Heather Mack Murder Case: Late Mother’s Will Filed; Accused Killers Remain Silent, Awaiting American Attorney
Aug. 26 2014, Published 12:41 p.m. ET
A will has been filed for the late Sheila von Wiese-Mack -- the 62-year-old Chicago woman who investigators said was killed by her 19-year-old daughter Heather, and the girl’s 21-year-old boyfriend -- in her home state of Illinois, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The Chicago Sun-Times’ local subsidiary, the Oak Leaves, reported that local lawyer Lance Taylor put through the documents last week.
“Having the will, I have an obligation to file it,” Taylor told the publication, adding that he helped the late couple, von Wiese-Mack and husband James L. Mack, plan their estate in documents inked Aug. 1, 2006, days before James’ Aug. 6 death that year.
One question left unanswered, for the time being, is who will end up with the property holdings she left behind. Neither specifically named a beneficiary, leaving their holdings to a trust.
William Wiese, von Wiese-Mack’s brother, was previously named the estate’s executor.
As we previously reported, money issues might have been a sticking point between von Wiese-Mack and her daughter, as successfully petitioned a Chicago court for a $500,000 judgment her widow was awarded posthumously in 2012, despite his will naming Heather as the “sole beneficiary” of his assets.
As of Tuesday, Heather Mack and boyfriend Tommy Schaefer remained in custody in Indonesia, where they said (through their American attorney, Michael Elkin) that they have been denied access to their local legal team, as they continue to keep mum for local investigators or Indonesian defense attorney assigned to their case.
Elkin said in a statement that “local investigators and/or counsel must be allowed access to Heather if police officials genuinely wish cooperation from Heather in a transparent manner.
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"Heather is innocent of the allegations.”
As we previously reported, officials said that Mack and Schaefer, 21, murdered von Wiese Mack, and stuffed her body in a suitcase they subsequently placed in the trunk of a taxicab they left waiting in front of the St. Regis hotel. After they falsely told the driver they’d be back, according to authorities, hotel staffers noticed blood leaking from the suitcase and told the cab driver to take the car to the police station, where officials uncovered the body.
In Indonesia, a murder conviction could lead to the death penalty, via a firing squad.