American couple sentenced to prison in Bali suitcase killing

An Indonesian court found an American couple guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced them to prison on Tuesday in the killing of the woman’s mother on the resort island of Bali. The Denpasar District Court sentenced Tommy Schaefer to 18 years in prison and Heather Mack to 10 years for intentionally killing Sheila von Wiese-Mack while vacationing last August. The badly battered body was found stuffed in a suitcase inside the trunk of a taxi at the St. Regis Bali Resort. The three-judge panel said it decided to be lenient toward Mack, 19, because she recently gave birth.

Her newborn baby badly needs a mother’s love and breastfeeding.

Sheila von Wiese-

Prosecutors had sought an 18-year jail term for Schaefer and a 15-year sentence for Mack. Presiding Judge Made Suweda described Schaefer’s deeds as sadistic, but said his politeness and expression of remorse during the trial meant he did not receive a heavier sentence. Schaefer testified at his trial that von Wiese-Mack was angry when she learned about her daughter’s pregnancy and tried to strangle him, prompting him to strike her with metal fruit bowl. Prosecutors said Mack helped Schaefer stuff her mother’s body into the suitcase by sitting on it to enable Schaefer to close it.

Asia-Pacific Bali suitcase