Police in Bali opened a suitcase and found a woman's body inside, and have arrested the woman's daughter, a Chicago 19-year-old, and the girl's boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21. The alleged murder victim is 62-year-old Sheila Von Weise Mack. Police said the suitcase that her body was found in was located in the back of a taxi, and the taxi was parked near the upscale St. Regis Hotel in Denpasar. 

The couple is being held at South Kuta police station where authorities there said they have done blood tests, and mental health evaluations on the couple. Neighbors back in Chicago have said the mother and daughter had a volatile relationship, according to reports. A local television station reported that close to 100 calls were made to police over a 9-year period for instances of domestic violence and theft.

Reports also said the young woman laughed when police began to question her about the body they had found. Mack has allegedly hired a Chicago lawyer to defend her, according to reports. The attorney Michael Elkin released  statement saying that Mack had not been charged with any crime. Elkin also mentioned that he was concerned about the tactics police were using, since he was not able to talk to his client in private. According to his statement, while he was able to talk to Mack, for a short while, the conversation took place with a police official standing nearby. 

Authorities said they were trying to figure out the motive in the case, and the police chief told reporters that "Maybe they are mentally unstable," in reference to the suspects, Mack and Schaefer.

"Heather Mack was laughing and joking as she was led from one room to another the police lockup on Thursday, smiling and saying "Britney Spears" at one point," reported the Syndney Morning Herald. "And later, "Oh my God" as she laughed, apparently at the media attention"

"So far we haven't got any information on what problems lie behind the murder, if it's financial or something else. We still do not know," said Police Chief Djoko Hari Utomo.

The couple allegedly stuffed the body into the suitcase, according to reports, put it in the cab and ran off. The cab driver took the bag to the police. Police have said the woman was bludgeoned to death and they found blood-soaked towels inside suitcases that were hidden in the hotel's garden. The altercation that may have led to the alleged killing may have stemmed from an argument over who would pay the hotel bill, according to reports.