Heike: You were 16 and still a minor when you were sent to an adult prison to serve a two year sentence. How did that feel, and how did you cope?
Schiffert: It was definitely a shock, and something I was unprepared for at that point. It was a terrifying prospect, made worse by the stories from others who had spent time in the system.
My grandfather had done time as a younger man and he tried to prepare me by telling me the ins and outs of prison life. He explained prison politics, inmate code of conduct, officer led abuse and coercion tactics.
What behaviours to look out for and how to use that knowledge to make a profit and make life more comfortable. I have always remembered what he taught me and it has worked well for me.
Heike: You were sent to the children’s home and put into foster care at a very young age; what impact did that have on your life?
Schiffert (pictured with Ms Phelan) recently got her name tattoed on his eyebrows as a sign of his love
Schiffert: I was four years old when my parents put me into the foster care system because they didn’t want me despite having an older and younger sibling.
Myself and several other children were moved periodically from home to home to stay with people who only fostered for the money.
I would cause all kinds of trouble at each home to get sent back to the children’s home to be with the other children.
A few of us formed a bond and looked out for each other. It definitely shaped my life in as much I knew I could only depend on myself for survival and put to use the lessons and skills my grandfather taught me.
Heike: What happened when you left the children’s home?
Schiffert: I was eight years old when I left the children’s home, having been told I was ‘unfit for American family life’.
My parents didn’t want me back, but neither would they sign the paperwork for my grandparents to become my legal guardians.
My dad refused on the grounds that it would make both myself and my grandfather happy. I was released to the streets to fend for myself.
My friend from the children’s home was also released to the streets and w e both stayed with my grandfather until he died when I was 13.
Heike: Your parents didn’t want you back after your beloved grandfather died. Where did you stay and how did you survive?
Schiffert: My dad wouldn’t let me anywhere near the house, if I turned up looking for a hot meal, he would call the cops. I didn’t hang around when that happened.
I had made myself reasonably comfortable in a disused, derelict warehouse.
I set myself up on the top floor where I could see anyone coming from a long way off.
The happy couple are pictured together during a prison visit at his Texas jail
I didn’t want to come across the cops as I would spend all day stealing, begging and selling drugs to survive.
This went on for a couple of years, albeit between 90-day stints in state school when I was caught doing things I shouldn’t.
Heike: You became addicted to drugs at a young age, how did that come about?
Schiffert: I was 13 and living on the streets. Whenever my dad was away from home, I would go round to the house and my mother would feed me.
I would turn up with Lenny (my friend from the children’s home) quite often, but my mother would get mad because we’d be messing around and making lots of noise whilst she tried to watch television.
She gave us both a dose of heroin to calm us down, although I didn’t know what it was until later. Within two weeks I had an 1800 dollar a day habit, which lasted for 16 years, then I went cold turkey to stop.
Heike: Looking back on your childhood and all the abuses you endured, how do you feel about it now?
Schiffert: I didn’t know it wasn’t normal. It was just how it was.
It wasn’t until I met my wonderful wife, and she explained to me that it was abuse and absolutely not normal, that I viewed it through different eyes.
It has made me hate my family more than I did before.
Heike: You were 13 when your grandfather died. Your parents wouldn’t let you live at home. How did you survive?
Schiffert: I stayed in various places. Abandoned buildings, building sites, barns, trains, anywhere I could stay dry and warm and no-one else was around.
I never stayed anywhere more than a few days though. Everything
I needed – food, money, clothes, heroin, other drugs, I would steal or trade.
Heike: You did several stints in juvenile detention up to the age of 16. How was that?
Schiffert: I was in and out frequently. Sentences were 30 days, unless you were caught fighting, or assaulting officers or worse.
Then the sentence would be up to 90 days, then they had to let you out. It was absolutely no deterrent at all. Quite the opposite, it was great fun.
You learned other hustles from other boys and tried them out once released.
Ms Phelan is pictured at home looking through pictures of her jailbird husband
That’s why I was charged as an adult when I was 15, my juvenile record hadn’t yet been sealed so the prosecutor listed all my juvenile convictions.
That’s why they sent me to adult prison whilst still a minor.
Heike: You were in and out of juvenile detention until you were sent to adult prison. You said it was a lot of fun. How so?
Schiffert: I saw it as one big party. We would swap stories on what we had all done out in the world to get locked up. We would improve our knowledge and tweak our methods of various hustles.
We would mess around, even in compulsory lessons for school. I never saw any benefit to learning all that school stuff, it wasn’t of any value in my life.
We would fight a lot and cuss out the officers, who would cuss back.
I learnt how to make wine from the foods available to us. One of the officers ran a secret fight club, although many officers and staff knew about it. They would place bets on who would win.
They were never fair fights though. The officer had his favoured fighters that he took good care off. The were strong, fearless and brutal. The
officer would pick on the weakest boys to put in the ring to fight. He didn’t want a fair fight, he wanted to crush the weak, he hated them. I didn’t like that.
I would always look after the weaker ones where I could. The officer came to hate me because I wouldn’t become one of his fighters, no matter what he offered or threatened.
Heike: What happened that got you sent to adult prison at 16 years old?
Schiffert: I had bought myself a house at the age of 15, from the money
I made from stealing and selling drugs. It meant I didn’t have to sleep on the streets any more. Lenny was staying with me.
An angry man came to my door pointing a gun at me and accusing me of stealing from his daughter.
What I didn’t know was that Lenny had stolen from his daughter’s house. He called me a liar, cocked his gun and pointed it at me. I picked up my own gun and shot him first.
Pictured: Heike Phlean, 49, of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
The Prosecutor pushed for me to be charged with murder and tried as an adult. As I had only just turned 16, my juvenile record hadn’t yet been sealed by the court.
Heike: You received a two year sentence, how did you feel about that?
Schiffert: I was mad. I was also scared about going to adult prison having heard countless horror stories.
I remembered what my grandfather told me – establish your reputation as soon as possible. Challenge the biggest guy on the unit.
It doesn’t matter if you win or lose the fight, only that you are crazy enough to take them on. That advice, as with all his other advice stood me in good stead, and I soon built up a reputation of not to be messed with.
Heike: So how did adult prison differ from state school (juvenile detention)?
Schiffert: It was terrifying walking in there. There were serious hardcore criminals in there.
They put me on a maximum security unit, so I was amongst hardcore lifers. I was seen as fresh meat and had to start again with proving myself.
I made a beeline for the biggest guy I could see and challenged him.
I slept with a home-made knife under my pillow for a long time. Again, the advice my grandfather gave me was invaluable.