Bali murder suspect ‘assaulted in custody’ claim
Print Edition
AN American teenager suspected of killing her mother, whose body was found in a suitcase in Bali, has revealed she is pregnant and claims she was assaulted in custody, her lawyer said.
Heather Mack, 19, who denies any involvement in her mother’s death, also alleges that police on the Indonesian resort island threatened to deprive her of food and water if she did not speak to them, according to her US-based lawyer Michael Elkin.
However Bali police rejected the claims, insisting that all detainees were treated well.
The half-naked, battered body of Sheila von Wiese Mack, 62, was discovered last Tuesday stuffed in a suitcase in the boot of a taxi outside the St Regis hotel in the Nusa Dua resort area.
Heather Mack and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21, who had been on holiday with the victim, were arrested a day later after fleeing the hotel.
Police say they are leaning toward charging them with premeditated murder, which carries a maximum penalty of death in Indonesia.
However, Elkin insists claims Heather Mack was involved in her mother’s death are false.
“Said allegations and reports are not true and will be disproven as the investigation continues or at the conclusion of trial, if formal charges are indeed filed,” he said.
Under the Indonesian legal system the two suspects would only be formally charged in court at the start of a trial.
Elkin’s statement said his client “has been seriously physically assaulted while in custody,” without giving details, and that she was “approximately two months” pregnant.
“Heather was told that unless her attorney arrives within days she will be deprived of food and water and that he will be denied access to meet with her.”
The pair have refused to talk to Indonesian investigators and insisted on having American legal representation.
Djoko Hari Utomo, police chief in the Balinese capital Denpasar, said: “All those detained here are well treated. I do not want to comment on something which doesn’t even exist.”
An FBI agent has gone to Bali to help in the investigation, police on the island said. A doctor also revealed new details of the killing, including that the victim’s neck had been broken.
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