Body in holiday suitcase is named as US composer’s widow

A body found in a suitcase in a luxury resort on Bali has been identified as that of Sheila von Wiese Mack.

Mrs Mack, 62, was the widow of James Mack, a prolific Chicago composer who composed and made arrangements for both jazz and classical orchestras, which he often conducted on record.

Among his greatest hits, with jazzman Ramsey Lewis, was ‘Classical Encounters’ recorded in 1988 with the London Philharmonic. James Mack was head of the music department at Harold Washington College and music director of First Presbyterian Church of Chicago in Hyde Park. He died in 2006.

His wife, Sheila, worked as a researcher for Senator Ted Kennedy and did a PhD in literature under Saul Bellow’s supervision.

The Macks’ teenaged daughter has been arrested as a suspect in the murder, together with her rapper boyfriend.