to talk to lawyers there. Heather continues to claim that she has not been treated nicely while in custody.
The police in Oak Park have released a slew of police reports that involved Sheila and Heather and they show a pattern of running away as well as theft and violence from Heather aimed at her mother. The reports detail allegations of heather locking her mother in a closet, stealing thousands of dollars from Sheila, punching her mother in an already broken ankle, biting and shoving her to the ground so hard one time that Sheila suffered a broken wrist.
Sheila refused to have Heather arrested on the charges or have her admitted to a hospital for mental health treatment. She tried to limit Heather's time on the phone and computer, especially after finding her taking nude photos of herself to send online. She also found her skipping school, stealing cash, credit cards and jewelry from her. By 2011, Heather had shoved her mother down, which broke her arm and then yanked out the phone cords so that Sheila could not call 911 as well as threatened that she would stop biting Sheila and start hitting her on the head instead. Sheila had told police after one incident that Heather had been hospitalized twice so far and was getting treatment but it did not seem to be helping. Heather was also prone to breaking things in the house when she was angry as well as deny stealing money but admit that she was mad enough to take Sheila's credit card and go shopping with it.
and let us not forget Tommy..........
Further update Aug 21 2014
William Wiese, Sheila's brother has reported that his sister's body arrived at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on Wednesday. A second autopsy will be preformed at Dover Air Force base in Delaware before her body will be released to the family. William added that both he and his sister Debra both knew of the difficulties Sheila had with Heather. He believes that she tried to what was best for her and that she had tried very hard to help Heather.
William stated that Heather seemed to become worse after her father James Mack died in 2006.in their hotel room while on vacation in Greece. Sheila had filed a lawsuit that claims that James's death was directly related to an earlier injury that he had received while they were on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in Greece. Three years ago, a Cook County judge approved a $1.5 million dollar settlement of that lawsuit and the bulk of that money, $840,000 was to be paid to his estate. James had been dead for years by then and his will stated that he was providing for his daughter, Heather who was 10 years old at the time. In 2012 though, a judge allowed Sheila to pay herself the remaining $500,000 from her late husband's estate.
William also stated that Sheila had been very excited about the trip with Heather to Bali but he suspects that she may not have known that Tommy was going to show up there. He added that the family is planning a memorial service for Sheila to take place in September in Chicago.
Update Aug 22 2014:
More details have been released concerning the lawsuit involving James Mack's injury and subsequent death. His estate did not leave much for his family until the lawsuit was settled many years later. At the time of his death, James's estate consisted of a bank account with $1,800 and a Chicago condo worth $150,000. James and Sheila had sued the cruise line before his death for an injury to his foot and for what they felt was improper care by the medical staff aboard the ship. When the lawsuit was settled, Sheila received a windfall of $340,665 after legal expenses.
James signed his will only 5 days before he died and in it, he named Heather as his sole beneficiary. Two years after the settlement, two banks released mortgages totaling $384,000 that had been taken out in 2005 and 2006 against the Oak Park home. Sheila eventually sold that home for $650,000 in 2013 and moved into a Chicago high rise. It has been suggested that the disbursement of the funds from James's will was the cause of many of Heather's problems but there had already been police calls to the family home before James had died.
As for Tommy, several have stated that they did not expect that he would ever end up where he is now. He has been described as a charming and pleasant guy to be around. Some have wondered why he was dating Heather since he was very upset about his previous girlfriend dying in a car accident this past spring.
Tommy's mother, Kia Lashawn Walker has declined to comment about her son to the media, so the only comments about him are coming from friends and former teachers. Some have stated that he did have some problems at home at times and at times, he described himself as homeless. At those times, he usually was sleeping at different friends couches but no one has commented about any violent behavior from Tommy in the past.
Update Aug 24 2014:
Tommy has been described by people who have known him for years as a young man who was complex and troubled. They added that he seemed to have loose ties with family members, was both charming and witty but also would stretch the truth to make friends, especially with females. Some described him as a troublemaker or a bad influence, while others stated that he seemed to gravitate towards others who had more stable home lives.
One mother stated that he was very interested in having drama in his life and he would lie to her face about various things. He reportedly had stuck with a fairly steady group of friends from middle school on but in recent years, he was moving further to the edges of that group. One woman who dated Tommy for almost two years stated that she had only visited his home once and had never been allowed to meet his mother during that time.
That woman's mother stated that Tommy was constantly telling "tall tales" which at one time included his statement that he had a heart condition and probably would not live very long. She added that he could be very emotionally manipulative and during a recent visit with her daughter, she was distraught over the death of his long time girlfriend, Rachel Smylie. She had died in a auto accident in South Africa where she was attending school.
The former girlfriend stated that Tommy had attempted to see her again around Aug 2-3 but she told him that she was busy. She added that she did not know why he had tried to see her after all these years and he did not mention anything about Heather Mack. She stated that she did not know of any problems he may have had financially since he had told her that he was always working and concentrating on his music.
He had published a song about Rachel as well as one about Fenwick student John Malone, who died in an auto accident in May of 2013. On his Facebook page, he had commented that he was frustrated with having spent extra to have his passport expedited and that he still hadn't received it before the trip to Bali.
One woman did state that she had met his mother and she seemed to be a nice woman who explained that Tommy's father had left them early in his childhood. She continued to state that they had been doing worse financially as the years passed. Many other people have stated that they were surprised that he was dating again and that he was involved in a murder. They added that they had never seen any violent tendencies during the time that they had known him.
Sheila Mack evidently had an estate sale following James Mack's death and reportedly had many of his original compositions for sale during it. Heather Neaveill-Kramer, a freelance musician stated that she purchased as many of them as she could but there were too many to choose from. She described them as handwritten musical scores and all original, so it surprised her that they would be for sale and not placed with an institution.
James Mack, who was 76 when he died, is described as being instrumental in creating opportunities for black musicians in Chicago during the civil rights era. His original compositions and arrangements had been used by many musicians so it was odd that they had not been archived privately or with an institution.
James had already had one son and four daughters from two previous marriages when he married Sheila, who was 22 years his junior. Friends were surprised that he had remarried and more surprised when the couple had Heather. He was in poor heath for several years and was in a wheelchair for the last three years before he died. Friends of the couple state that their home was always a center of musical and literature activity and they regularly held parties for friends throughout the area. Friends have added that her problems with Heather increased after James's death and included her dropping out of high school early and her placement in treatment facilities.
Update Aug 25 2014:
Poor Heather does not know how long she can take this............. reality check...... this is the real world and jail is not fun. Heather has reportedly been placed in solitary confinement and is attended to by a female guard now. Both her and Tommy have been placed under suicide watches. Elkin, Heather's US lawyer states that he did again talk to her by phone and that she seems to be mentally and emotionally drained. He added that he has appointed a local attorney to represent her as well as having people on the island doing investigative work for him.
The drama llama continues to grow as Elkin reports that now Heather is being prevented from contacting her newly appointed lawyer. Odd because all of the previous reports have stated that the couple has refused to talk with local attorneys or the police. Elkin has also stated that he wishes he was in Bali to give Heather a friendly face but he fears traveling to the island now. Evidently, his reports that Heather believed that she had been molested he fears could lead to him being detained once he arrives in Bali.
My guess is that Heather is finally figuring out that there is no one to bail her out or refuse to have her arrested this time.............. she had better get very used to finding things to amuse herself in her cell.
Update Aug 28 2014:
Heather's lawyer, Michael Elkin has reported that he has contacted her current lawyer in Bali, Haposan Sihombing and told him to hire another local lawyer, Raja Nasution. Elkin, who practices criminal and family law in Chicago, has stated that Heather is due to be interviewed by the police about her mother's murder and she needs new counsel there.
He was careful to state that he is not practicing law in another country but rather, he is just advising Heather on the best strategies. He added that he is not working for Tommy and as far as he knows, Tommy does not have a lawyer yet. It sounds as though she really doesn't care what happens to her boyfriend and possible baby daddy. Elkin also stated that he is not sure if Heather will still want him to advise her after she gets this new lawyer. His previous plans to go to Bali also seem to be on hold as he stated that he feels that if he were to go, there would be a media fiasco. There quite possibly could be......... he has been doing a great job of getting Heather's every word and complaint out to the media.
Heather and Tommy face a very different legal system in Indonesia. They will not be judged by a jury but by a panel of judges who have great latitude in asking questions of their own. The country relies on tourism and handles any criminal case with foreigners in a very fair and transparent manner. the US Embassy will certainly be very involved with the case as well. Judges there have the ability to ask their own follow-up questions while the lawyers are presenting their cases. They also view uncooperative defendants poorly or even as being guilty if they refuse to take the stand. They do view those who are cooperative as worthy of a lighter sentence and/or worthy of time off during important holidays.
It would seem that maybe Elkin and Heather have finally decided that "playing ball" is a much better route than whining about treatment.
Update Sept 11 2014:
Evidently the media circus has died down some about Heather Mack and what a terrible time she is having in jail in Bali. Her US lawyer Elkin has reported though that both he and Vanessa Favia will be in Bali to assist her Indonesian lawyer with her case. Nothing has been stated about any US representation for Tommy so it would seem that he is being hung out to dry for the moment.
Maybe it is starting to sink into Heather's mind that garden gnomes did not attack Sheila and then stuff her in a suitcase............. and for the first time in years, her mother is not going to be there to bail her out of her troubles.
Update Sept 12 2014:
Heather's lawyers have arrived in Bali and Elkin is there to help advise heather and her new Indonesian lawyer. I am sure that he will also continue to be the font of information that he has already become while in the US. Favia is there to ensure that the governmental and humanitarian interests of the unborn child are protected. I know that it sounds a bit overboard but she will probably give birth while in custody and the child is innocent of any crime.
The child can stay with her until it is two years old so I am sure that there will have to be other arrangements made for the child in the future. It was reported that both Heather and Tommy were taken to the Trijata Police Clinic to have their health examined. They were accompanied by five court appointed lawyers who are working without pay on the case. The concerns for Heather's child are honest since she would either have to turn the child over to relatives or it would be placed with a local family or a charity group.
Tommy has been hung out to dry financially.... his mother, Kia Walker, Has set up an account on Youcaring to try and raise funds for her son. So far she has raised a bit over $8,000 for his defense in Indonesia as well as to help pay for his basic needs. It would seem that there are countries out there that do not provide everything a prisoner wants. Tommy and Heather did both get a chance to get out of their cells to visit the clinic but the two have been kept separate so that they do not communicate.
Walker I am sure very honestly is concerned for her son but while there are some who have donated, there are more who don't agree. The comments on the page favor those who feel that there is not much of a chance that he isn't guilty and giving him money is not worth it. If anything...... when he gets to the regular prison there, he will be stuck with a very meager meal plan unless he can find a way to pay for his favorites.
He does have representation from lawyers there but he also has been holding out for a "miracle" US lawyer. Unfortunately, a US lawyer has no standing in the courts there and could only advise him that ......... he isn't in Kansas anymore and all the whining in the world won't make it a US court system.
Update Sept 20 2014:
Heather and Tommy have both broke their long silence and confessed to the murder of Sheila Mack yesterday. Tommy has stated that he was the one who actually killed Sheila after he got upset by things Sheila had said to him during an argument in her room. Heather has admitted that she witnessed the murder and then helped Tommy stuff her mother's body in the suitcase.
It will remain to be seen if the evidence actually supports Tommy's confession or that it shows that Heather had more to do with the murder than she is saying right now. The police have previously stated that they have evidence on film and key card logs that show Tommy entering the room Heather and Sheila had shared as well as evidence of him carting the suitcase up to his room later. Tommy may have actually did it or he may still be trying to cover for Heather's involvement in the murder. In the very least..... they both may be trying to avoid the death penalty by trying to claim that it was a crime of passion and that they had not planned the murder. Either way, it seems to be that they both will probably be staying on the island for a very long extension of their original vacation.
It seems a bit odd that Tommy, the one who does not have a very violent history is claiming that he lost his temper and killed Sheila and Heather, the one who has an extensive history of violence was only an observer. At least Elkin can finally drop his constant harping about Heather being completely innocent of any crime connected to the murder.
Update Sept 23 2014:
Djoko Hari Utomo, Denpasar police chief, has stated that he plans to charge the pair with premeditated murder which carries a maximum of the death penalty and with murder which carries a maximum of 20 years. He added that the original detention period of twenty days has been extended for another 40 days while Heather and Tommy continue to be questioned. They will not be formally charged until they appear in court.
Heather has her two American lawyers as well as two Indonesian lawyers to represent her and her unborn child. Tommy is left without a lawyer after his Indonesian lawyer resigned on Sept 19 after stating that there was a conflict and that he could not handle the case independently. So far, Tommy has confessed to the actual murder of Sheila and Heather has confessed to watching the murder and helping Tommy stuff her mother's body in the suitcase.
