US couple get long jail terms for 'sadistic' murder of mother, stuffed in suitcase at Bali resort

A US couple were given long jail terms yesterday for the "sadistic" murder of the woman's mother, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase outside a luxury hotel on Indonesia's Bali island.

Tommy Schaefer, 21, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of Sheila von Wiese Mack on the resort island and jailed for 18 years.

His girlfriend and the victim's daughter, 19-year-old Heather Mack, who was pregnant at the time of the crime, was found guilty of assisting in the murder and given a 10-year prison term.

Schaefer wept in the Bali court as judges recounted harrowing details of the case, in which he beat the 62-year-old victim to death with a fruit bowl during a blazing row in the five-star resort, before he and his girlfriend dumped the body in a taxi.

"The defendant's actions disturbed the public and can be considered sadistic," said Judge Made Suweda as he sentenced Schaefer.

The case sent shockwaves across the tropical holiday island that welcomes millions of foreign visitors each year.