American man admits killing his teenage girlfriend's mother in Bali and stuffing her in a suitcase

• Body of U.S. socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack was found stuffed in a suitcase at a luxury Bali resort last month
  
• Police say Tommy Schaefer, 21, - the boyfriend of von Wiese-Mack's daughter - has now confessed to killing her during an interrogation
  
• His 19-year-old girlfriend Heather Mack, who is two months pregnant, also confessed to helping dispose of body in a separate questioning
  
• The victim had been hit repeatedly with a heavy blunt object and pathologists found she suffered asphyxiation and a broken neck
  

By Associated Press and MailOnline Reporter

Published: 06:41 EDT, 19 September 2014 | Updated: 19:49 EDT, 19 September 2014

A man has confessed to killing his girlfriend's mother in a Bali hotel, and his girlfriend has admitted to helping him stuff the bludgeoned body into a suitcase, Indonesian police have claimed.

Heather Mack, 19, and Tommy Schaefer, 21, from Chicago, were arrested on August 13, a day after Sheila von Wiese-Mack's body was found in a blood-splattered suitcase outside their luxury resort.

Police Chief Colonel Djoko Heru Utomo said today that Schaefer confessed to killing his girlfriend's mother during an interrogation on Monday. He said he killed her after an argument.

The chief added that Heather Mack, who is two months pregnant, acknowledged her role in separate questioning later this week.

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'Confession': Tommy Schaefer, pictured left being escorted by an Indonesian police officer during his arrest on August 13, has reportedly confessed to killing his girlfriend's mother at a luxury Bali resort last month

'Killers': He is pictured with his girlfriend Heather Mack, who has reportedly admitted to helping dispose of her mother's body. Sheila von Wiese-Mack's body was found stuffed into a suitcase

Attempts to reach their Indonesian lawyers were not immediately successful.

The couple has yet to be formally charged. Utomo said officers hoped to complete their investigation and file their case with prosecutors before the couple's detention period ends in mid-October.

Police say they have interviewed dozens of witnesses, including the taxi driver and hotel employees.

The butchered, half-naked body was discovered on August 12 inside the suitcase that Heather and Schaefer had allegedly taken from the luxury St. Regis hotel down to a taxi, saying they would return.

But they failed to return after two hours and the driver began to get suspicious when blood started to seep from the case. He went to the police station where the grisly discovery was made.

The young lovers, who both come from the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, were arrested asleep in each other's arms in a hotel near the Bali international airport, after allegedly attempting to get hotel staff to open her mother's safe deposit box so they could retrieve their passports.

Police claim the young couple initially told them that they been taken captive at the St. Regis by an armed gang who killed Mrs Mack. They said they managed to escape the gang’s clutches and fled to the hotel in the Kuta area of Bali.

Murdered: 62-year-old Sheila von Wiese-Mack (pictured) was reportedly heard arguing with her daughter (pictured left) over the hotel bill the night before she was found murdered

Behind bars: Heather Mack, from Chicago, stands at the police district headquarters after she was arrested

Heather is two months pregnant with what is believed to be Schaefer's child. Indonesian authorities say if she is convicted, the child could grow up in prison with her mother.

Due to this, the unborn baby has been granted a lawyer to look after his or her interests.

Attorney Vanessa Favia arrived on Bali last week along with Mack's Chicago-based lawyer Michael Elkin to make sure the baby, due in early spring, gets all the help it needs.

Mack's Indonesian lawyer Raja Nasution told MailOnline that Favia will 'ensure that the humanitarian and governmental interests of Heather's unborn child are safeguarded now and in the future.'

Mack has claimed she was put in solitary confinement in the jail and was sexually assaulted 'multiple times' by guards, her lawyer said.

'She is emotionally and mentally drained, and told me, "I don't know how long I can take this",' her Chicago attorney said.

Authorities say her had been hit repeatedly about the face with a heavy blunt object.

They say the 62-year-old was folded into the silver-colored case, with her back arched forward at an almost impossible angle and her legs bent up around the sides of her head.

But because she had been lowered into the 3ft-long suitcase on her side, the lid would not close completely over the body of the murdered 5ft 5in woman.

In a panic, her alleged killers wrapped the suitcase in a sheet and pulled the cloth tight around it in the hope that it would disguise the fact that it was not closed.

Gruesome: von Wiese-Mack's body was found inside a bloodied suitcase left in a cab outside their hotel

Shocking: An image shows investigators looking inside another case containing blood-stained sheets

Pathologists say she suffered asphyxiation, a broken neck and a broken nose and that she had probably been killed between 6.45am and 10am local time.

During her autopsy, several defensive wounds were also discovered - suggesting Mrs. Mack, the widow of Chicago musician James L. Mack, who died in front of Heather during a family vacation to Greece in 2006 - had fought back while being attacked.

Dr Dudut Rustyadi, the forensic chief at Sanglah hospital morgue in the Balinese capital of Denpasar, said: 'From the wound, we found violence using blunt objects.

'We found many wounds, open wounds and bruises, including wounds on her left arm. We allege that the victim fought.'

In the hours leading up to her murder, Mrs Mack had been seen on CCTV footage walking around the hotel lobby at 3.45am.

Authorities say one sequence caught on hotel security cameras shows Mrs Mack arguing with her daughter and Schaefer about who should pay the hotel bill.

She was heard by staff telling her daughter that she had paid for Schaefer’s air fare to Bali so the two of them should pay the bill.

After the murder, police in Mrs Mack's hometown of Oak Park revealed that they had been called to the family's former home 86 times over a ten-year period — an average of once every six weeks — to help calm fights between her and her daughter.

They never made an arrest in all of those visits even though Mrs Mack was found with a broken arm on one occasion in 2011.

It was also revealed that Mrs Mack called cops just last month after her credit card company told her about an unauthorized charge.

Police went to the Conrad Hotel in downtown Chicago, where they found Tommy, Heather and seven other youngsters partying in an eighth-floor suite.

Schaefer was arrested and was due to appear in court in September on charges related to the incident.

Mrs. Mack's brother, William Wiese told the Chicago Tribune that Heather grew more difficult after her father's death, which the family alleged resulted from an injury he suffered on an earlier cruise in 2006. Mrs Mack won a $1.5 million settlement from Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Taken to custody: An Indonesian police officer escorts American Tommy Schaefer (left) as he is brought to the police station for questioning in relation to the death of his girlfriend's mother

Wiese told the Tribune he believed Schaefer showed up in Bali without his sister's knowledge as she was trying to make a fresh start with her daughter by taking her on the vacation.

'She was such an optimist,' he said. 'She was forever trying to help that girl.'

'I think my sister loved Heather more than anything,' Wiese added. 'She would seek our input and advice. She tried so hard to help Heather through the years with therapists and psychiatrists. It was always a struggle to get Heather to (cooperate).'

Mrs Mack sold the five-bed, five-bath Oak Park mansion to a developer for $650,000 last year. After extensive renovations it is now back on the market for $1.68 million.

At the time of her death, she and her daughter were living in a 18th-floor luxury apartment on Chicago's Gold Coast area with stunning views overlooking Lake Michigan.