The police had previously stated that they have evidence on film of Tommy entering the room that Sheila and Heather had shared but did not explain how he had done that. Either he used a key card that was given to him by heather or Heather opened the door for him. It is difficult to believe that Sheila would have opened the door for him at such a late hour after they had already had a very heated argument in public earlier in the day. Heather on the other hand was already in the room and has an extensive police record of violence against her mother.
It was reported that Heather has seen the ultrasound of her baby and is now receiving prenatal vitamins and milk from her legal team. They report that she has cravings for chocolate and ice cream but they didn't state whether they are catering to her wishes. She evidently was excited about the baby but has been expressing her concerns about the baby's future. Heather is not the first mother to be that is faced with the choices she will probably have to make in the near future. It may have been better if she had actually thought about that before she helped stuff a body in a suitcase overseas.
The police still have not released what they know to be the motive for the killing but they strongly suspect that it had a lot to do with Sheila's objection to Heather's relationship with Tommy. Tommy so far is only stating that he was offended by things that she had said to him in the argument. I am leaning towards premeditation right now because the murder would not have happened if everyone had just gone to sleep and dealt with it the next day. I can't think of any reason as to why Tommy would "accidently" go to another room and get involved in another argument in the middle of the night.
Update Sept 24 2014:
Tommy's US lawyer, Tom Durkin, has stated that he has spoken to Tommy by phone and he told him that he had not confessed to the murder of Sheila. The police in Bali have released a statement which they state he had indeed confessed to the killing. This is the first that I have seen that Tommy has a US lawyer and I do hope that this lawyer does a better job of releasing information than Elkin has for Heather.
There may actually be some truth to Tommy's statement because I have felt that it was strange for him to go down to the room Sheila and Heather shared, that late at night to possibly continue the earlier argument. I think it is far more likely that Heather carries the largest guilt for the killing and Tommy may have just gone along to bail her out. The case so far has been filled with various statements but in the end, it will be the evidence that helps the most in getting the truth out in court.
Update Sept 25 2014:
The funeral service for Sheila Von Wiese-Mack will be held on Saturday Sept 27 2014 at 2 pm at St Chrysostoms, 1424 N Dearborn Parkway, Chicago IL. Her long time friend Elliott Jacobson will deliver the eulogy. He has stated that they wish to celebrate Sheila's life and contributions throughout the years. He has known her from 1983 when he arrived in Chicago to work on a political campaign. They had kept in touch since.
Jacobson stated that the last contact he had with Sheila was on Aug 8 2014 when she emailed him to report that heather had been missing from the hotel for about four hours. She added that she was afraid but did not specify what she was afraid of. He adds that he feels that Sheila did not know that Tommy was going to arrive at the resort while her and Heather were there.
At least now all of Sheila's friends and family can lay her to rest and celebrate what seemed to be a very full and active life.
Update Oct 3 2014:
Well, it seems that Heather's legal team is back in action...... leaking all the "good stuff" to the press as she tries to stay as blameless for her mother's death as possible. The new report from the police states that Heather has told them that Tommy beat her mother to death after Sheila used the N word during an argument. Captain Sadiarta stated Thursday that Heather has stated that Sheila called Tommy the N word and that made Tommy very angry. He had supposedly then brought up James Mack's race in the argument and Sheila used the N word again but added that he was rich. Tommy then beat her with the iron grip of a fruit bowl. Heather has gone so far as to "correct" her earlier statement of helping to stuff her mother's body in the suitcase by now stating that she had witnessed the attack but did not help Tommy in any way.
Raja Nasution, her Indonesian lawyer, confirmed the account of the racial slur being used and added that Heather did not specifically say that she witnessed Tommy killing her mother. She only stated that she had seen Tommy beat her mother and she did not say that the beating was meant to kill her or not. Tommy's former lawyer, stated that he could not comment on the statements because Tommy had just replaced him and he declined to name who his new lawyer is.
Sadiarta stated that Tommy was seen on video taking the iron handle from a fruit bowl in his room and hiding it under his shirt before he went down to Sheila's room. He added that they have video records that show that only Tommy and Heather going in and out of Sheila's room during the hours surrounding her death. Sadiarta also stated that they have blood evidence that was found on Tommy's jacket which he was had with him when they were arrested and that blood matches Sheila's.
I'm a betting person, so I will bite at these new developments........here's the recap:
The police don't buy the excuse that they were running away from armed attackers in the hotel who "obviously" are the ones who killed Sheila so Tommy and her are arrested.
Heather complains that she has to go back to the US because of her "difficult" pregnancy.
When that doesn't work, she complains that the police are racist and mean because they were served KFC.
That doesn't work, so she states that she is being assaulted and denied basics like water.
Heather begins to see that this isn't a television show and the ending will be all rosey just because she wants it to be so............ new tactics are needed.
Heather blames Tommy for everything but does say that maybe she did help him stuff her mother's body in a suitcase.
The latest........ Heather was in the room her mother and her shared and Tommy somehow and for whatever reason, came down in the middle of the night itching to continue the earlier argument. She did see the beating but not the murder. My guess would be...... she was in the bathroom for whatever reason at that point? She was there when Tommy did all the heavy work of stuffing her mother's body in the suitcase.
As I stated.... I'm a betting person but seriously? Tommy may have had a temper but he does not have Heather's paper trail of police reports which document violence and injuries involving her mother. Someone also let Tommy into the room Sheila and Heather had been sharing and I am going to go out on a limb and guess that it was not Sheila who got up in the middle of the night to let him in so that she could continue an argument. All of the evidence so far shows that Sheila was far too forgiving when it came to Heather and her violent outbursts and childish tantrums. She also does not seem to be someone who would easily use the N word when her own daughter is mixed race. The only time I could believe she might use that kind of language would be as a comparison of successful people and losers but that is a very long stretch I think.
It seems to me that Heather's next statements are going to throw Tommy totally under the bus while trying to deny any premeditation so the firing squad is not a future option for either of them. She may state that Tommy magically appeared in the room and she was out on a balcony, oblivious to anything that happened in the room....... oh, and the suitcase wrapped in a bloody sheet........ that was just ketchup spilled from a midnight snack and they didn't want the hotel staff to see it. In a way, I almost feel sorry for a moment for Tommy. I don't think he knew what kind of monster truck Heather was until he went under the tires in Bali.
For the travel buffs.......... a flight leaving Chicago IL at 5 pm on August 4th would arrive in Bali Indonesia at 6 am August 5th. By using simple math, using a non stop flight leaving early in the morning of August 4th would place Sheila and Heather in Bali on the 4th.
Tommy had posted on his Facebook page that he was expecting to leave for Bali on the 4th of August. I unfortunately did not get copies of his later postings where he stated that he might possibly go on to China and his delay in leaving because even though he had paid for an expedited passport, it had not arrived on time for him to leave on the 4th. This would lead me to believe that he had planned to accompany Heather and Sheila on the trip but it does not mean that Sheila would have known about it.
It has been reported that Sheila and Heather arrived in Bali on August 4th and stayed at the Siminyak until they checked into the St Regis on Aug 9th. The Siminyak is listed as being a less expensive hotel and it may have been their plan to spend only the last few days of the trip in a more expensive to save costs. There had been reports of the two of them having difficulties at the first hotel which may also be a reason for switching. Heather would have to have been in contact with Tommy for him to know of the hotel switch if it had not been planned earlier. The photo that Heather had posted that mentions "gettin money" is dated Aug 7th so it would not be from the room they shared at the St Regis as many have reported.
Update Oct 13 2014:
It now has been reported in the news that the police did a reconstruction of the murder in room 317 based on facts that have told to them by both Tommy and Heather on Monday. Once again they are stating that Tommy claimed responsibility for the murder but that he was provoked by Sheila's use of the N word. Heather has claimed that her mother was bi polar and I guess we are supposed to believe that would be the reason for her using that kind of language.
Heather's lawyer, Raja Nasution has stated that Tommy arrived at the St Regis at 2 am on the day of the murder and Heather had gone to meet him without her mother's knowledge. She had urged Tommy to meet with her mother at 8 am in the room and Tommy brought her a fruit bowl which he hid under his shirt. The claim is that Sheila likes to keep souvenirs of hotel property from places that she has stayed. He did not intend to kill Sheila with it but was hiding it because it would be "stolen" property if he gave it to her as a gift.
Her lawyer went on to state that Heather witnessed the argument that began over her and Tommy's pregnancy........ yes they are stating that he is the father. She supposedly told him that both he and the baby were niggers and the claim is also that she threatened to kill the baby. Heather did witness the part that had Tommy standing alongside of the bed and her mother having her hands around his throat, as if to strangle him. The lawyer states that this part was photographed as it was reenacted in the room.
It is then reported that Tommy took the metal handle of the fruit bowl and hit Sheila once with it, Heather then ran to hide in the bathroom and hid there while Tommy continued to beat her. The explanation for the blood on Heather's clothing is that she hugged her mother's body after Tommy was done. She states that it was Tommy who came up with the idea to hide her mother's body in the suitcase because she was acting like a robot and everything was a blur to her.
He states that both Tommy and Heather cried during the reenactment and that Heather was torn between her mother and the father of her baby. He added that heather wants to be a good mother, of course they would both like to be free and that Heather had recently spent three days in the hospital because she hadn't been eating or drinking.
It still sounds to me like Heather is throwing Tommy under the bus but maybe their lawyers from the US have decided to get on the same team to try and move the death penalty off the table by spinning this strange tale. Tommy knew he was going to Bali, Sheila may not have known it and even though his plans were delayed because of the passport issue, heck.... he was going to go someplace exotic with his "girl" even if it was only for a few days of the trip. That may explain why he had posted that he didn't know when he would be back. He and Heather may have cooked up a plan to ditch mom and extend their now abbreviated vacation somewhere else.
I am still not buying the whole"come and meet with mom to discuss our new family" chat and bringing a fruit bowl as a gift for her. I think it is far more likely that when the argument in room 317 spun out of control, Heather and Tommy had a hand in it. If one believes that Sheila had her hands on Tommy's neck, choking him, it is far easier to believe that Heather came at her swinging, to protect the father of her baby........ or just because she has gotten away with hurting mom in an argument before. I still can't picture Heather, the violent one of the two, hiding in a bathroom while Tommy beat Sheila to death. She could just as easily ended up with blood on her clothes while she helped stuff her mother in the suitcase.
As for Heather ending up in the hospital........ the unborn baby has a lawyer and I think that lawyer should be screaming lawsuit right about now if Heather continues to threaten the health of the child by not drinking or eating. I do believe that we may here a much more factual telling of what went on in that room only after Tommy figures out that Heather and her lawyers are out to protect only her and the bonds of "love" won't save him.
It would seem that Mr Elkin's drama llama has taken a break to possibly enjoy some relaxation on the exotic beach in Bali since there have been no further news flashes about Heather's difficulties. This would be my opinion based on the facts as I read them. Mr Durkin on the other hand, does not buy into drama llama farming.
So far the interrogations of Tommy and Heather have produced some new clues as well as some unbelievable explanations for what happened to Sheila in her hotel room. I will always be a betting person and I still have my money riding on the duck that squawks the loudest. It has been Heather, through her friendly attorney Mr Elkin who has been at the forefront of excuses for what has happened so far.
I still have to wonder as to how an attorney just happens to run into a 19 year old socially and they remember each other well enough that he has no problem giving her advice over the phone about "turning herself in?" Even if it was just to answer questions about replacing the passport that she could not retrieve from her mother's hotel safe, seriously....... he took a call from her while she is overseas, that quickly?
It would seem that Tommy was excited to go on what he may have believed was a planned trip with Heather and her mother though I do believe that Sheila had not known about the "planned" part until sometime during the trip, if then. He was darn sure that he was going to get on a plane for Bali after all he went through to get his passport and Heather was still overseas. He may have been led to believe that Heather and him would extend their stay beyond the regular return date that Sheila and Heather already had. That may explain the posts stating he didn't know when he would return.
Heather has a history of stealing from mom and using her credit cards for her own use and I believe that is where the money for the trip for Tommy came from as well. The reports state that they argued about Sheila not wanting to pay for Tommy's room since she had already paid for his ticket. My bet is that mom found out about the trip charges and made a deal to only pay for the flight, if he showed up and his expenses were on the two lovebirds.
I don't think that the two were bright enough to have planned killing Sheila before they ever left for Bali. The results of the murder show poorly they thought anything out. What sort of dimwit stuffs a body in a suitcase, calls a cab to load it into and then leaves the cab sitting at the curb with the bag still in it? A much more organized plan of escape would have left the body in the suitcase, in a closet while they made their escape. It would have bought them some time to get away but either way, they were screwed about getting the passports. I don't believe that Heather did not know that she could not have access to the safe, I am sure that her mother let her know that fact.
