Disturbing CCTV shows moment ‘Afghan small-boat migrant drags suitcase with British woman’s body inside down Athens street… before leaving abandoned warehouse 13 minutes later without it’
This is the moment an Afghan professional boxer walks through the streets of Athens carrying a suitcase allegedly containing the body of Briton Elisabeth-Jane Ross.
CCTV footage – filmed in the early hours of July 16 just hours after Ms Ross was killed – seems to show Sharif Ahmadzai rolling a wheeled case through the city while walking down the middle of the road.
The boxer, who was arrested on Monday over the Briton’s death, is seen heading towards an abandoned car park in the Kypseli area of the Greek capital and is also holding a blue rucksack.
Around 13 minutes later he is spotted emerging from the derelict site without the bags.
Other footage gathered by police reportedly showed him arriving at Ms Ross’s ground-floor apartment in a car that belonged to his wife – US-born Christian Alaina Hall – on the evening of July 15.
It comes after Ahmadzai, who arrived in Greece on a small boat, was arrested on Monday over the Briton’s death.
Ahmadzai, 26, is suspected of killing the 38-year-old, who was also known as Lisa, before putting her body in a bag and dumping it in a derelict building.
Detectives trawled CCTV which allegedly shows him leaving the apartment where Ms Ross was staying with a suitcase and dropping it where her remains were found on July 16.
This is the moment Afghan professional boxer Sharif Ahmadzai walks through the streets of Athens carrying a suitcase allegedly containing the body of Briton Elisabeth-Jane Ross
The migrant who arrived in Greece on a small boat before marrying an American Christian has been arrested
He is suspected of killing Elisabeth-Jane Ross (pictured) before putting her body in a bag and dumping it in a derelict building
Ahmadzai reached the island of Lesvos in 2016. He then converted to Christianity and married Ms Hall in 2023 before they set up a ministry helping refugees in Athens.
The couple is believed to have known Ms Ross, who was also a Christian volunteer, through their work.
They had a key to the flat she was staying in as it was owned by their organisation, Love Every Nation Athens, police sources told the Daily Mail.
Officers started probing Ahmadzai after his wife allegedly reported her husband had been behaving suspiciously on July 30.
She allegedly said she woke to find him missing on the evening of July 15 and checked his shared location which showed him at Ms Ross’s apartment.
Ahmadzai is understood to have told police he found Ms Ross already dead in her bathroom.
He allegedly admitted he used the victim’s bank cards to withdraw cash and also used her phone to send messages to relatives and friends, pretending to be her.
Ahmadzai’s wife grew suspicious when it was announced Ms Ross’s body had been found. She left the family home with their baby and stayed in a hotel.
Ahmadzai gave her the sum of 2,550 euros and a new Apple iPhone 17 Pro but she refused them.
She handed them to police believing they were bought with Ms Ross’s money.
Detectives raided the family home on August 1 and found a black metal replica Glock-style pistol and a black military-style knife, sources say.
Ahmadzai is a Super Light professional boxer who has had two fights in Athens with one loss and one victory.
His life story has been documented in a cartoon video and a forthcoming book titled: From Hell To Home: How Loss, Exile And Hope Built The Man I Became.
Ahmadzai wrote: ‘No matter how dark your story is, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.’
He was born in Afghanistan to a military commander father who survived six Taliban assassination attempts before being killed in a midnight ambush when Ahmadzai was three.
The militants shot him in the head on the way home from an 18-hour shift.
When he was nine, his older brother Samuel was kidnapped by the Taliban and never returned.
His mother, sister and younger brother were killed in a suicide car bomb six years later leaving him an orphan.
Alone in Kabul, Ahmadzai used his family’s remaining money to leave Afghanistan and spent 45 days walking through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey in freezing conditions.
He witnessed a fellow migrant freeze to death and was arrested multiple times with police in Iran opening fire on a group that saw 26 killed.
On arrival in Turkey, he made three attempts to get to Greece by sea. His boats sank on the first two journeys before he was finally successful.
He arrived on the island of Lesvos aged 16 in 2016 and entered Moria Camp where he taught himself English and began translating for a humanitarian organisation.
He met Alaina, who was volunteering at the centre that year, converted to Christianity the following year and moved to Athens in 2019.
It was here he began boxing in a park before helping train refugee boys. He developed romantic feelings for Alaina in 2021 and proposed the following year.
His wife said: ‘I had seen his growth and his heart for the Lord, and it was so attractive to me…
‘We had both entered the relationship with intentionality; we both had the same heart and desire – to love the Lord and to serve people…
Ahmadzai arrived on the island of Lesvos aged 16 in 2016 and entered Moria Camp where he taught himself English and began translating for a humanitarian organisation
Suitcase murder suspect Ahmadzai married US-born Alaina Hall in 2023. The pair are understood to have a baby together
Officers started probing Ahmadzai after his wife Alaina allegedly reported her husband had been behaving suspiciously on July 30
Ahmadzai is due to appear before magistrates in Athens on Wednesday.
‘There were challenges, and it definitely wasn’t an easy road, but the Lord was faithful through it all.’
They founded Love Every Nation Athens before finally getting the paperwork to marry on April 29, 2023.
He was running free boxing sessions five nights a week for unaccompanied teenage boys and the couple were distributing food bags and prescriptions weekly to refugee families.
They also organised community events, sports sessions, and activities for young people across Athens.
Police sources previously revealed that Ahmadzai – who had converted to Christianity – told his wife that he had argued with Ms Ross because she wanted him to join her ‘stricter’ Christian group.
He was arrested shortly after Ms Ross’s mobile phone – which had been off for days – was suddenly switched on earlier this week with police immediately tracing it to a residence in Athens where he was staying.
When questioned by detectives, his wife told officers they had earlier been staying in Arachova, a mountainous village around two hours away from Athens and while there she became concerned after her husband went missing.
After using a shared location tracking app, she saw that he was in an apartment in Rethymnou Street, where Ms Ross was staying and is believed to have been killed.
A police source revealed: ‘The woman told us that her husband had confided in her that he was angry with the British woman. She was trying to influence him religiously and it became too much for him.’
Ms Ross, who was from Edinburgh, had been a regular visitor to Greece over the past seven years volunteering with NGOs helping refugees, homeless people and other vulnerable groups.
She had previously volunteered with the One Heart organisation when in Greece, which specialises in providing medical support to refugees, particularly those from Afghanistan or Iran.
She arrived in Athens on June 26 and had initially been staying with Greek friends in the Keratsini district, the country’s main seaport close to the city.
Police confirmed that she moved to Rethymnou Street in Athens city centre on July 2 and was volunteering with a Christian-based NGO working with refugees and other vulnerable groups.
CCTV footage gathered by police showed the Afghan man arriving by car at Ms Ross’s ground-floor flat on the evening of July 16.
At around 10pm, cameras captured him carrying the suitcase along the road on which the abandoned car park is located. Thirteen minutes later he is seen walking away from the derelict site without the suitcase.
The last confirmed sign of life from Ms Ross was recorded at 9.41pm on July 15, when she called a close friend.
Following that, her friends and relatives continued to receive messages from her, but they became suspicious that they were not genuine because of the style of language.
She also spoke about going away and wanting to be alone, which they thought was out of character for her.
Ahmadzai is due to appear before magistrates in Athens on Wednesday.
