Boxing Champion Charged in Edinburgh Woman's Suitcase Death
Sharif Ahmadzai, Greek super lightweight title holder, faces intentional homicide and robbery charges after Elisabeth Jane Ross found dead in Kypseli.
Image: Eddie Pollard / AI
Carla Rooney
Sharif Ahmadzai, a former boxing champion, has been charged in connection with the death of Elisabeth Jane Ross, whose body was found in a suitcase.
George Kalliakmanis confirmed Ahmadzai's admission to transporting Elisabeth Ross's body in a trolley. CCTV footage from the night of 16 July corroborates this movement.
Ahmadzai also confessed to withdrawing €10,000 from ATMs using Ross's credit cards. He denies murder, a claim police do not believe.
Police further claim Ahmadzai later admitted to impersonating Ross in messages sent to her family and friends. He simultaneously continued withdrawing money with her bank cards.
Alaina Hall, Ahmadzai's wife, provided critical evidence to investigators. This included location data and a mobile phone.
Hall surrendered €2,550 and an iPhone 17 Pro to police. She believed these items were purchased with Ms Ross's money.
Suspecting Ahmadzai's involvement, Hall subsequently left their home with her child.
A search of the suspect's residence uncovered a replica Glock-style pistol and a military-style knife.
Initial medical reports indicate Elisabeth Ross died from asphyxiation.
Ms Ross, a volunteer assisting Syrian refugees in Kurdistan, arrived in Greece on 29 June. She stayed at several locations before renting an apartment in Exarchia.
Ahmadzai and his wife established a ministry to aid refugees in Athens. They reportedly knew Elisabeth through their shared work.
Police assert the accused had access to Ross's apartment via a set of keys.
Loved ones grew concerned upon receiving text messages that seemed uncharacteristic of Ross's writing style.
Ahmadzai, who secured the Greek super lightweight boxing title in March 2023, fled Afghanistan at 15 after the Taliban killed his family. He arrived on Lesbos by small boat in 2016.
His website claims his father died in a Taliban ambush when he was four, and his older brother was abducted by the Taliban five years later. The remainder of his family perished in a suicide car bomb when he was 15.