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Slain Chicago Woman's Body To Be Flown Home From Bali

BALI, Indonesia (AP) -- The body of an American woman slain on the Indonesian resort island of Bali will be flown to the United States after her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend were accused of murder, an official said Tuesday.

The body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, was found inside a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi in front of the upscale St. Regis Bali Resort in the island's exclusive Nusa Dua section.

Ida Bagus Putu Alit, head of forensics at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, Bali's provincial capital, said the body would be flown home early Wednesday on a Korean Air plane. He didn't identify which American city, but von Wiese-Mack was from Chicago.

An autopsy found that von Wiese-Mack asphyxiated after her nose was broken by a blunt blow. She had other broken bones in her head and face and wounds on her hands suggesting she tried to defend herself.

Heather Mack, 19, and Tommy Schaefer, 21, have been arrested, and Indonesian police said they might be charged with premeditated murder which could carry the death penalty.

Denpasar police chief Col. Djoko Hari Utomo has said Mack claimed to be pregnant and wanted to be treated in the United States, but he said police would continue investigating and would provide health care in accordance with existing rules.

An FBI agent who arrived in Bali on Friday and investigated possible criminal activity by the couple in the United States saw the handover of von Wiese-Mack's body on Tuesday afternoon, Alit said. He did not specify whether the agent would fly with the body or stay to help with the investigation.

Von Wiese-Mack and her daughter arrived at the St. Regis on Aug. 9, while Schaefer checked in two days later, according to police. Security camera video showed that the victim had an argument with Schaefer a day before she was murdered.

Von Wiese-Mack was the widow of highly regarded jazz and classical composer James L. Mack, who died in 2006 at age 76.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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