Tommy has been pretty closed mouth from the start and I believe he is sticking to what had been the pair's first plan of action.......... shut up about it and if forced, claim it was an accident. Tommy so far has shown that he may really be the more believable one of the pair. I believe that his lawyer needs to convince him that Heather has tossed him under the bus a long time ago and she is out to save her own skin at the cost of his. I don't believe that Heather called him to the room to gift her mom with another stolen fruit basket. I find it easier to believe that Heather and Sheila had another of their WWE rage in the cage matches and Heather called Tommy to the room for mop-up duty. Tommy is said to have been invited to meet with mom but I doubt that she wanted to meet the father of her grandchild that early in the morning.
I doubt that Heather even took the time to allow the thought of inheritance of her mother's estate to even enter her mind. She seems to spend her time not being able to cut the apron strings and take care of herself on her own dime. She repeatedly steals from her mom and figures out how to work it out later in her own mind. The excuses have all been for her benefit so far and it seems that she is back to the race card again. There have already been reports of witnesses to their arguments and fights earlier in their vacation so I doubt Heather suddenly became so scared of Tommy that she hid in the bathroom. I do believe that she was right in there swinging away with her usual anger.
The question of inheritance of Sheila's estate has little or no bearing on the murder........... if the state of IL does not consider a child born after the death of a person as a legal heir, the estate will pass to direct family members. That would mean that her brothers and sisters would inherit when Heather is found guilty. So far they have only reported that they have had no real contact with Heather since her father's death years ago and I don't see them stepping up to care for the unborn child.
I don't see Tommy's mother stepping up to do that either. She reportedly has had little contact with him in the past few years and has not visited him yet in Bali. That may be because she has to wait on a passport as well as funding. It does look like the Youcaring site she set up for Tommy's "defense fund" has been taken down in the last day or so. It had stalled at about $10,650, of which she had claimed that $200 of it had been spent on phone calls and food for him. The money stopped dribbling in after the first report of Tommy confessing and the comments forum was filled with caring notes and a large number of notes discussing how guilty he was. There also was some debate as to whether the site allowed a fundraiser for someone who was incarcerated.
If one listen's to Mr Elkin for long, you would almost believe that Colonel Mustard did it with the lead pipe in the conservatory. Heck....... Richard Crafts still tries to get people to believe that his wife simply vanished instead of going through a woodchipper.
Update Dec 7 2014:
Heather and Tommy are set to be transferred to Kerobokan Prison sometime tomorrow where they can settle in and wait for their next court appearance. They are both expected to be charged with premeditated murder in the death of Sheila Mack. The police have finished with their interviews of them and paperwork has been passed to the prosecution.
Raja Nasution, Heather's lawyer states that Heather is sticking to her "new" story that she had nothing to do with her mother being killed. She has claimed that Tommy landed in Bali at 2 am, twelve hours before the murder and that her mother did not know that he was coming. She suggested that Tommy stop by the room she shared with her mother and bring a gift to smooth things over.
Evidently we are supposed to believe that Tommy chose to hide a heavy fruit bowl that he took from his room and give Sheila that stolen gift. I guess he did not have time to think that there would already be a fruit bowl in their room unless.......... Heather had mentioned that she might have already broken the one there. Heather claims that she hid in the bathroom terrified while Tommy and Sheila had a violent argument that ended with Tommy beating her mother to death.
That is odd because Tommy does not have a years long history of violence against Sheila...... Heather does. Heather claims that she only went along with Tommy's attempts to cover up the crime because he is the father of the baby she expects to give birth to in March 2015. Tommy is the same one who made no mention of Heather on his Facebook page or other social media accounts and while he may be the father, it doesn't look as though they had a relationship that was so close that he would kill for his baby-momma. I would hope that at some point, Tommy will wake up and realize that Heather is tossing him under the bus in an attempt to get a lesser sentence when this does go to trial.
Update Dec 9 2014:
Heather and Tommy got to share time together in the same cell after living the past few months separated from each other. Heather arrived first at the prosecutor's office dressed in a maternity top and was led into a holding cell. Tommy arrived soon after and was put into the same cell as Heather and other prisoners.
They were seen kissing, hugging and at one point Tommy was kneeling down so he could kiss Heather's very obvious baby bump. For a couple that may be charged with first degree murder within the next 20 days, they seemed to enjoy laughing and chatting it up with each other.
Heather proudly announced that they are having a baby girl and she plans on naming her Stella after her grandmother. She added that she may also call her Putu Stella, Putu being a Balinese name that means the first born of a family. She had also stated that she plans on breast feeding her baby while in prison and that after she is released, she plans on staying in Bali because she loves the country.
The couple had not seen each other since mid October when they were together for the crime reconstructions. Both are said to be facing charges of premeditated murder, murder and premeditated violence that ended in death. Heather could also be facing a charge of knowing about a criminal act but failing to report it. It sounds as though heather still believes that by throwing Tommy under the bus for her mother's murder, she will get a much lighter sentence and staying in Bali may only be her "offer" right now to let Tommy think she will stay there for him.
Tommy is said to have admitted that he hit Sheila in a moment of spontaneous defense after Sheila hit him. He added that Heather was in the bathroom at the time and he only called her out after Sheila was dead. It seems that he did not mention that Sheila had used the "N" word and that had set him off in a rage. It may be that Tommy thinks that taking sole responsibility for the murder will keep Heather close to him but really? Does he really believe that Heather is going to stick around if she manages to get a lighter sentence from the court. She will most likely do whatever she thinks is best for her and leave Tommy to serve whatever sentence he ends up with.
Update Dec 12 2014:
Heather's US attorney Mr Elkin evidently has gotten tired of resting with his drama llama in the shadows in Bali and has given an exclusive interview with People Magazine. Once again he is trying to explain that Heather misses her mother and the pictures of her laughing and smiling in jail are not the whole picture of her emotions. He states that it is not a lack of remorse for what happened that day but rather, her reaction to the stress of her situation. He adds that she is trying not to think about the nightmare of that day and struggles with the grim reality of her present situation.
That grim reality does include the fact that her and Tommy are facing possible charges of Article 340, premeditated murder with the death penalty, Article 338 of murder that carries a 15 year sentence, Article 170, subsection 2 of violence causing death with a 12 year penalty and Article 221 of hiding a criminal with a 9 month sentence. Heather also may face an additional charge of Article 44, subsection 3 of Law no. 22/2004 on domestic violence which can carry a sentence of 15 years.
That reality also consists of the inability of Heather to enjoy the personal freedoms she took while living with her mother, renting hotel rooms for parties, acing like a spoiled brat and spending the family money on whatever she chose to. Elkin went on to describe Heather's relationship with her mother as complicated......... complicated in what way? Would that be complicated in the manner of beating her mother up, avoiding arrest and jail terms and being free to do it again the next time her mother attempted to say she had to grow up? Things have certainly changed now that she sits in jail for her last "tantrum" and faces some very serious jail time, if not death.
Heather has stated that she plans to keep her daughter Stella with her after the birth but in reality, she can only have her there for two years and then other arrangements will have to be made. She will be taken to a hospital for the birth but there is no mention if they will allow Tommy to go there as well to assist with the birth of his baby. She has also stated that she would love to live in Bali once the case is settled. I think she will get the chance to do that for quite some time, in a special hotel called prison.
As for Elkin........ there really is not much that he can do with the media to spin the public towards believing that she had nothing to do with her mother's death.
Update Jan 19 2015:
The separate trials for both Heather and Tommy will begin shortly after their initial court appearances and formal charging on Jan 14th. Heather has managed to grab a piece of the the more than 1.5 million dollar trust fund that her murdered mother left for her care after she sued her uncle William Wiese who is now the trustee of the fund. She originally stated that she needed about $300,000 to hire a "decent" lawyer for her defense but that amount has since been cut to $150,000. Wiese has stated that he does not want to release the funds because of a fear that it may be used as a bribe for Heather's freedom rather than for legal defense fees.
Both Heather and Tommy are expected to state their pleas to the charges which include premeditated murder when the trials resume. It would seem that maybe Elkin wants to make sure that he gets paid for all of his "tireless" work in Heather's defense as well as a sudden need for better legal representation since she is facing a possible death sentence. Tommy has his mother in Bali finally to help with supporting him but he is not going to benefit from any money Heather may manage to get from the trust fund. It seems as though she is going to stick to the story that Tommy did it while she hid terrified in the bathroom and toss Tommy under the bus for the crime.
There have been statements that Heather had tried to have someone hired to kill her mother before they had gone on the vacation to Bali, which would not surprise me if they were true. Heather may have actually tried to hire someone or just was talking big about getting rid of a mother who opposed much of what her daughter seemed to be doing in the past few years. It has been stated that Sheila did not approve of Heather's relationship with Tommy and that may have been what sparked the fatal fight in the hotel room. It is just as believable that Tommy may have been trying very hard to cultivate a "bad boy" image and Heather had the finances to push that image along.
Heather and Elkin may have finally realized that crying, pouting and tossing Tommy under the bus has not worked in getting her a "get out of jail free and skip the firing squad" card. I am not sure though how hiring a better lawyer at the beginning of the actual trail is going to really do much to help her case. I do not think that they are going to give a sudden six month vacation to reinvestigate how to defend her properly with this latest legal attempt. If she needed money for a better lawyer, that should have been sued for months ago, not in the past week or so. Wiese has stated that Heather has made no attempt to contact any of her mother's remaining family and he has the social tact to state that they have made not decisions as to her guilt publically.
It should be very interesting to watch the cases unfold and see what they have for evidence against them.
Update Jan 21 2015:
Heather and her legal team have gotten their wish and she can now hire Ary Soenardi as her lawyer with funds from her mother's estate. Judge Neil Cohen had previously disqualified the hiring of him on the grounds that he had never tried a murder case before but he has now reversed his decision since Heather had insisted that he was the only lawyer she wanted to represent her. Cohen stated that the $150,000 in funds be paid out in three weekly installments of $50,000, there be itemized bills for the expenses incurred and that none of the funds are to go towards assisting Tommy. He also allowed $2, 240 from the the $1.56 mil trust be released to cover her food and medical expenses.
Vanessa Favia, who represents her unborn child Stella, has complained that she is concerned that Heather is not receiving the proper diet while in prison. It seems that Heather is not happy with the two meals that are provided to her and has complained that they are either stolen from her or not provided. The prison does not provide McDonald's for free to inmates and now she can go back to enjoying her favorite meals with the money that has been freed up for her. There has also been discussions as to what will happen to the child that is due on April 1 2015 and what may happen to the dual citizenship child after her birth. Heather has stated that the child will stay in Bali but there have already been moves towards adoption if she is convicted and faces a firing squad.
It has been reported that Heather is showing few signs of being under the "horrible" stress that Elkin has tried to portray. The reports are that she has been having fun, laughing with her fellow detainees and playing games. Tommy on the other hand may finally be realizing that he has been dumped financially and will be thrown under the bus by Heather's defense team. He has not been reported to be talking about the case against him or having fun during his stay in prison. Evidence was presented that Tommy flew in and was staying in a room that Heather had booked for him under her mother's name and that was what sparked the initial argument that was viewed publicly. Tommy may have thought that Heather was taking him along for free on this trip, heck she had stolen funds before to party and who knows if she had made him other promises for his defense funds.
Her new lawyer, local Ary Soenardi has quite the reputation for getting lighter sentences for drug defendants. It is rumored that he knows his way around the above-board and darker sides of the Indonesian legal system and this may well be why there was the last minute push to hire him to her legal defense. The trials for both are expected to last up to 4 months and unlike US courts, they will probably only meet once a week to hear the case and rebuttals of evidence involved.
Update Feb 3 2015:
The three judges have thrown out Heather and Tommy's lawyer's attempt to have the cases thrown out of court. They had argued that there were inaccuracies in the paperwork as well as....... well it was obvious that someone else committed the murder. The judges have decided that the indictments were correct enough for the court and the trials will move forward.
Heather also has the cheery future of no home in the US since it has been reported that Wiese sold the condo that Sheila and Heather had shared. Court paperworks states that he sold the condo in December 2014 for $610,000 without notifying heather or her lawyers. Her belongings were boxed up and shipped off to her aunt's home in St Louis MO and if she ever does get free, she will have to go there to claim them. It has also been reported that Wiese has bad mouthed heather to the press...... odd because there has not been much reported about any comments he may have made about Heather to the press.
Maybe it is finally starting to look real for Heather........ there is no one there to "drop" the charges against her this time.
