The newborn baby of a Chicago teen charged with killing her own mother while vacationing at a Bali resort may remain in Indonesian jail.
Heather Mack, who gave birth to a healthy baby girl via Caesarian section this week, has stated that she wants to keep her baby in Bali so she can visit her in jail. A prison official in Bali told the Associated Press that prison rules would allow the baby in prison with Mack until she is 2 years old.
Some experts worry that the arrangement may come with a price.
"The degree of corruption in the legal system boggles the mind," said Jeffrey Winters, a political science professor at Northwestern University who has studied the Indonesian legal system.
Winters – who was also asked by lawyers for Mack's uncle, William Wiese, to provide an expert opinion on alleged corruption in Indonesia and how that could impact the money Mack uses from a contested trust fund to pay for her legal and living expenses while in Bali – told NBC 5 Investigates that prison conditions vary dramatically in Indonesia no matter the crime.
"Depending on how much money the prisoner has to pay guards and wardens and to have access to better foods, pillows, cushions, microwave ovens, TV, Internet and cell phone service, even fans and air conditioning," Winters said.
Mack and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21, were charged with killing Mack's mother, Sheila Von Wiese-Mack, and stuffing her body in a suitcase last August at a posh resort in Bali. The two are being tried separately.
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Both could face the death penalty if convicted.
