Who Is Heather Mack? Chicago Teen Convicted In Bali Murder Gives Up Baby

After two years of living with her infant child in an Indonesian prison, convicted killer Heather Mack was forced to give up her baby Stella. Mack gave Stella to a woman who agreed to care for her until she is released from prison in 2025, People reported Friday.

Mack, a 19-year-old from the Chicago area, gave birth to Stella during the murder trial and has lived with her in prison ever since as per Indonesian custom.

“For nine months and two years I have loved and cared for my baby in the strangest of situations. Stella never dreamed of being born into a live here with me at Kerobokan prison,” she told People this week. “But for us, it has been a beautiful two years. We wake up together and we hold each other when we fall asleep. She is everything to me.”

Mack and her then-boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, the father of Stella, were convicted of murdering Mack’s mother, Shiela von Wiese-Mack, and hiding her battered body in a suitcase after an altercation in August 2014. Mack was on vacation with her mother in Bali, Indonesia, staying in a five-star resort at the time.

Von Wiese-Mack had originally planned the trip as a way to mend the tumultuous relationship between her and her daughter, according to reports. Instead, Schaefer showed up without her knowledge and an altercation ensued. Schaefer testified that he killed Von Wiese-Mack by bludgeoning her with a metal fruit bowl, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The two could have been sentenced to death by firing squad but were eventually put in Kerobokan prison: Mack for 10 years and Schaefer for 18.

The teenager was Von Weise-Mack’s only child and was set to receive $1.56 million in the form of a trust on her 30th birthday.

“I don’t regret killing my mother, and as evil as that may sound, that’s my reality,” Mack said in a YouTube video posted in February.

Schaefer’s mother, Kia Walker, originally attempted to gain custody of Stella in order to raise her among family near Chicago, but her requests were denied by the court, according to NBC Chicago. Instead, Stella was given to an Australian-Balinese woman named Oshar Putu Melody Suartama, who befriended Mack after seeing her sleeping on the prison floor while she was there serving as a translator.

“More than two years ago I opened up my heart to Heather and Stella and today we open up our home to Stella who I will love as my own,” Suartama told People this week. “This isn’t goodbye. Stella and her mom will continue their precious bond for the years to come.”