Update Feb 5 2015:
Elkin stated he was aware of her recent interview with the Chicago Tribune and her claims that she was firing her lawyers because they are preventing her from having a fair chance at defending herself. He added that he had not received a disengagement letter yet. Anthony Scifo declined to comment on the recent developments but has filed a motion asking to withdraw from the case after a substantial breakdown of communication with Heather on or about Feb 3. That motion has been continued until Feb 27.
Vanessa Favio, the lawyer for her unborn child has also declined to comment on the reports of Heather's intent to fire all of her unpaid Chicago lawyers but she did inform the judge that she was willing to continue representing the child's interests for free. Heather claimed in her interview that her Indonesian lawyer had only received the first payment of $50,000 so far and the court is stuck with two problems. The payments were only to made with the filing of receipts, which evidently has not been completed and if she does fire her US lawyers, the court is not sure how to send Heather the money from the other installments.
Heather told the Tribune that she loved her mother very much and misses her every day. She added that she is in a complete state of depression and only wears the smile on her face as a mask. It is amazing that it may finally be sinking in that she misses the mother who put up with all her thefts, running away, assaults and other problems because she doesn't have her to bail her out of this trouble. It also seems that the breakdown in communication may be another legal temper tantrum from Mack since it does seem to coincide with the decision by the three judges to reject the the defense motion to toss the cases. Tommy has been able to keep his mouth closed when needed and may actually look like less the villain for it. Heather has certainly tried every defense so far to prove her innocence, including tossing him under the bus and it would not surprise me if it comes out during the course of the trial that Heather did the killing and Tommy went along with the cleanup.
Seriously.......... did Heather's legal team think it was a great idea to try and point the finger at some unknown person killing Sheila? I certainly would believe a story like, I woke up after someone else beat my mother to death in the room I shared, so i called my boyfriend to help me stuff her in a suitcase and then we ran out of the hotel after putting her in a taxi's trunk. Who knows what kind of trouble we would face from the "real" killer if I just screamed murder and roused the entire hotel staff to come and see her body? Um, not a very credible defense any way you try to spin it.
The courts are now set to start hearing testimony from witnesses so it should be interesting what more heather can throw into the mix to continue the circus she is trying to create.
Update Feb 20 2015:
On Feb 6 2015, Heather was reported to have been taken to a local hospital after reportedly suffering from stomach pains and bleeding. Later reports stated that her unborn child was not in danger and then the news trail grew very cold. It was rumored that she may have been trying to hide from the media in the hospital while "bribes" were arranged or that there just had been a lockdown on any more information about the trials being released.
Today it was announced that Cook County Judge Neil Cohen has denied requests for medical and legal fees from Sheila's estate for Heather's unborn child. Attorney Vanessa Favia had requested $126,000 for legal services for work she had done for the child which included spending two weeks in Indonesia last fall. She had also requested $15,000 for the child's delivery and additional medical expenses that are expected in April.
Cohen stated that the trust that Sheila had created only months before she was killed applies to only Heather and he can not change it to include the child she carries. He did state that the trust has paid out $2,240 so far for her medical and living expenses. Attorney Anthony Scifo had previously asked to be released from representing Heather, citing a breakdown in communication but he told Cohen today that he and heather have been speaking daily in an effort to improve their relationship. He has also asked the court for $45,000 in legal fees and the court may rule on that request sometime next week.
His ruling on Jan 20 2015 had stated that the other two installments of $50,000 each would not be paid to Soenardi, her Indonesian lawyer until he provides an interim trustee with billing statements that explain the services are that he has provided so far. The attorneys did state that they were reviewing the latest itemized bills that have been provided. Oddly, there was no mention of Elkin submitting a bill for payment for whatever services he may have been providing over the past few months. He was not even mentioned in the last report to the news and he hasn't released any of his updates on poor Heather that he had flooded the news outlets with in months prior. I don't think that he has been doing all this legal and PR work for free for her.
Update Feb 26 2015:
The first witness to testify at Tommy Schaefer's trial was Arifin, a bellboy at the St Regis Hotel where the trio had been staying. He testified that he had seen Tommy and Heather taking a suitcase towards the lobby on a luggage cart the morning of August 12 2014. He asked them about the hotel bill that the receptionist had stated had not been paid yet. He added that Heather refused to respond about the unpaid bill at that time.
He then stated that Tommy and Heather had asked him to call a taxi for them and refused his offer to help them with putting the bag in the taxi. They argued the the contents of the bag were fragile and refused his offer to help. He finished his testimony by stating that he left them and had heard about the murder later from the police.
The second witness to testify was a technician, I Putu Adi Marta, who had been asked to examine the hotel's security videos. He stated that he had been asked to check them because the hotel suspected that a man and a woman had left the hotel without paying their bill. He added that the videos showed both Tommy and Heather using the emergency stairs several times to go between the third floor where the Mack's had a room and the sixth where tommy had a room. At one point Tommy was also seen changing his shirt and bringing out a white cloth. Marta also stated that Heather and Tommy were seen on the video bringing a large package from the third floor to the sixth floor.
The third witness to testify was I Made Ariyana, one of the five police officers who arrested Tommy and Heather at the Bali Wisata Hotel in the Kuta area about 6 miles from the St Regis. He stated that the couple had refused to be taken without being accompanied by lawyers from the US government. He added that once they were at the police station in Kuta, they refused to talk or be photographed. It was reported that Tommy did not object to any of the testimony given by the witnesses in court. The court system and trial procedures are very different from those in the US but I am not sure what there would have been to object to if the evidence presented showed a readily identifiable Tommy on it.
Update Feb 27 2015:
A motion was filed in Cook County Court on Feb 26th by lawyers representing William Weise asking the court to appoint an independent Indonesian lawyer with ties to Chicago to oversee the funds being released to Heather's lawyer there. The motion requests that the independent lawyer monitor the ongoing proceedings, review the legal bills and ensure that none of the funds are used for bribery or other illegal purposes.
They included with the motion an affidavit from Jeffrey Winters, a political science professor at northwest University. He is said to have an extensive background on the Indonesian political and legal system. His affidavit reportedly contains information backing the rampant corruption through all levels of the legal system there as well as listing numerous red flags as evidence of possible irregularities in the legal process. He did not comment on whether he believed any of this has come to pass with Heather's trial but did stress the importance of having an independent, overseas monitor of the funds being dispersed to her. The lawyer's for Weise added that they needed closer monitoring of the lawyers for both Heather and Tommy as they have a history of working together and non of Heather's funds are to be used for Tommy's needs.
Judge Cohen will review this motion today as well as rule as to whether Heather's trust attorney Anthony Scifo will continue representing her. He had previously asked to be excused but later stated that he and Heather had patched up their relationship. The lawyers for Weise have disputed the $45,000 in legal bills he has submitted so far as well as the estimated $50,000 more he may incur if he stays on.
It is interesting that we receive more news about the financial battle involving Heather than anything more about the criminal case against her in Bali.
An email written to the interim trustee by Heather's Indonesian lawyer Ary Soenardi was read in court today for Judge Cohen. It stated that he was concerned that he may not be able to continue on as her lawyer if he did receive his retainer fee. He went on to describe Heather as suicidal and very concerned about financial issues. She owes money to the hospital for previous care and testing and she is afraid that she will be forced to deliver her baby in her detention cell.
Cohen called the letter emotional blackmail and stood by his original decision to release the money he had approved after conditions were met and he did allow another payment of $25,000 to go to Soenardi. He has received $75,000 so far of the $150,000 approved for him. Cohen also approved reasonable fees to be paid for the baby's birth.
The real fight began in the courtroom when Cohen refused to hold a hearing concerning the corruption issues. He cited a lack of evidence and attorney Eric Dorkin was slapped with a contempt charge with a $1,000 fine after he called the ruling outrageous. Dorkin later apologized and the charge was dropped. Cohen also approved the almost $48,000 in legal fees that Scifo had for work done for Heather since December 2014 and he stated that he will continue working for her.
Update Feb 28 2015:
People Magazine's update about the Bali trials by Johnny Dodd boldly states the first three witness's to testify in Heather Mack's trial and cites an AP story in the Chicago Sun Times. The problem with the People magazine article, which I am sure hundreds of people will read, is that it incorrectly states that those three witnesses testified in Heather's trial. Heather and Tommy are being tried separately in Bali.
The article that was cited from the Sun Times correctly identifies that they all testified at Tommy's trial and makes no mention of them repeating their testimony in Heather's trial. I am sure that the same witness's will testify at her trial as well but there certainly will be others who will testify as to Heather and her mother's interactions at both hotels before Tommy showed up. It is sad that a little mistake may lead some people to believe that Heather is the only one on trial right now.
Update March 11 2015:
Heather has now officially tossed Tommy under the bus for the murder of her mother Sheila. It has been reported that Heather in her testimony today in court described how Tommy "accidently" killed her mother. There has not been much reported in the past few weeks as to the testimony of other witnesses and we have only been shown new pictures of them arriving at court so now, the explosive denial.
Heather stated in her first questioning before the court that Tommy had beat Sheila with a metal soup bowl after her mother had made a threat in an argument. The argument evidently included something about Sheila objecting to their relationship. Heather then went on to state that the blow was not that hard because her mother was still resisting, ( as in fighting back or fighting for her life? ). She then added that she told Tommy to stop and ran to hide in the bathroom.
At some point, she came back out of the bathroom and states that she found Tommy on her mother's bed trying to give her artificial respiration. He told her that her mother was not breathing and Heather states that she also tried to revive her. At this point she stated that they panicked and thought to call the police or take her body to the US Consulate but she did not explain why they did not do either of these things. She added then that they had both panicked and didn't know what to do. Her last response to the judge was that she did not want her mother dead.
Heather's story has definitely evolved again to try and explain away their actions as well as try to make it look as though neither of them deserve to die. Now they both tried to save Sheila but she is still sticking to the "I hid in the bathroom this time instead of whacking her like I usually do" defense. No matter how many ways she wants to try and spin it....... they did not call the police or even hotel staff immediately so I am not buying the excuse of stuffing her in a suitcase because we were going to take her to the consulate.
Heather and/or her lawyers may think that this explanation would be a great choice for covering how they ended up stuffing Sheila in a suitcase and then leaving her body in the back of a taxi but it fails with me. They were more than halfway there to heading to the consulate as they claim they wanted to do and once there, they certainly could have gotten their passports to fly home and grieve if need be. It fails for me because they knew damn well they wouldn't be getting out of the country very quickly and as before, I doubt that Heather called a lawyer in the US to get advice on gaining a new passport quickly. They have acted guilty of a crime from the start and hardly the victims of a terrible accident.
It has been very disappointing that very little has been released to the media about the testimony in the trial and it has me wondering if they are all tied up covering other local stories or if there is some sort of gag involved so that there can be a book later. Tommy may seem dejected in recent pictures and that may be from his being close in proximity to upcoming executions or he may have finally figured out that Heather doesn't care if he dies for the crime I think they both knew they were guilty of.
On the "homefront" Heather's civil lawyer Scifo told the court that she may be delivering her baby as early as early as Friday by c-section and told the court that she is concerned and wants to come back to the US as well as raise her baby. Judge Neil Cohen has authorized another payment for Heather's legal defense of $44,000 so that brings the total to $119,000 of the $150,000 he had stated could be used from the trust for her legal bills.
Heather has evidently found a new "prison pen pal" in the US and has reportedly been calling and texting the Chicago Tribune for the past several weeks. It sounds as though she is just shopping for another way to spread her pity party than actually spread news. Most people are very tired of hearing Heather complain about the incredible pressure she is under and would rather hear what has been presented in court as evidence.
Heather continued to rant about how the accusations of corruption are annoying her lawyers, judges and the country and she demands that they submit proof that her lawyer is unfit to represent her. Heather stated as well that insinuating that the country is unable to conduct a fair trial is equally damaging. If she took the time to stop whining about her situation and found out what does happen in courtrooms overseas many times, she would understand that it is difficult to get a fair trial in some of them. Even if she is found not guilty for some incredible reason..... she can't touch the trust money until she is 30 years old and she had better get used to dealing with her uncle's trust fund lawyers. She does though keep singing praises for her lawyer there which I suppose she has to do since he is the best known for making a deal over there.
There was testimony earlier in Heather's trial that presented evidence of her text messages to Tommy suggesting that he find a hit man for $50,000 to do the deed. Details in those text messages showed that they had discussed smothering Sheila or killing her on the beach followed by staging it to look like a suicide. I don't know how Heather is going to spin that one but maybe she could use the idea that it wasn't murder they were planning.... it was the plot for a rap musical the two would produce.
Update March 12 2015:
Tommy has stepped forward and proved that he can still drink the kool-ade as well as weave his own brand of crazy into the script he and Heather seem to be still developing. He had his chance to tell "his" side of the story that they have concocted. He starts out by explaining that he met with Heather in Bali so that they could tell her mother that she was pregnant.
