A 26-year-old Afghan, a boxing champion in Greece, is accused of killing a 38-year-old British woman in Athens and then trying to deceive authorities by posing as a jihadist who claimed he had killed her because of her Christian faith.
According to Greek media and investigative documents, Sharif Ahmadzai is suspected of murdering Elisabeth-Jane Ross, a British citizen from Scotland, and hiding her body in a suitcase and hiding it inside an abandoned building in the Kypseli area.
Investigators suspect that after the crime, the 26-year-old first used the victim’s phone to send messages to her family and friends, before turning the device off. He then bought another phone and sent messages to several people, including his wife, posing as an anonymous jihadist. The messages claimed that the woman had been killed because she was trying to spread the Christian faith.
Greek police suspect that this was an attempt to divert the investigation and hide the real perpetrator of the crime.
According to the investigative file, Ahmadzai is also accused of stealing the victim’s bank cards and withdrawing thousands of euros from her accounts after the murder. His wife, Alaina Hall, an American citizen, who ran a non-profit organization in Athens with him to help refugees, played an important role in solving the case.
The woman became suspicious when she woke up in the early hours of July 16 and discovered that her husband was not at home. Using the location-tracking app “Find My Friends,” she was able to track his location near the apartment where the victim lived.
Hall told investigators that her husband had given her 2,550 euros and a new iPhone 17 Pro, which she suspected were purchased with money taken from Elisabeth-Jane Ross’s bank accounts.
Security camera footage, according to investigators, shows a person resembling Ahmadzai quietly pushing a large suitcase through the streets of Kypseli, near where the 38-year-old’s body was later found. Investigators believe the victim’s body was inside the suitcase. Security cameras also filmed the suspect withdrawing money from ATMs using the victim’s cards.
Sharif Ahmadzai is expected to appear in court in Athens, where he faces charges of murder, robbery and illegal possession of weapons.
According to British media, Ahmadzai arrived in Greece in 2016, having passed through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. In the Moria migrant camp, he met Alaina Hall, who worked as a volunteer.
He converted to Christianity in 2017 and the couple married in April 2023. Together they founded the organization “Love Every Nation”, which helped refugees in Athens..
Ahmadzai was also a professional boxer and in March had won the Greek super lightweight championship title.
Through sports activities, he also organized boxing courses to raise funds for the organization.
Elisabeth-Jane Ross had arrived in Athens on June 26 to participate in voluntary activities for charities, as she had done for years. Her body was found on July 18, and her death has shocked the community of volunteers and believers at the City on a Hill church in Edinburgh, where she had been a member for about 20 years.
Pastor Peter Anderson described Ross as a woman who had dedicated her life to mission and helping others, and called her loss a great tragedy for the community.