A 26-year-old boxing champion from Afghanistan has been arrested in Athens on suspicion of taking the life of a Scottish aid worker whose remains were found concealed inside a suitcase in a derelict building in the Greek capital.
According to sources, Sharif Ahmadzai has been charged with homicide with intent, robbery, and weapons offences in connection with the death of Elisabeth Jane Ross, 38, a native of Edinburgh known to family and friends as Lisa. Her remains were discovered on July 18 in an abandoned building in Athens’ Kypseli district, several days after she had been reported missing.
Ahmadzai was orphaned at 15 when his father, a commander in the Afghan army, lost his life and his mother and siblings perished in a suicide attack in Kabul. He fled Afghanistan, traveling through Iran and Turkey before reaching Greece.
At a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos, he met Alaina Hall, an American Christian volunteer who was working there. The two married, Ahmadzai converted to Christianity, and together they founded Love Every Nation Athens, a charity supporting other refugees. His journey from Afghanistan to Greece was later documented in a video produced by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
In Athens, Ahmadzai earned a Greek super lightweight boxing title and trained at a gym located directly across from the building where Ross’s remains would later be found.
Ross arrived in Greece on June 26, staying in the Kertasini area of Piraeus while volunteering with a refugee support group in Athens. On July 15, she told Greek friends she was heading to Kypseli to meet “American friends.” She was not seen after that. Police are investigating whether the two had previously crossed paths through their shared work in the refugee-support and NGO sector.
George Kalliakmanis, president of the Union of Police Officers of Southeast Attica, told BBC News: “They are looking into whether he had met her previously through his involvement in boxing or an NGO working with refugees, as she also worked for an NGO. Could they have crossed paths in the past? Yes, it’s possible.”
What happened inside the Kypseli apartment is at the center of the investigation. A coroner’s initial report was unable to conclusively determine cause of death, but more detailed examinations concluded it was an “obvious criminal act, likely asphyxiation.”
Surveillance footage reportedly shows Ahmadzai leaving Ross’s address on July 16 carrying a large suitcase and returning without it roughly 13 minutes later. A location-sharing app linked to his wife’s phone had also placed him at 9 Rethymnou Street in the days prior.
Ahmadzai is alleged to have used Ross’s bank cards to withdraw approximately €10,000 and to have sent messages from her phone to friends and family to, as Kalliakmanis put it, “make it seem like she was still alive.” Phone data later indicated that Ross’s mobile traveled with Ahmadzai, his wife, and their child to Arakova on July 19.
Ahmadzai has denied being responsible for the homicide but admitted to moving the body. As Kalliakmanis explained: “He claims he found her dead in the bathroom and panicked, fearing he would be blamed.”
The evidence trail that led police to Ahmadzai ran partly through his own wife. Hall reportedly alerted authorities after tracking her husband via a Find My Friends app on the morning of July 16, when she awoke to find him absent from home. The app placed him at the address where Ross is believed to have lost her life. Her suspicions reportedly deepened when Ahmadzai returned home with 2,550 euros in cash and a new iPhone, items she believed came from Ross. Investigators confirmed that Hall had no involvement in or prior knowledge of the alleged offense.
A search of Ahmadzai’s home turned up a replica pistol and a military-style knife. Police are also working to identify and locate the American friends mentioned in Ross’s final messages to acquaintances in Athens.
In Edinburgh, Ross’s church community is mourning one of its own. Pastor Peter Anderson of City on a Hill church, where Ross had worshipped for nearly 20 years, paid tribute in a video shared on the church’s Facebook page.
“She had been to many places and served people. She was a very precious girl and it is a tragic loss,” he said.
Flowers have been placed near the site where her remains were found. One handwritten message reads: “For Elisabeth, may you rest in peace and may your memory live on in the hearts of us all. With deepest sympathy and respect. You will not be forgotten.”
