Afghan boxer accused of killing Scottish aid worker back in court

Sharif Ahmadzai, a 26-year-old Afghan boxer, appeared in court in Athens for the second time on Thursday. He faces charges of homicide with intent, robbery, and weapons offenses in connection with the death of 38-year-old Scottish aid worker Elisabeth Ross. Ross was found deceased in a derelict building in Athens on July 18. Ahmadzai was initially detained on illegal weapons possession charges and is also accused of stealing over €10,000 from the victim's bank accounts. Greek policing union officials stated that Ahmadzai admitted to moving the body but denied the homicide allegations. He was assigned a court-appointed lawyer on Wednesday and given time to prepare his defense.

An Afghan man accused of murdering Scottish aid worker Elisabeth Jane Ross and hiding her body in a suitcase appeared in court in Athens, Greece, on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. Ross, 38, was found deceased in a suitcase at an abandoned building on July 18, shortly after arriving in Athens. The suspect was identified via street camera footage and arrested on Sunday. He has been charged with murder and robbery. Greek law prevents the suspect's name from being released. He was granted 24 hours to prepare his defense and is scheduled to return to court on Thursday. The investigation involved assistance from the UK National Crime Agency, Police Scotland, and US law enforcement.

Sharif Ahmadzai, a 26-year-old Afghan national, has arrived at court in Athens, Greece, in connection with the death of Elisabeth Jane Ross, a Scottish aid worker. Ross's body was discovered in a suitcase at an abandoned building on July 18, several days after she was reported missing. Ahmadzai was arrested on suspicion of homicide with intent, robbery, and weapons offenses. He is expected to be formally charged later this morning at the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Athens Court of First Instance.

A 26-year-old man, identified as a foreign national with legal asylum, is due in court in Athens on Wednesday, accused of killing 38-year-old Elisabeth Jane Ross, a Scottish woman. Her body was discovered in a suitcase in an abandoned building on July 18, during a heatwave. Police arrested the suspect on Sunday after reviewing surveillance footage. The suspect, reportedly born in Afghanistan and pursuing a boxing career, initially faced weapons possession charges and is now also charged with murder and theft of over 10,000 euros from the victim's accounts. While admitting to moving the body, he denies the murder allegations. Authorities are awaiting tissue analysis to confirm the cause of death, with preliminary findings suggesting suffocation.

Greek authorities are investigating the motive behind the murder of Elisabeth-Jane Ross, a 38-year-old Scottish charity worker whose body was found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in Athens last month. A 26-year-old Afghan man, Sharif Ahmadzai, has been accused of intentional homicide. Ahmadzai has confessed to moving Ross's body and withdrawing money from her credit cards but denies murder. Police are focusing on Ross's last hours alive, with theories including a confrontation over stolen credit cards or a sexual assault. Ross had recently moved to Athens and was a friend of Ahmadzai's wife, who reportedly played a significant role in the investigation by alerting police to suspicious activity.

Greek police have arrested a 26-year-old foreign national in connection with the death of Elisabeth-Jane Ross, a 38-year-old Scottish woman. Her body was discovered inside a suitcase in a derelict building in Athens on July 18th by a homeless man. Ross is believed to have died between five and seven days prior to her discovery. The suspect, who reportedly confessed, is accused of manslaughter, robbery, and weapons law violations, with a replica pistol and knife found at his home. Police analyzed video footage to identify him, and he is believed to have placed Ross's body in the suitcase and later used her bank card. The UK Foreign Office and Police Scotland are providing support to Ross's family.

Greek authorities have identified the body found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in central Athens as a 38-year-old British woman. The remains were discovered on July 18th by a homeless man in the Kypseli district. The woman, born in Scotland in 1988, had reportedly flown to Greece from the US via Cyprus on June 29th. Her next of kin have been informed. Greek homicide officers appealed to foreign law enforcement, with US authorities providing DNA evidence that aided in the identification. The circumstances of her death are being investigated as a criminal act, and authorities are examining CCTV footage and flight logs to reconstruct her movements. Postmortem results indicate she had been dead for approximately eight days before the discovery, with no immediate signs of struggle or injury.