Huh? His FB account postings showed that he had been planning on going along with Heather at about the same time her mother and her were going on the trip. He was pissed that his passport was delayed and he did not get to leave until the Mack's were almost finished with their vacation. Does he really think that it is much more logical to state that he and Heather wanted to spring theon Sheila there? Why not just wait a few days, save the big bucks and tell her when they are back in the US? Wait.... it is Bali and it would be so romantic for the three of them to share the beautiful beaches and sing kumbaya together there.
He then stated that he met up with Heather at the hotel when he arrived and they discussed how they would tell her mother. Tommy added that they agreed to meet Sheila in the room she was sharing with Heather and she told him to bring along the fruit bowl. The judge asked him why he had hidden it and his reply was that he was not sure if he would use it to protect himself or not. Again.... huh? I thought that they had stated that it was a surprise gift for Sheila to help smooth the angry seas of his unexpected arrival. Tommy went on to state that Heather was in tears when he arrived at the room and he did not know why, he just knew that Sheila was screaming.
Tommy stated that she was angry about Heather being pregnant and then Sheila insulted him by using a racial slur and added that Heather was a whore who liked a black man. He said that it did not become heated until after Sheila suggested that her daughter get an abortion. That does not sound like an unreasonable question since she is supporting the mother to be and the father is an unemployed wanna be rapper. Then things got heated and he claimed that Sheila strangled him hard for about 30 seconds...... 30 seconds is a long time for an older woman to be strangling such a small and meek young man. I may understand her hanging onto his throat for dear life if he had already hit her and she thought that her life was in danger.
He went on to state that Sheila made a grab for the bowl but he got to it first and since his eyes were blurry from the strangling, he doesn't remember how many times he hit her. Why would Sheila take a hand off of his throat to grab an object to hit him with? Thirty seconds is a long time but it is not even close to the time it would take to choke him into even unconsciousness. The details fits better if you already had the bowl in your hand and swung at her, even better if the violent argument had already taken place before you went into the room and you were there for mop-up detail.
Tommy clung to the same story as Heather, that she ran and hid in the bathroom and didn't come out until he was trying to revive Sheila. He added that he was trembling and called 911 on his cellphone and then remembered that they were not in the US. There was no new explanation as to why they eventually stuffed her body in the suitcase, attempted to get their passports and then fled the hotel without paying the bill. Neither of them even tried to mix the "mysterious gang" into the bad movie script, before or after, which could have gone a few feet towards explaining why they had to run out the back door.
Poor Heather was seen crying throughout Tommy's testimony........something she has not done before in court. Could she be crying because she knows what it will mean now that he has stuck to the party line and drank the kool-ade? Heather had stated she planned to stay in Bali even after she got out of jail but lately, she has commented that she wants to get back to the US and looks forward to raising Stella there. She must miss real food and is now planning on dumping Tommy to rot in prison if she manages to bribe her way to innocence.
Their combined testimony really does play out like a very bad script for a straight to DVD crummy movie.
Update March 14 2015:
We finally get to hear and see the dynamic duo........ there was a short video released of Tommy making his attempt at an Oscar for his retelling of the latest incarnation of the how Sheila accidently got killed story. I am not sure what their strategy is but maybe this amended tale is supposed to be the key to " proving" that it was an accidental death? The handle of the fruit bowl......... I don't know how anyone could have hidden that or thought that it would be a great thing to drag along for protection. By the way.... where did the fruitbowl that was supposed to be the gift Tommy was bringing for Sheila?
For the video: use the link below
Update March 17 2015:
Well, Heather and Tommy are now officially parents. Heather was taken to Sanglah Hospital and has given birth by cesarean to a 6.1 pound baby girl. There has been no official word as to the baby's name but Heather has repeatedly stated that she would name her Stella Schaefer. Tommy was not allowed to attend the birth, strange how that works when you are both stuck in jail.
One of her lawyers, Anthony Scifo, has confirmed that Heather gave birth at 5 am this morning and that the baby was healthy. It is expected that both will be returning to Heather's shared jail cell but it is still to be seen how long that will last. Not only is it not very fair to be jailing her daughter in such circumstances but it will be tough to convince her cellmates that putting up with a new baby and an inexperienced mother is a great thing.
I would not be surprised if the new baby becomes a prop in the courtroom as well in an attempt to try and sway the judges minds. I am not sure that will do much for either of them in their case but it is also a chance to show off the baby to Tommy as well. There has been no word yet as to how long she will stay in the hospital or if this will delay the prosecutions rebuttal part of the case against her expected this week.
In an updated Chicago Tribune article, it has been stated that Heather was afraid that she would end up giving birth in the prison because she lacked the funds for a partial down payment for the hospital but Scifo stated that he had worked out a deal with Heather's uncle William and wired the funds for that on Monday. Apparently her last text to the Tribune was on Monday and she stated that she was in active labor and having contractions. I am not sure what deal had to be arranged for the funds because I thought it had already been approved to have some of the trust money sent to cover her hospital bills. Odd also is the fact that this mysterious down payment was wired just in time for her to go into labor for a due date that was originally set for April 1.
Update March 19 2015:
Well poor Tommy is said to be pacing his cell with frustration and he is going crazy because he will not be allowed to visit Heather and his new daughter in the hospital. He has been told that he is a prisoner facing a serious charge and will not be transported over there for what seems to be a "happy" family reunion. Tommy's mother, the baby's grandmother along with other friends and family have flown in to visit with Heather and the baby and can be seen briefly on film in the room.
I really can't imagine what the guest list looks like since there seem to be only Tommy's immediate family that are interested in seeing the baby. No one in Heather's side of the family has publicly expressed interest in the child so far. Tommy may have his first chance to see the baby on March 24 if Heather is "feeling up to it" and if she decided to bring Stella along. Heather had stated numerous times that she will keep her baby with her for as long as possible but there have been statements from some of her cellmates that they are not happy with that idea. There is already one woman in Heather's cellblock who is raising her baby there and it has been crying all night. There are some who have insisted to Heather and the friends who visit her that she get the baby away from the prison. Frankly, that would probably be best for the both of them. It is difficult to imagine that Heather has any skills in taking care of a baby, certainly does not have the temperament for it and it looks as though her vow to raise Stella there is really just another grab for attention.
There must have been some serious saving from the group that came to visit the baby since they all seemed to be able to jump on a plane and be there to visit them in the hospital. It makes me wonder how much of this is actually being paid for by Heather's trust funds even though it is not supposed to be paying for anything but the few items the judge has designated. Not so odd either is Heather standing by the window for so long......... she just has to get herself in the media again. My guess as well is that someone will have cellphone pics and video of the baby to share with Tommy so that he will not have to suffer the "agony" of not being with his new baby. Let us be real here...... he is on trial for murder and he isn't facing anything more than many other people have faced for generations....... being away from their family when a child is born. Stomping his feet and thinking he will be allowed privileges is not going to work, he has no "right" to be there, sorry.
It may be best for baby Stella since she does technically have a lawyer, Favia who had signed on to care for the interests of the child Stella before she was born. I am not sure if she is still working even though she did state when she was denied funds for her current expenses, she stated she would stay on for free. The last "blackmail" attempt for Heather's funding included the "fact" that she was suicidal and Favia should take that and run with it. It should be grounds to remove Stella from the situation she is in and at least have her live outside the prison walls. There is no way that I can see that a suicidal new mother who could now suffer from postpartum depression, living with other women who have stated they don't want the baby there and has a documented history of severe anger issues can overnight become a great mother. Favia if she is still on the books as a lawyer for Stella should use her legal tools and remove the child to somewhere outside the prison for her safety.
Of course..... that would leave Heather without a convenient "prop" for court.
The Chicago tribune also has two articles exposing the 150 emails that Sheila had sent to her friend Elliott Jacobson and they are very revealing. Not only do they show the fear that Sheila had of what Heather was capable of but they also mention the facts that she had known about the pregnancy before they left for Bali and that Heather had been pregnant possibly two other times in the past.
One email details how Heather had ditched Sheila and evidently gotten herself to a local clinic four days before they had moved to the St Regis. Heather had gotten quite a few pain pills and forged her mother's name and room number on the bill there. Of course Sheila was going to find out about it because that sounds as though she had charged them to the room. That leaves one guessing..... did Heather want them for herself or did she plan to use them on Sheila? I can't imagine Heather wanting to take pain killers that might harm her then unborn child. The emails also show how big a lie it is that both Heather and Tommy have spun in trying to get the court to believe that Tommy rushed to Bali to break the "happy news" of the pregnancy to Sheila.
Video of Heather at the hospital- no view of the baby though:
Update March 20 2015:
Jacobson who has been a friend of Sheila's since the early 1980's has spoken out as well as releasing the emails he had received from Sheila over the years. He points out that he had received one email dated Aug 1 2014 in which Sheila knew that Heather was 8 weeks pregnant already. This totally negates the supposed defense of Heather and Tommy's that they were going to break the news to Sheila while she was in Bali since she already knew that fact.
It still does not prove that the only reason that Tommy may have flown to Bali was to take part in a murder plot but it does not back their claim in court. Tommy had been planning on going to Bali at around the same time Heather and Sheila were and had posted that on his FB account but his passport was delayed. It does put a huge dent in the idea that Tommy had flown there just so the two of them could break the news of the pregnancy though.
Jacobson knew Heather since her birth and knew of the problems Sheila and her had but he states that he didn't foresee her graduating to killer. He was very outspoken about the baby Stella though. He stated that he felt she should be brought back to the US, given a new identity and be given the opportunity to have a good life. I believe that he is stating that she should be placed with a family that has no "stake" in her financial future and she would have the chance to grow up without having the actions of her parents held against her.
Some of the emails that have been released show the escalation of trouble that Sheila was dealing with including Heather purchasing two Iphones on Sheila's credit card and gave to Tommy, dealing with a power of attorney contract for her to "earn her inheritance" and they continue with blocking Heather from any access to the room and valuables during the trip. There still has not been any evidence as to how Tommy who did not seem to have any real access to funds managed to book a flight to Bali but there has been plenty of evidence that Heather and him were in contact while she was away.
The email copies of their flight itineraries show that there is a stop in Hong Kong and that may be the strange part of the puzzle coming to light. Tommy had made mention on FB as well to possibly going to China and not knowing when he would come back as well as his plan to leave for Bali on Aug 4th. This may show that they had both planned on stopping in Hong Kong for the transfer and then missing it or simply that Tommy would stay there and Heather would return after she had gone back to the US playing the tragic daughter who had survived the "attack by the kidnappers" that was in one of their earlier versions of what had happened.
The fact that these emails have been released after Heather and Tommy have made their statements is definitely great timing because they are all dated and tell a far different tale than those two did on the stand. They make the testimony they both gave look even more like a poorly written grade Z movie and show the extremes that Heather would go to before they ever got to Bali. It may also make it a bit more difficult for the lawyers involved to pull off a light sentence by spreading some cash around.
Brief video interview with E Jacobson:
Copies of various emails:
Update March 20 2015:
It has been reported that Tommy's mother Kia Walker has been pushing very hard for Heather to reconsider her plan to keep Baby Stella in the cell with her. According to hospital sources, the discussions have been very intense between the two but there is no confirmation that Kia has offered to take care of the baby herself. It has been reported that several people had flown over to see Heather and the baby but there is no mention if there is anyone from Sheila's family there.
It would not surprise me if there isn't but most likely there is at least one of Heather's entourage of US lawyers to monitor the situation. It would be in the baby's best interest to have some kind of back up plan that allows Stella to stay out of the prison cell and safe. It has been suggested that it may also be a move to somehow control any wealth the child may come into in the future but it may also just be a concerned grandmother who knows her son is facing a possible date with a firing squad.
There has been no word yet as to whether Kia has visited with Tommy and shared pictures of the baby with him yet. It has been mentioned though that the next court appearance may be delayed a bit so that Heather has more time to recover from her C-section. I will bet that it will also give the lawyers time to scramble and try to cover the minor explosion the release of the emails has caused. The emails coupled with the text messages that were mentioned earlier, the ones which point to Heather trying to get Tommy to hire someone to kill her mother before the Bali trip, blow the numerous tales of defense out of the water. While the judges are supposed to only consider the evidence, there is little doubt they could avoid hearing about them. It may take a lot money money for Heather's lawyer to smooth things over and get her on track for a path away from the firing squad.
