REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BALI - An American couple arrested on the Indonesian resort island of Bali in connection with the slaying of the woman's mother could be charged with premeditated murder, which carries a maximum penalty of death, police said Saturday.
Heather Mack, 19, and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21, both from Chicago, were arrested in Bali's Kuta area Wednesday, a day after the body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack was found stuffed inside a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi parked in front of the upscale St. Regis Bali Resort in the island's exclusive Nusa Dua section.
An autopsy Saturday found that von Wiese-Mack, 62, died of asphyxiation from a broken nose bone resulting from a blunt blow, said Ida Bagus Putu Alit, head of forensics at Sanglah Hospital in Bali's provincial capital of Denpasar. She also suffered from a broken neck, Alit said.
Mack and Schaefer were charged with murder on Friday. Col. Djoko Hari Utomo, chief of police for Denpasar, said Saturday that police had enough evidence to charge them with premeditated murder.
He reiterated that the couple was still refusing to talk to investigators without the presence of American lawyers.
"But that does not hamper our investigation. We have enough evidence, including CCTV and fingerprints," Utomo said. "And I am inclined to charge them with premeditated murder."
An FBI agent arrived Friday to help with the investigation, including on the couple's possible involvement in criminal activity in the United States, Utomo said.
The autopsy found that breaks in von Wiese-Mack's neck and nose extended to her upper right and left jaws, causing respiratory disorders, Alit said. It also showed hand wounds suggesting she was trying to fend off an attack.
"We also found blood aspiration, which meant the victim was standing when assaulted," Alit said. "The conclusion is that the victim suffocated from lack of oxygen because of influx of blood from the broken nose bone."
Alit said von Wiese-Mack was believed to have died Tuesday morning.
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