Crime
American Woman Found Dead in Suitcase at Bali Resort
Investigators surround the suitcase that carried the body of a woman outside a police station in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
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BALI – An American woman and her boyfriend have been taken into custody in connection with the killing of the woman’s mother, whose body was left inside a suitcase at a luxury hotel in Bali, Indonesia, police said.
The body of Sheila von Weise Mack, 62, was found with head wounds, stuffed in a hard-sided piece of gray luggage at the prestigious St. Regis Bali Resort on Tuesday, said Djoko Hari Utomo, the police chief of Denpasar, the capital of Bali. Police are waiting on forensic information to determine the time and cause of death.
Heather Mack, 19, and her 21-year-old boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, were arrested for killing the teen’s mother, Sheila von Wiese Mack, 62 — whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase on Tuesday.
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Her daughter, Heather Mack, and the daughter’s boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, were later found by police sleeping in a hotel room in Kuta, according to Utomo. Kuta is a town about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the St. Regis.
Police have not named Mack and Schaefer as suspects, Utomo said. According to Indonesian law, police can keep the couple in custody for up to 24 hours before they are named as suspects. If named, they can be held up to 20 days.
Indonesian forensic police officers view evidence related to the death of an American woman at a police station in Bali, Indonesia.
Police said the couple told them that they had been taken captive at the resort Tuesday by an armed gang, whose members killed Sheila von Weise Mack, but they escaped, Trans TV reported.
However, hotel workers and the taxi driver who turned in the body to police gave a different version of events.
The taxi driver told police that Heather Mack and Schaefer hailed him at the St. Regis, placing one bag in the trunk, Utomo said. They then reportedly went back into the hotel and did not return.
After two hours, the taxi driver said, he entered the hotel and spoke to employees, who went to the family’s rooms and found them empty, Trans TV reported.
When the taxi driver and a manager opened the trunk, they saw blood on the luggage and drove the car to a police station, Trans TV reported. Police opened the suitcase and found the woman’s body inside.
Two smaller suitcases were found in the St. Regis’ garden, both of which contained hotel towels with blood on them, according to police.
The St. Regis is one of the most upmarket hotels on Bali, a popular tourist destination. Room rates at the resort start at $470 a night, according to its website.