Scifo seems to be the new lawyer to step up to the plate and not notice the dog poo on his shoes until too late. Elkin was the early "shining light" for Heather and sunk himself deeper each time he tried to show the world how everyone else was out to get her. Nothing has been heard from her good friend Elkin for months now so I guess Scifo has taken his place. He explained how Heather was taking some time to enjoy herself and her privacy with the new baby. Scifo added that there is a holiday so Heather will get to spend a couple more days with Stella at the hospital. He went on to state that the two have good samaritans that have given her baskets with diapers and formula. Wait a minute Scifo.......... you mean those people who make extra money by catering to the wishes of prisoners with money are now.... good samaritans?
His closing statement on the emails that have been released....... they are a bit one sided? Of course they are going to be one sided, just like the wagons full of BS that Heather has been playing you with, Heather tells one side of the story and Sheila is going to tell another side of the story. The problem you are facing is that they show what Sheila felt like and suffered through before she was murdered and they make it difficult for Heather to paint her mother as the horrible monster she has claimed.
video of Scifo talking about birth:
Update March 22 2015:
The battle continues..... not the one to "save" Heather's life but rather the one to save face after the tales of horror that Heather was forced to live with have been squashed by the release of Sheila's emails. Heather evidently had two previous abortions and it is suspected that there may have been medical issues related to those. That also brings into the forefront that Heather already knew that there might have been an issue medically with this pregnancy as well as evidenced by her insistence that she be returned to the US right after her arrest.
Sheila evidently was attempting to get Heather to sign a power of attorney so that she could have more control over Heather in regards to her health and medical care. Jacobson has stated that Sheila was never able to "force" Heather to do anything and that too can be seen with the many police reports that were made but very little was done as a follow-up in punishments. Sheila did her best to not prosecute Heather even after being seriously injured in some arguments. The only time Heather was hospitalized or legally punished is when Sheila had little choice in whether heather was prosecuted.
A small sidenote though....... evidently there had been a Gofundme site set up in early Dec 2014 for the care of baby Stella when she arrived. The goal was to raise $15,000 for the baby's care once she was born. The ChristianLegalFund.org was listed as the group that sponsored the site, which is listed as not active right now and only has 11 days left. It only lists $50 raised which I hope has been returned to the donor because comments note that Favia was behind the setting up of the mysterious ChristianLegalFund. There seems to be no end as to what these lawyers will do.
Update March 23 2015:
Heather has been packed off to jail again and she did take Stella with her. This can only mean that Tommy's mother was not very successful in convincing Heather that raising a baby in prison is not the best of things.
Heather can bee seen alternating between being ticked off that there were so many taking pictures of her and asking her questions and doing her laughing, teenage thing. It had been suspected that Stella may have needed to stay longer in the hospital because she was born several weeks early but frankly, it sounds like she was just about on time. I don't think Heather would have taken the chance of leaving Stella there either since she is her ticket to possible sympathy and better "donations."
A car from the prosecution arrived at the hospital in the early afternoon to pick up both of them and it has been reported that one of Heather's legal team paid the $6,000 hospital bill with their own credit card. It is a fairly easy guess as to who paid since there was a comment that they would recover that money from the thousands that had been released from the trust for him to use. Heather seemed very awkward while she tried to juggle the complicated maneuvers of holding a baby, ducking the cameras and trying to keep Stella covered up. One can only hope that she develops a better sense of handling a newborn before any serious harm comes to her. It was sad to see her trying to run a seat belt across her and the baby in the backseat of the van..... seriously? A seat belt across an infant?
Video of Heather leaving the hospital today:
Update March 25 2015:
The drama does not end over in Bali and only days after Heather was dragged from her "vacation" at the hospital, she was rushed to the prison clinic because baby Stella was running a fever and had yellowed skin. Tommy was allowed to meet both Heather and his new daughter when they returned on Monday and he is reported to have been holding Stella with tears running down his face.
It would be a fair guess that Stella is suffering from jaundice which is not uncommon with newborns and for now, she will be treated at the prison clinic. Heather insisted that Tommy also be present when Stella was brought to the clinic and they were reported to be holding hands while the baby was treated. The current report is that the baby will stay at the clinic for treatment but if she does not improve within the next 48 hours, she will be transferred to the hospital again. Heather is reportedly going to be returned back to her cell and will not be allowed to lounge around the clinic while Stella is being treated.
Both Heather and Tommy were due back in court today for the continuation of their court proceedings but that has been called off and rescheduled for next week. It would seem that Heather is still living in a fantasyland where she may think that the trial can be delayed forever by medical emergencies. The idea of taking Stella back to prison with her is not in the best interest of the baby. The cells are described as dirty, humid and prisoners routinely sleep on the floor. It is easy for a prisoner to get sick there and highly likely that a newborn will face all types of illness there.
There has been no report yet as to whether Tommy's mother Kia has remained in Bali or returned to the US. I would think that she has probably stayed on for a bit in the hopes of gaining custody of Stella or in the least, of getting her out of the prison. It may actually work in her favor now that Tommy has gotten to see his daughter because it may be the chance everyone is waiting for. He may actually step back and realize that not only is he being tossed under the bus but that Heather is not thinking in the best interests of his baby as well.
Stella should be placed with someone outside of the prison in the very least to insure her health. The problem would be with how it would be financed. The money that is being funneled to Heather from her mother's trust is only for her care and legal defense. The judge in the US has already ruled that he can not rewrite the trust to include care for Stella so any care for her would have to possibly come out of her trust allowance or be donated. There is always the possibility of another "gofundme" springing up to beg for donations for the care of the baby but again, it would have to be proven that it was going to Stella and not to bribe officials involved with the trial.
Update March 27 2015:
Heather had to bring baby Stella back to the hospital since she has shown no improvement and now there are reports that Heather has not kept her properly clean or given her the proper maternal attention. The hospital staff reported that they were appalled at how dirty the baby looked and they questioned if she had even been properly bathing her. They cited a large concern for keeping the umbilical cord especially clean to prevent possible infection.
They have reported that Heather begged to have Stella taken back to Sanglah Hospital where she was born so that she could get real medical care. She evidently had spent Thursday pleading to go back to the hospital but was told that it had to be approved by the Prosecutors office. She finally did receive permission to go today and was taken there by ambulance. Heather is reportedly under a lot of pressure to make other arrangements for Stella outside of the prison as well as the pressure of dealing with a newborn. The baby and her were reportedly seen and have been returned to the prison with the suggestion that Stella get out into the sunlight more. It still is not known if Kia Walker has offered to take care of the child but Heather has been adamant that she will raise Stella in prison for the full two years that she is allowed.
It does not surprise me at all that Heather does not know how to care for her own baby........ she didn't care about her mother and it looks as though Stella is just another stage-prop for attention for Heather. The adult thing to do would be to put her baby's best interests before her own but why would Heather want to change ships mid stream? If she were facing prison in the US, most states would not allow her to keep her baby with her.... for a good reason.
Update March 30 2015:
Heather and Tommy are due back in court tomorrow to listen to the prosecution's request for sentencing unless of course, Heather and the baby have to make another run to the hospital. They had this postponed from last week with a doctor's note that claimed that they could not attend because baby Stella was ill. It would not be surprising if they try to stall again in an effort to try and spread some more cash around to try and smooth over the release of the damaging emails. Heather still seems to think she will walk out of prison and be able to play the damaged "mother" and return to the US and her trust fund. While it has been widely reported that brides do go a long way in the justice system there, I find it very difficult to see Heather walking free with not guilty on all charges. They may both be in for the shock of their young lives when they finally are sentenced in the coming weeks.
Update March 31 2015:
Heather and Tommy have been spared the chance to face a firing squad and it would be interesting to know if all the money that has flowed in from her trust fund has anything to do with that reduction in sentence demand. The handcuffs were missing from their court pictures today and they smiling parents looked as though they are off to head on holiday again rather than facing stiff sentences.
The prosecution has asked that Heather be sentenced to 15 years for her part in killing her mother Sheila and 18 years for Tommy's admitted part in the murder. Heather for the most part still looks out of touch with the reality of many years in jail but Tommy was visibly upset by the prosecutions demand. His mother Kia was still seen there and carrying baby Stella while the pair who Heather claims are "spiritually" married, had their court appearances. She is wearing a red plastic ring and he has a blue one that she stated Tommy had made for them.
Heather is still smoking, something she claimed that she had quit so that she did not affect her unborn baby and at times in the pictures that have been released, looks as though she is carting a sack of flour instead of her newborn. At one point, Heather commented that Stella had six fingers on her left hand and followed that with adding that she is okay and she is not worried by it. Tommy was the one to emerge from prison carrying Stella and this may be the first time that he has been seen publicly carrying his daughter. He may actually be trying to bond with her or it may also have been encouraged for the court to view.
It is interesting that Tommy's mother is still in Bali which may be that she wants to be there as a show of support for Tommy when he is sentenced or it may also be that she is trying to convince heather to let the baby go back to the US with her. Heather still states that she will breastfeed the baby for two years and keep her in prison with her. Of course, if she is found guilty in her mother's murder, the money train from the trust will dry up and the baby will be forced to live on donations with Heather. The trust is for Heather only and may have passed on to Stella after her death but facing 15 years in prison means that it she will probably have no more access to it and Stella has no chance of accessing the money.
I still think that Heather will try and hang onto the baby in prison under the warped belief that she will somehow get special treatment because she has an infant. the loser is going to be the baby who will start out her first two years in jail and lack access to the normal things a baby needs to start off life on the right foot. It is a huge shock that the prosecution had not asked for the death penalty for either of the pair since there is such compelling evidence of murder. Stella is certainly being used as a prop in court to show what this "young, loving couple" has to live for and that they can't possibly be as horrible as the prosecution tried to describe them as.
The defense gets the week to come up with their rebuttal and request for lighter sentences or to have them tossed out. The prosecution may have gone for the lighter sentences in a back door offer to the defense and it would not surprise me now if that is what they actually receive. It may be that they think this will not look as if there has been a cash cow of bribes being spread around and this gives the defense an out on the sentencing phase. They will both be back in court next week for the defense to present their side of the case if the judges accept the prosecution's case as presented and it may be another month or so before the couple will find out the result of all the cash bribes, lies and photo-ops have given them.
|Kia, Stella & Heather|
Chief prosecutor Eddy Wijaya had told the court that Heather had committed sadistic acts to her mother, Sheila, but they had decided to ask for a more lenient sentence for her because she has expressed remorse and has a newborn baby. Evidently the baby prop has worked to some degree.
That does not explain why they did not push for a more harsh sentence for Tommy who has so far allowed himself to be tossed under the bus by Heather. He also seems to be the only one of the pair who has managed to cry in court at times. Sheila's younger sister Debbi Curren has expressed the outrage that her family and I am sure a majority of people who have been following the case feel as well. I agree that the evidence that this was a premeditated murder is overwhelming and the prosecution should have demanded the toughest sentence.... death by firing squad. The judges could overturn the recommendation though and choose death as the penalty by the end of April.
In other news, it seems that Favia has gotten back into court in Chicago and has presented evidence of the services she has rendered for Stella and she looks to be asking that the previous denial of payment to her be overturned. The lawyers don't have much time left to rack up all the billable hours that they can because I doubt that the defense lawyers will be able to present enough evidence to the court that they will not be convicted. Once Heather is convicted..... the cash cow will die and the drama llama will probably wander off to the beach. It is strange that her original lawyer, Elkin has not said a word in months and he evidently has not filed anything with the courts to compensate him for his early support of Heather.
Update April 1 2015:
Heather, who has shown no remorse for the murder of her mother Sheila, has expanded on her fantasyland dreams. Her and Tommy did cry in court when the recommendations for sentencing were read but I am sure that is only because she believed that she would be walking away free or at most, facing a year or so. Tommy's mother Kia has found the time and finances to enjoy an extended stay in Bali and it was reported that she was the babysitter and shuttle bus for baby Stella at the courthouse. Heather also let slip out that after her two years in prison, Stella may end up being cared for by Kia.
Heather has stated that she expects to marry Tommy in the next year so they can I suppose, replace the silly plastic rings they keep wearing. I guess that she feels that somehow all of the money that has flowed into her lawyers pockets will grant her more of a slap on the wrist than she has already been recommended for. As for the extra finger that Stella has..... Heather has stated that she will need surgery but I am not sure where she thinks the money for that will come from and where it will be done.
The condition itself is as considered fairly common in the US and affects one out of every 500-1,000 births here. The surgery should be done in the first two years of life and is entirely dependant on what the structure of the extra finger is and where it is located. It may be as simple as just removing a stub or as complicated as removing the finger, bone and muscle and include reconstructive surgery to a degree. The child would end up in a cast in severe cases and face therapy to regain the use of the hand. Heather must think that the courts will just hand over money for every little thing she desires but unfortunately, surgery which may be needed, will have to wait until the court decides.
