American tourist’s body in suitcase at resort; daughter & boyfriend arrested

An American woman’s body was discovered stuffed in a blood-splattered suitcase outside a luxury hotel in Bali — and her teen daughter and the teen’s boyfriend were arrested Wednesday in connection with the murder.

Sheila von Weise MackThe Caxton Club

Heather Mack, 19, and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21, allegedly crammed the half-naked body of Sheila von Wiese Mack, 62 — an academic from Chicago who once worked for Ted Kennedy — into the luggage before leaving it in a cab near the five-star St. Regis Hotel in Nusa Dua on Tuesday night, police sources told the Jakarta Post.

“When we opened the suitcase, we were really surprised as we found a dead body . . . There was blood and wounds to her forehead,” South Kuta Police Chief Cmdr. Gede Redastra told the paper.

An autopsy revealed the mom had been “hit by a blunt object,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

“There were signs of struggle by the victim, as there were bruises on her arms and some fingers were broken,” said Ida Bagus Putu Alit, a forensics expert.

A taxi driver called the police after Heather Mack and Schaeger left the suitcase in his cab, the paper reported.

“After they put in the suitcase, they went back into the lobby,” the cabdriver, Ketut Wirjana, said of the young couple. “They told me to wait. But after waiting almost two hours, they hadn’t appeared,” he said.

Police believe that Schaefer may have killed his girlfriend’s mother following a fight Monday.

The mother and daughter, who had once lived together in Oak Park, Ill., had a volatile relationship, according to neighbors.

Cops visited their home 86 times since January 2004, for reports of domestic trouble, theft and missing persons, police said. The most recent call was in June 2013.

Heather Mack and Schaefer were shacking up at a hotel in Kuta, about six miles from the St. Regis, when cops came to arrest them.

The couple made up an outrageous cover story, telling police they escaped ­after an armed gang took them captive and killed Sheila Mack, CNN reported.

But surveillance footage revealed that the couple removed the suitcase from the room Sheila Mack was sharing with her daughter, cops said.

Police questioned Sheila von Wiese Mack’s 19-year-old daughter, Heather Mack, and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Tommy Schaefer.Getty Images, AP