A man with a turbulent life story is at the center of the police investigation into the murder of British volunteer Elizabeth-Jane Ross in Athens. He is 26-year-old Sharif Ahmadzai, an Afghan professional boxer who arrived in Greece in 2016 as a refugee and in recent years had built a public profile as someone dedicated to supporting vulnerable social groups.
Read also: Athens murder: The video footage showing the 26-year-old carrying a suitcase containing the 38-year-old’s body
Ahmadzai was arrested by authorities as part of the investigation into the death of the 38-year-old British woman. According to information being examined by police, security camera footage allegedly shows him carrying a suitcase through the streets of Athens just hours after her death. Authorities are investigating whether that suitcase was used to transport Ross’s body to an abandoned location in the Kypseli neighborhood of Athens.
According to evidence gathered, security camera footage recorded in the early morning hours of July 16 allegedly shows the 26-year-old moving through the area with a wheeled suitcase and a blue backpack, heading toward an abandoned parking lot. Approximately 13 minutes later, according to the same sources, he appears to leave the scene without the luggage.
Separately, additional footage collected by authorities allegedly shows Ahmadzai arriving on the evening of July 15 at the ground-floor apartment where Elizabeth Ross was staying, driving a car belonging to his wife, American national Kristian Alaina Hall.
From Afghanistan to Lesbos and Athens: The story of Sharif Ahmadzai
Ahmadzai’s story had previously been presented as one of survival and new beginnings. Born in Afghanistan, he lost his father — a military commander — when he was just three years old. According to his own account, his father had survived several assassination attempts before being killed in an ambush.
At the age of nine, he has said, his older brother was abducted by the Taliban and never returned. Six years later, his mother, sister, and younger brother were killed in a suicide bombing, leaving him an orphan.
What followed was a grueling journey of escape from Afghanistan. As he has described it, he left Kabul and spent 45 days traveling through Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey before attempting to reach Greece by sea. After two failed attempts, he finally made it to the island of Lesbos in 2016, at the age of 16.
At the Moria refugee camp, he learned English and began working as a translator for a humanitarian organization. It was there that he met Alaina Hall, who was working as a volunteer. He later converted to Christianity and moved to Athens in 2019.
In the Greek capital, he took up boxing — training initially in a park — and eventually began helping coach young refugees. In 2023, he married Alaina Hall and together they founded the organization Love Every Nation Athens, through which, according to available information, they provided assistance to refugees and vulnerable groups.
Ahmadzai is also a professional boxer in the super lightweight division, having competed in two bouts in Athens, with one win and one loss.
Athens murder: The couple’s connection to the British volunteer and the evidence under investigation
According to police sources cited by the Daily Mail, Ahmadzai and his wife knew Elizabeth Ross through their work in humanitarian aid. Ross was herself a Christian volunteer who took part in refugee support activities.
The same sources report that the couple had access to the apartment where the 38-year-old was staying, as the property belonged to their organization.
The investigation is said to have been triggered by information provided to authorities by the 26-year-old’s wife, who reported that her husband had been behaving suspiciously. According to the same sources, she allegedly discovered through a shared location app that her husband had been at the apartment on Rethymnou Street where Ross was staying.
Ahmadzai, according to what he reportedly told police, claimed he found the British woman already dead in the bathroom of her apartment.
Authorities are also examining allegations that the 26-year-old allegedly used Ross’s bank cards to withdraw money, as well as her mobile phone to send messages to her relatives and friends while impersonating her.
Elizabeth Ross: Volunteer work in Greece and her final movements before her death
Elizabeth Ross, originally from Edinburgh, had been visiting Greece for the past seven years, volunteering with organizations that supported refugees, the homeless, and other vulnerable groups. She had worked with the organization One Heart, which provides medical assistance to refugees, primarily from Afghanistan and Iran.
The 38-year-old arrived in Athens on June 26 and initially stayed with friends in Keratsini. On July 2, she moved to an apartment on Rethymnou Street in central Athens, where she was taking part in activities run by a Christian organization supporting refugees.
Her last confirmed communication was recorded at 9:41 p.m. on July 15, when she called a close friend. After that, friends and relatives continued to receive messages from her phone — however, they maintained that the writing style did not resemble hers.
Sharif Ahmadzai is expected to appear before judicial authorities in Athens as the investigation into the case continues.