The trust that she is working on draining is just for her and does not name her baby Stella as a beneficiary so there will be a legal battle for every dollar that goes to anyone, including Heather. Maybe in Heather's fantasyland dreams, marrying Tommy and hanging onto Stella means that she is due a larger chunk of the trust for the support of her family now. I support William's every attempt to fight tooth and nail to keep even one extra dollar from going to Heather because she does not deserve to profit from her mother's murder.
Update April 7 2015:
Heather did prattle on about getting her stitches out from the C section and how Stella was due for her shots. I think she must have her on a different schedule because I did not think they needed vaccinations before their second month but maybe she is just trying to look like the good mother.
Heather's lawyer, Ary Soendardi stated that they rejected all of the prosecution's claims and added that heather was just pregnant at the time and for several reasons, this had to be taken into consideration. I am not sure if I am following where he thinks this is going to go but being pregnant now can be a defense for being a sadistic monster. Wait.......... Heather was pretty much that for the past few years....... long before she met Tommy and got pregnant with his baby. He stated that she had been pregnant through the whole charging process and now was the mother of a tiny baby. This changes the fact that she planned to kill her mother and participated in it or should we now feel sorry and give her a cash wrapped slap on the hand?
Tommy's lawyer stuck to the rejection of the charges and claimed that it was all an accident brought on by the fight and in the end, was self defense. It seems that because both of them are young, have expressed their sorrow for what happened and they have a young child, they should get off easy. I don't have a problem with them spending 20+ years in jail there to ponder how much they really should regret what they did.
There are still court dates in Chicago for handling of bills and claims on the trust by Heather's legal team. Sheila's estate is currently separate from the trust that she had set up for Heather shortly before her death. I expect though that the trust will be hit with more cries for money by the busload of lawyers who have had a hand in "helping" Heather but I am not sure they will all get paid what they are billing.
It can be certain that William had have much better evidence of bribes being paid in Bali for him to manage to stem the boat load of money that has gone overseas for her defense. the trust is not supposed to be funding any of Tommy's needs or his defense team but there has not been any evidence of how he is managing to pay for it. There has been reports that both of the lawyers are connected and it has been stated that they have worked together previously in cases where bribes are involved. They are expected back in court on April 16th so we will see what circus that will be.
Update April 9 2015:
Heather and Tommy were back in court today for a final plea from the prosecution to the judges. Heather is seen grinning, joking, was filmed singing and proudly stating that she will be found innocent of all charges because she didn't murder Sheila.
The prosecutors though argued that while they had asked for a sentence that did not include the death penalty for either of them, the lighter sentence plea from the defense should not be given. They argued that the evidence that was presented along with the texts between the two showing their hatred of Sheila point to premeditated murder.
Heather was acting as though she believes that she is untouchable with all the cash she has thrown around the courtroom and jail. She finally had her illegal cell phone taken away during a raid of her shared jail cell but she proudly announced that she would just buy another one illegally. A picture was released of her in the holding cell this week chatting on her cellphone again.
Tommy was seen nervously pacing his holding cell while chain smoking and Heather..... well she was just the regular cut-up that she has been lately...... you know, because she smiles and laughs to hide her inner pain. The judges had already accepted the prosecution's argument of guilt for the pair before their defense team could plea for leniency. The three judges had accepted the statement that Tommy had intentionally killed Sheila because she did not approve of heather's relationship with him and she had slurred him.
They both now have five days to wait before they hear if the judges have bought their defense lawyers plea for little or no sentences for the pair. It seems much more likely though that they will both be spending 15+ years in prison there. I do believe that if some of the money that was used for Heather's defense was spread around as bribes, that bought them the chance to not face the death penalty for the brutal murder.
The only truly innocent one involved in this case is the baby Stella............ it would be much more fair for her to just be able to disappear in the US with another name and have no connections with either of her parents.
Disturbing video of Heather in court today with the baby:
Update April 10 2015:
Heather and her drama llama have shown their ugly heads again........ this time her whining and temper tantrum seems to have worked to a degree. that is if they are not bending over to her demands because they think some cash will go that way or they are trying to not get the Americans upset with her treatment. Heather got a visit from Yasona Laoly, Indonesia's Justice and Human Rights Minister, who was concerned that her baby is starting off life in prison.
He checked on the conditions of her cell that she shares with eight other prisoners and mack complained that she is not happy raising her baby there. My guess would be that Heather has annoyed her cellmates so much that she isn't happy. She was offered a separate cell which would be private while she mulls over the option of having a family outside the prison raise her baby while she serves her time.
She also asked to have the baby baptized and was told that arrangements would be made for a church pastor or priest to come to the prison and perform the ceremony. It has been reported that Tommy had not been notified of these changes and the possibility of his baby being raised on the outside but it is expected that Heather will get a note to his side of the prison.
I do not believe that Heather is doing all of this because she suddenly is concerned about properly raising her baby. The pair of murders expect to have a final verdict on April 14th and this certainly looks as though Heather is trying to grab all she can while she is still able to. She may actually believe that she is going to get off with an extremely light sentence and she is setting herself up for a comfy stay of a few months. I would also bet that she has done an excellent job of pissing off her cellmates so getting her out of there is probably best for Heather's life at the moment. I can only hope that she enjoys the hours of boredom she could face all by herself with only a baby and illegal cellphone to keep her entertained.
The baptism may be more for the benefit of getting the whole "clan" together before Kia goes back to the US, if she still is in Bali. There may also have been pressure from somewhere in the US Embassy for better treatment for the baby because I don't think they can legally take Stella from Heather's custody while she is overseas. I would expect also that the money train out of the trust will also dry up, at least temporarily if she is convicted so she has to get as much as she can now before next week's court date.
Tommy is more than likely going to get a heavy sentence but Heather seems to think all the money her lawyer has spread around is going to let her walk with little or no extra time in prison there. They are not the star crossed lovers that the defense wants people to believe...... they are premeditated, sadistic murderers who were only thinking of the money Sheila had. My hope is that the judges go for longer sentences than even the prosecution has asked for and have both of them pay for what they did.
Update April 11 2015:
It has now been reported that Heather has decided to let the baby Stella live outside of the prison walls and in the care of unnamed parties. The speculation is that Heather may choose to have one of her "friends" on the outside take the baby and that may be another way that she can try to continue to funnel money out of the trust fund. She certainly will hand over a "fair" amount for the baby's care, items she needs and then whatever is leftover, the friend could use for the gifts that the whining mom needs in prison.
It was not stated if Tommy agreed to this arrangement but I do not believe that they need his permission to do so either. The whole deal of a separate cell for Heather may well be part of a deal to try and get her a lighter sentence or it may just be to get her away from a crowded cell in anticipation of her getting 15 years. She certainly has shown that she has a violent temper and an attitude that she is the "queen of the castle", so if she does get a long sentence, she won't take it well. Basically, I think she already has pissed off her cellmates enough that they may want to apply a bit of prison justice to a whining child having days long temper tantrums. Her time alone in a private cell may have also given her a very good look at how it will be if she thinks she will raise a baby for two years there.... all alone with no TV to amuse the baby, no helping hands...... nobody but her spoiled self.
It is good news that the baby is finally out of the public drama and headed for care from someone who actually care for her.
Update April 14 2015:
There was no verdict decision today and it has been reported now that it may be handed down on April 16th. Heather is shown on video munching on her favorite meal.... McD's and complaining that she thinks maybe others are right about her drinking too much Coke. She mentioned that the baby has been keeping her up nights and may be colicy from all the soda she has been drinking.
She is also shown on the newest video complaining about the trip to the doctor that she insists she needs. Evidently the doctor took the day off and Heather could not understand how that could happen when she was supposed to go there. She drops a couple of F bombs as well and we can see that the old Heather is back. I am sure that she has been turning herself inside out to not act like that in the courtroom but she probably been acting this way in her cell a lot lately.
Heather is worried that the reason the baby has been losing her hair is because of her junk food diet in prison. Well Heather, it is very normal for a newborn to lose the hair they were born with.... junk food or not. I don't think that Heather would know how to event healthy for the baby she is feeding. All she has done from day one is complain about the food and the lack of things she is used to....... McD's and KFC. Tommy did not look that worried today and looks as though he may have added a few pounds. it may be that Heather can slip him some junk food as well from her allowance money.
I am not sure how many times Heather thinks she can pull the doctor's note so I am excused from court today but I am sure that it is wearing thin by now. We will see if they actually hear a verdict on Thursday. As for the care of Stella outside of the prison, it seems that Heather has agreed to it in principle but she has now stated that she hasn't decided when to let the baby leave. She claims that the baby is the only thing helping her beat depression but we can all see that she is just another pawn in Heather's game to get out of prison.
The legal battle still continues in the US with what appears to Favia is trying to get paid still with what appears to be a filing to reopen the earlier denial of payment for services rendered to the baby before she was born. There also seems to be a new lawyer on William's side, Timothy J Haller but it is unknown at this time what he may be doing for him. There is speculation that Haller may be working within his specialty of copyrights in regards to music written by James Mack or possibly a move to block Heather from profiting from her life story. Whatever is going on, I am sure that William is trying to cover all bases so that Heather does not profit a dime for murdering her mother.
Update April 20 2015:
The verdicts for both Heather and Tommy are expected to be handed down tomorrow barring any sudden and mysterious illness that they could possibly come down with. It has been the latest avoidance ploy of Heather's but she will eventually have to face the music for a verdict and sentence. The judges do have the option of ruling for a much harsher sentence than the prosecution has requested or they can be more lenient than the requested 15 year and 18 year sentences that have been requested.
The latest legal move has been thrown into the ring by her attorneys Favia and Elkin. Favia has filed paperwork to have 30% of Heather's trust fund be set aside and designated for the baby's continued care. It has been many months since anyone has heard of Elkin participating in anything related to heather so I am not sure why he now has his hand in this legal move.
Judge Cohen has already stated his opinion of the trust being set up for Heather and could not be changed to add another child to it. I am not sure though if she could successfully designate a portion of the trust to her child now. He had allowed the release of $150,000 for her legal defense as well as $2,240 for her living expenses. What the release of 30% for the baby would do is allow Heather to continue to live off the money her murdered mother left to her under the guise of living expenses and care of the baby. She has already stated that she agrees that the baby should be cared for outside of prison but she has not set a date as to when that would happen.
The announcement that Favia will be filing the paperwork on Sunday sounds a lot like they are trying to beat a guilty verdict through the door. If Heather is somehow allowed to designate those funds, she would now have continued access to money to buy her illegal cellphones and favorite fast food meals through her friends and the baby's caregivers. Tommy has been barred from receiving any of the trust funds directly but I have always believed that Heather has been slipping him some of it through other parties.
It may sound cruel to some but even though baby Stella is innocent of any crime she still should not have any access to the funds. There are hundreds of people even month who face the same question of how to raise a baby with no money.... Heather can learn to grow up and make adult decisions that are for the good of the child.
Favia was hired on as the attorney for the baby before she was born and has already been denied payment for her services. This recent filing may also be a way to keep her involved in the case and possibly get paid for some, if not all of her billable hours. This next week should be very interesting......
Update April 21 2015:
Heather and Tommy have finally been found guilty of the brutal and sadistic murder of Heather's mother Sheila and have been handed their sentences. Heather was given a 10 year sentence just minutes after Tommy was handed the maximum that the prosecutors had asked for..... 18 years.
Tommy did not take the sentence well and lashed out at photographers, hitting two of them while swearing. He has not shown this kind of anger at any point during the trial but it now leaves many wondering if he has always been capable of that kind of explosive anger. Heather and Tommy should not be that angry because even though they could have faced the death penalty, the prosecutors had not requested a sentence that harsh for the pair.
They had cited his remorse and behavior while in prison as part of the lighter sentence but the explosion outside the court should tell them that he maybe should have gotten a lot more time behind bars. Even with all of the suspicion of bribe money being floated around, the pair had to know that they would not walk away with something as light as a year sentence and a get out of jail free card for time served.
Tommy let himself get thrown under the bus and admitted he had killed Sheila so he should feel lucky he escaped the death sentence. There are foreigners in the same prison sentenced to death for drug dealing..... a very non violent crime. The judges did state that they felt there was premeditation involved and he would face the stiffer sentence.
Heather did her best acting so far..... wait, she may not have been acting this time because this will be the first time in her life that she is actually held accountable for her actions and the results of her vicious temper. Instead of the 15 years they had asked for, the judges went even a bit more lenient and gave her 10 years in prison. Of course she was shocked to hear that she wasn't getting out of jail free today but I don't think that ten years was in her planning guide.
She complained that her baby's daddy would still be stuck in prison once she is released and that she would be separated from baby Stella after two years. All of this crying for her "poor" family is going to fall on very deaf ears. She should have gotten a much longer sentence because I believe that she was the mastermind of the plot to get rid of her mother and grab the money.
