Bali suitcase murder: US couple who killed mother in hotel and stuffed her body in a case are spared the death penalty

Heather Mack received a more lenient sentence after giving birth in prison

The suitcase in Bali where the body of a woman was found inside (AFP)

A US teenager who recently gave birth in prison and her boyfriend have been spared the death penalty for killing the woman’s mother and hiding her body in a suitcase in Bali.

Heather Mack, 19, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for assisting in the killing of her mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack during a holiday on the Indonesian resort island in August.

Her body was discovered in a bloodied suitcase and the court ruled that her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, battered her to death in a hotel room while Mack helped him stuff the body into the case by sitting on it.

Heather Mack, 19, of the United States holds her baby daughter in a cell (Getty Images)

Schaefer, who was tried by the same judging panel but in a separate case to Mack, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The charge of premeditated murder carried a maximum penalty of death by firing squad but the Indonesian Criminal Court chose to be lenient towards Mack because she had given birth, according to the Associated Press.

During his trial, Schaefer claimed Mack’s mother became enraged by news of her daughter’s pregnancy and tried to strangle him. He claimed he responded in self-defence by hitting her with a metal fruit bowl, killing her.

"She squeezed my neck for about 20 to 30 seconds. I couldn't breathe. I had blood going to my head and my eyes were so watery," Schaefer was quoted as telling the court by CNN.

"I couldn't see for a moment because my eyes were so watery and I was distraught, I was in a state of mind, I had no idea what was happening. I was almost about to black out. And I grabbed it and I started swinging.”

Wiese-Mack’s battered body was discovered in the boot of a taxi outside of the St. Regis Bali Resort. Prosecutors said the couple placed the body in the trunk of the taxi and said they were going inside the hotel to check-out and would return, but never did.

During the trial, local media quoted Mack as claiming her mother had threatened to kill their unborn child.

Presiding Judge Made Suweda condemned Schaefer's deeds as sadistic, but attributed his politeness and remorse during the trial to his lighter sentence.