An Afghan migrant accused of murdering a British woman in Athens allegedly used a burner phone to send messages to her friends and family, posing as a jihadist who confessed to killing her because she was Christian. Sharif Ahmadzai, who arrived in Greece in 2016 as an unaccompanied minor, is also accused of sending similar extremist-themed messages to his American wife from the unregistered number.
Ahmadzai married US citizen Alaina Hall in 2023. The couple met while working at a refugee ministry in Athens and have a child together. He reportedly denied killing Elisabeth-Jane Ross to police, claiming instead that he found her dead in the apartment bathroom. However, authorities are investigating possible motives including attempted robbery or sexual assault.
According to Greek media reports, after allegedly disabling Ross's mobile phone, Ahmadzai purchased the burner phone. He then allegedly began sending messages to people who knew Ross, including his wife. In these messages, he purportedly claimed to be a jihadist responsible for her death due to her Christian faith.
Authorities believe the killing stemmed from a confrontation. Ahmadzai has reportedly admitted to moving Ross's body in a suitcase to an abandoned building. He is also said to have admitted to using her bank cards to withdraw thousands of euros and sending messages from her phone to relatives and friends, impersonating her to delay the discovery of her death.
Ross, from Edinburgh, had been in Athens since late June volunteering with refugee groups. Her body was discovered by a homeless man in the Kypseli area on July 18, three days after she went missing. Ahmadzai was arrested on August 1, following the emergence of CCTV footage allegedly showing him leaving his apartment with a suitcase.
His wife, Alaina Hall, alerted police on July 30 after becoming suspicious of her husband's behavior. She reportedly woke up on July 15 to find him missing and saw his shared location tracker indicated he was at Ross's apartment. Hall, who grew up in Ringgold, Georgia, and her husband had founded a ministry for refugees in Athens called Love Every Nation Athens. Police sources told the Daily Mail that Ahmadzai and Hall had a key to Ross's flat as it was owned by their organization.
Ahmadzai converted to Christianity after arriving in Greece and met Hall, who was volunteering at a refugee center, in 2016. He moved to Athens in 2019 and began boxing. His life story, detailing his escape from Afghanistan after his family was killed and his difficult journey to Greece, has been the subject of a cartoon video and a forthcoming book.
Detectives raided the family home on August 1, reportedly finding a replica Glock-style pistol and a military-style knife. Ahmadzai, a professional boxer with a documented fight record in Athens, is scheduled to appear before magistrates on Wednesday.