I also feel sorry for Sheila's family with the sentences the pair received. It is good that they finally have been found guilty but the relatively light sentences for such a brutal plot and crime do not do Sheila justice. This may finally start the ball rolling in shutting down the money train that had been tapped for Heather's "defense" and she may finally learn what the real world is all about.
The judge in his statements said that he had given special judgment to Heather because she has a baby to raise but added that Tommy was sadistic. Tommy stated in his outside the court that he was not a murderer but he was taking full responsibility for his actions. It should still be interesting to find out if Heather will choose to send her baby outside the prison to be raised as she had agreed to earlier and what the pair will do if Sheila's brother William is able to put a stop to the funds going to Heather in jail. Heather will have plenty of time to rethink her goals in life if she chooses and Tommy will finally get all that rapper cred he probably had been seeking.
Back in the US though it almost seems as though there is a gold rush on Heather's trust..... now in the name of saving baby Stella's future. Favia has been publically stating how they are trying to get money for the care of the baby and grandstanding as to how this is such a great and mature thing for Heather to do now. Let us be real here for a moment....... Heather did not think this up on her own, her lawyers strongly suggested it and they know that it will be just another way for her to fund her fast food diet and illegal "toys." What is very strange and creepy is how Elkin, the friend who offered the legal shoulder for Heather to lean on early in the case, has now jumped back into the legal fray after wanting to get out months ago.
The two of them seem to be an odd pair but when you really examine it, they aren't. Neither of them have managed to get paid for their services so far. I can't recall if Elkin even submitted a bill for his legal advice and Favia has already been turned down on her first attempt. neither of them has been appointed by any one other than Heather herself.
Elkin was the first she called when her ass was thrown in jail and Favia was suggested for the role of watching out for the rights and care of the then unborn baby. They may also be trying to garner whatever sympathy they can for the convicted murderess but that will fall on deaf ears and they should be smart enough to know that by now. It is just very sad to hear their comments and pleas for the baby and how she needs the money..... there are plenty of children here in the US who need money and their parents didn't brutally kill a family member to try and get it. Favia and Elkin may have gotten an estimate on what it will cost Heather to get that private cell where she can have her illegal cell phones and whatever other "treats" she demands for the next 9+ years and they are trying to pay for it under the guise of "caring for the baby."
I do believe the legal fight here for the remaining money will be brutal and it should be......... the sentences they received do not fit the crime in the least.
Heather and Tommy both made quite a scene after their sentencing today. Tommy unleashed his "non existant" violent temper at the surrounding photographers by yelling, giving them the middle finger salute and more than once, lashing out with his hands at them at least three times. He was heard stating "Have a good year 2015" as well as he was being led away.
Heather on the other hand, was given leniency because she is a breast feeding new mother, but she was seen swilling smuggled alcohol from a Sprite bottle in the holding cell. The photographers that were present stated that it was not just soda she was drinking because they could smell the alcohol in it. She was observing slurring her words and the video that was released does not show the "poor, innocent" frightened little girl she has tried to portray in the courtroom.
She doesn't seem like she is even worried about the ten year sentence she just received. There has been such a fuss made of how Heather is a new mother trying to do what is best for her baby and she needed a lighter sentence because of the breastfeeding, care etc............ Well, she certainly is giving her motherhood that trailer park, redneck cartoon look now with the video of her swillin' from the plastic bag. There hasn't been much mentioned yet as to why she is allowed yet another illegal cellphone, how she brazenly can guzzle alcohol in a holding cell and why this concerned mother has no concern about the alcohol being in her system while she is breast feeding.
The lawyers for Heather and Tommy have stated that they will appeal the sentences and the prosecution has also stated that they will appeal. They both have one week in which to file for the appeals and I am hoping that the prosecution will manage to get even more severe penalties for the pair after their antics today after sentencing. Heather certainly has shown that it was all an act and even if there was money to help with bribes before today, I doubt there will be any more coming their way now. The judges should be concerned about saving face today after her behavior after sentencing, since she looks as though she is celebrating pulling one over on their court system. Give them both the maximum sentences and put an end to this fantasy they thought they were writing.
Radio interview here:
Video of Heather after sentencing:
Update April 22 2015:
Understandably, Sheila's family is disappointed by the sentences that were handed down to Heather and Tommy. They both have a week to appeal the sentences but there is a gamble in that as well....... they could walk out of the appeal with even stiffer sentences than they already have gotten. The behavior of both of them has certainly not been the best and the court could take another look at what the prosecution had claimed during trial and give them longer sentences.
Sheila's sister, Debbi Curran, 60, of St Louis, stated that the family is grateful for some relief but are very disappointed by the very lenient sentences for premeditated murder. Judge Cohen has allowed approximately $450,000 of the reported 1.56 mil trust fund to be used for Heather's legal bills. She has reportedly signed paperwork that would attempt to set aside a third of what is left of that trust for her baby. It would seem that the next big battle will be played out in the courtroom in Chicago. Illinois law prevents anyone who has intentionally or unjustifiably causes the death of another the chance to profit from it. Heather will face an uphill battle now to try and keep her hands on what is left of the trust and it will also be a battle to try and transfer some of it to her daughter.
Unfortunately the baby is still being used a cash cow and pawn by heather and in turn, Tommy may well be getting fund or things shipped over to him as well. One recent picture shows him holding what appears to be a cellphone but it can't be confirmed. He doesn't flaunt whatever he has gotten brought to him nor does he waltz around showing off an illegal cellphone. Heather has gotten her cellphone replaced but she was not using it to make any comments so far after the sentencing.
At some point I would think that Tommy would wake up and smell the shit hitting the fan......... he looks to have taken the fall for Heather and she doesn't seem to be that upset at all.........
Video of Heather and Tommy after sentencing:
Video containing comments from Elliot Jacobson:
Update May 6 2015:
Judge Cohen has been busy this week since Heather's Indonesian lawyer filed an emergency request for additional funds. It seems that the prosecutors have filed an appeal of her light sentence and now Soenardi has notified the court that he needs $200,000 immediately and in one lump payment if he is to continue to represent Heather there. Cohen has so far released $119,000 from the trust fund for Heather's defense before her conviction and a few thousand for her food and medical expenses.
Cohen now has the legal standing to put his foot down on the waves of money that Heather seems to "need" during her incarceration. He stated that he would not be emotionally blackmailed, which was an earlier tactic of her lawyer and he will release no more money until he has held a hearing to determine if she even is eligible to receive any more funds. Illinois law has a Slayer statute that states that anyone who has intentionally or unjustifiably caused the death of another can not receive property as a result of killing that person.
They have received the verdict orally for Heather but they are waiting for a written explanation of that conviction so it can be decided if she still has legal status to receive the funds. Along with the emergency request for $200,000, there is also a request for an additional $2,000 for Heather's living expenses and $3,140 for her medical expenses that have to be reimbursed to her lawyer.
The paperwork that was filed along with the request includes a letter from Soenardi that states that Heather was not convicted of a charge murder but only as an accessory. That exhibit, marked as exhibit C, goes on to state that he has had a difficult time defending Heather because he had not received all of the original amount that was set aside from the trust and he now needs the rest of it to cover what legal bills she has outstanding. He adds that they have now found out that there is an appeal of her light sentence so he needs the $200,000 for that defense paid quickly and in one payment. He oddly closes with a statement that Heather is allowed to keep her baby in prison for two years and is breastfeeding her.
Heather's good buddy lawyer friend Elkin is back in the picture after a long time spent away from the limelight. He reportedly had a heated exchange with Cohen who accused him of grandstanding, yelling and interrupting the proceedings. Elkin it seems was there to loudly side with Heather and her overseas lawyer because he kept trying to state that the release of funds was not being done quickly enough.
While some reports here state that it is unclear on what grounds the prosecution is appealing, it is very clear what grounds they are using. They had asked for a 15 year sentence originally for heather and the reason for the lighter sentence was because they were remorseful and she was a new mother. Her and Tommy's behavior after the sentencing may have sealed the deal for a tougher sentence now..... swigging booze from a soda bottle and bragging about it certainly did not help the innocent image her lawyer had tried to project.
There has been no report as to whether they have appealed Tommy's sentence as well and he certainly is not going to be able to pay for a lawyer if Heather has no access to funds. it can be hoped that maybe he will start to see the light finally and be honest about the scheme he was dragged into by Heather. The parties are due back in court in Chicago on May 14th and Heather may have to make an appearance there through Skype for that hearing. Walker was the lone spectator in the courtroom while the various lawyers battled it out once again over whether Heather can draw anymore funds from the trust account. She stated that she had gone out of concern for her grandchild who is next in line to inherit, a legal point that has not even reached the courtroom battlefield.
One comment of hers does raise serious questions though........ she stated that she wanted the truth to come out about everything and then refused to elaborate. I have always thought that this brutal murder was more than just the simple argument gone wrong with Tommy doing the deed and Walker's comment may be crack in that door finally. Walker has visited Indonesia at least twice since Tommy was arrested and while she states that she is concerned about the baby, she is also probably worried about him taking the fall and larger sentence than Heather.
Judge Cohen has finally put a stop to the river of money that Heather was swimming in by stating that he will not release any more money from the trust until Heather's conviction can be compared to the slayer law in Illinois. The court is waiting to receive an official copy of the exact charges she was found guilty of to see where she stands for inheritance. It is also not a given that if Heather is excluded, that her baby will inherit the trust since it was created before the child was born and does not mention her. The other dark cloud hanging over Heather's legal case is if she is excluded from any more funds, she will have nothing to grease the local palms during the prosecution's appeal. There will also not be any money coming to fund the semi private room they were offering her, no new cell phones when hers gets confiscated again and no fast food meals.
The lawyers are due back in court on June 1 to continue the case and it is possible that evidence from her trial could be presented as well as Heather possibly being asked to testify. In the meantime, it looks as though heather will have to suffer along with whatever dwindling funds she has leftover from earlier disbursements.
PDF of emergency motion:
Update May 14 2015:
Kia Walker, Tommy's mother has finally spoken out in public after showing up Judge Cohen's courtroom today. She stated that she was there to witness the proceedings because she is concerned about the welfare of her granddaughter who would be next in line for the trust if Heather is disqualified. Unfortunately, there is no absolute in baby Stella inheriting any of the funds if Heather was in fact found guilty of killing her mother. We can be sure that William will fight as hard as possible legally to make sure that Heather gets no money from the trust fund even if she tries setting aside a chunk of it for her baby's care.
Kia stated that she wanted the truth to come out about everything and while this may be hint that Tommy was not the actual killer of Sheila, this is no great secret to far too many already. Tommy let himself get thrown under the bus and took the rap for Heather for money, misguided love or both. Judge Cohen has finally put his foot down and has insisted that no more money be released from the fund until they get an exact definition of what Heather was convicted of. They can then compare it to the Illinois slayer law to see if Heather can still draw funds from the trust. This means that there will be no more money for the moment for her fast food meals, illegal cellphone, supporting Tommy and all of the other things she has been spending it on.
The next court date is set for June 1 and there seems to be no interest in "urgently" handing more money over to Heather finally.....
Update May 16 2015:
Now that the cash train has evidently halted on the tracks, there is a report now that Tommy has spoken out and demanded that he get a slice of the trust fund pie. He has evidently sent notes to Heather demanding a part of the trust fund because of his strong relationship with her. It is reported that he is trying to play on her emotions but it may actually be evidence of a closer truth....... he expected to share the money with Heather after her mother had been murdered in Bali.
His notes reportedly state that he needs money for his daily food that can be bought outside the prison as well as a chunk of money that will be invested for him so that he is not broke when he gets out of prison. The only reason he would be asking for money for outside food now could be that Heather's allowance from the trust fund has dried up for now and she isn't buying his fast food anymore. Judge Cohen in Chicago has insisted that no money be given to Tommy from the trust fund allowances but many have openly suspected that she was paying for a lot of things in jail for Tommy.
The fact that he is reported to be slipping her notes can only mean that he never had or has recently lost his cellphone. That would be a good idea actually because I doubt that Heather wants Tommy to have access to the outside world and media if he is trying to get the money he was owed for being a part of Sheila's murder. There has been discussion of texts that were sent between Heather and Tommy prior to the trip to Bali and murder in which Heather was offering $50,000 to hire a hitman to kill Sheila. There has also been discussion of a plan to drown Sheila while at the beach in Bali and that is more believable when Tommy showed up there only two days before Heather and Sheila were supposed to leave.
This report just goes to show how clueless Tommy must really be......... you are demanding money to invested for you so you won't be broke when you get out of prison? You were convicted of murdering another person and you avoided the firing squad with bribes and someone else's money. You should have thought about this long before the trial started. As for being broke when you get out...... you have years Tommy to work on your rap music and career........