Heather Mack seeks release on bond and custody of daughter Stella trends now
Heather Mack, who was convicted overseas of helping to murder her mother and stuff her body in a suitcase in Bali, is seeking release on bail and custody of her daughter as she awaits a new trial in the US.
Mack, 26, appeared in Illinois state court on Monday for proceedings to determine custody arrangements for her daughter, seven-year-old Estelle Schaefer, who goes by Stella.
'I was never violent,' Mack testified before Cook County Judge Stephanie Miller, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. 'I was a loving, caring mother.'
Stella is currently in the care of Mack's maternal cousin Lisa Hellmann of Colorado, who is the niece of Mack's slain mother, socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack.
But Mack seeks to have the girl transferred to the custody of her California friend Diana Roque Ellis -- and hopes to live with Ellis and Stella if she is freed on bail.
In a separate motion filed in US District Court last week, Mack's attorney requested her release on bond pending her federal trial, arguing that she is not a danger to others and poses no flight risk.
'Apart from the long-standing conflict that Ms. Mack had with her mother prior to her mother's death, Ms. Mack had absolutely no record of presenting any danger to anyone,' Mack's attorney Michael I. Leonard argued in the motion.
Heather Mack (seen in 2015), who was convicted overseas of helping to murder her mother and stuff her body in a suitcase in Bali, is seeking release on bail and custody of her daughter
Mack and her former boyfriend were convicted of plotting together to kill Sheila von Wiese-Mack (with her left) at a luxury resort on Bali then stuffing her body in a suitcase (right)
'She has no criminal history, apart from the foreign conviction which arises out of the same issues presented in this case,' the motion added.
Court records do not show a ruling yet on the bail motion from Judge Matthew Kennelly.
Mack served seven years in Indonesian prison after she and her former boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, were convicted of plotting together to kill von Wiese-Mack at a luxury resort on Bali then stuffing her
