[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 8



INDONESIA:

Bali completes probe into US pair accused of suitcase murder


Police in Indonesia have completed their probe into an American man and his 
girlfriend accused of killing the woman's mother in Bali and stuffing her body 
in a suitcase, a prosecutor said Monday (Dec 8), adding the pair was expected 
to go on trial next month.

He also said 19-year-old Heather Mack, who is pregnant, and her boyfriend Tommy 
Schaefer were being transferred from police cells to the resort island's 
notorious Kerobokan jail, where prisoners live in cramped, filthy conditions 
and drug abuse is widespread.

The battered body of Sheila von Wiese Mack, 62, was found in a suitcase in the 
boot of a taxi in front of an exclusive hotel in the upscale Nusa Dua resort 
area in August. Mack and Schaefer, 21, had been staying with her but fled to 
another part of the island after the killing. They were caught the following 
day and police have said they could face the death penalty if found guilty of 
premeditated murder.

Prosecutor Eddy Artha Wijaya told reporters in the Balinese capital Denpasar 
that police had finished their investigation and handed responsibility to the 
prosecution service. "We have received the case file from the police," he said. 
Prosecutors have an initial 20 days to draw up charges and Wijaya said he hoped 
the pair would face trial in January.

If the case does proceed to court, Mack and Schaefer will be formally charged 
at their first appearance, which is the usual procedure in the Indonesian legal 
system. They had been in police holding cells during the police investigation. 
But now that probe had wrapped up they would be moved later Monday to 
Kerobokan, Wijaya said.

Mack's lawyer, Raja Nasution, insisted that "she will be more comfortable there 
as it's bigger". He added that she would go to hospital every month to check on 
the progress of her pregnancy. The victim and the suspects are all from the 
Chicago area.

(source: ChannelNewsAsia)