US woman in Bali ‘suitcase murder’ freed from jail

By FIRDIA LISNAWATI and NINIEK KARMINI
Associated Press

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — An American woman convicted of helping to kill her mother on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali has walked free from prison. Heather Mack was released Friday after serving seven years of a 10-year sentence. She was almost 19 and a few weeks pregnant in 2014 when the body of her wealthy mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, was found in a suitcase inside the trunk of a taxi. Mack’s then-boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, received an 18-year sentence. Their daughter, Stella, has been living with a foster family. Mack has not seen her for about 20 months because prison visits were halted during the pandemic. But Indonesian immigration authorities say they are working to repatriate the mother and child together.