Sharif Ahmadzai, the Afghan migrant accused of murdering British aid worker Elisabeth-Jane Ross, allegedly used a burner phone to send messages to her family and friends claiming to be a jihadist who killed her because she was Christian, it emerged today.
Ahmadzai also allegedly texted his American wife from the unregistered number, repeating the same extremist claim, according to Greek media reports. He is due to appear in court in Athens tomorrow.
Ahmadzai arrived in Greece by small boat in 2016 as an unaccompanied minor. He later converted to Christianity and married US citizen Alaina Hall, 28, in 2023, after the pair met working at a refugee ministry in Athens two years earlier. They went on to have a child together despite opposition from her family.
Ahmadzai is said to have denied killing Ms Ross during police interviews, instead claiming he found her dead in the bathroom of an apartment. Greek authorities still believe the killing stemmed from a confrontation and are investigating two possible motives, an attempted robbery or a sexual assault.
Suitcase and stolen bank cards
After allegedly switching off Ms Ross's mobile phone, Ahmadzai bought the unregistered burner handset and began messaging people who knew her, including his wife, falsely claiming to be a jihadist responsible for the killing.
He has reportedly admitted moving her body in a suitcase and dumping it in an abandoned building. He is also said to have admitted using her bank cards to withdraw thousands of euros and sending messages from her own phone to relatives and friends while posing as her, claiming she needed time alone.
Elisabeth-Jane, from Edinburgh, had been in Athens since late June volunteering with refugee groups. Alaina is said to have alerted police after becoming suspicious of her husband's behaviour on July 30, leading to his arrest.
Elisabeth-Jane's parents never wanted their daughter to marry Ahmadzai, according to a close family member. Her aunt, Leanne Hall, said her brother Thomas, 65, a pilot, and sister-in-law Susan, 61, always had grave doubts about their daughter's choice of husband. "I've never met him, I've only heard about him. But I can tell you my brother and sister-in-law never wanted them to get married," she told the Daily Mail.
CCTV footage
The body of Ms Ross, also known as Lisa, was found by a homeless man in the Kypseli area of Athens on July 18, three days after she went missing. Ahmadzai was arrested on Monday.
CCTV footage allegedly shows him leaving the apartment where Ms Ross was staying carrying a suitcase and a blue rucksack, heading to an abandoned car park where her remains were later found, before leaving without the bags around 13 minutes later. Other footage reportedly shows him arriving at Ms Ross's flat in a car owned by Ms Hall on the evening of July 15.
Investigation and arrest
Ahmadzai and Ms Hall are believed to have known Ms Ross through their work; police sources said the couple had a key to the flat because it was owned by their organisation, Love Every Nation Athens. Ms Hall reportedly woke to find her husband missing on the evening of July 15 and checked his shared location, which showed him at Ms Ross's apartment.
Ahmadzai's wife grew suspicious once it was announced Ms Ross's body had been found and left the family home with their baby to stay in a hotel. He gave her 2,550 euros and a new Apple iPhone 17 Pro, which she refused and handed to police, believing they had been bought with the victim'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.
Boxing career and life story
Ahmadzai is a professional Super Light boxer who has had two fights in Athens, one loss and one victory. His life 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, in which he 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 shot dead in a midnight ambush when Ahmadzai was three. 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 bombing six years later, leaving him an orphan.
Journey to Europe
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, including once when Iranian police opened fire on a group, killing 26. In Turkey he made three attempts to reach Greece by sea, with his first two boats sinking, before finally arriving on Lesvos aged 16 in 2016.
He entered Moria Camp, taught himself English and began translating for a humanitarian organisation, where he met Alaina, who was volunteering that year. He converted to Christianity the following year and moved to Athens in 2019, where he began boxing in a park and training refugee boys.
Marriage and ministry
Ahmadzai developed romantic feelings for Alaina in 2021 and proposed the following year. Alaina 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… There were challenges, and it definitely wasn't an easy road, but the Lord was faithful through it all."
The couple founded Love Every Nation Athens and married on April 29, 2023. Ahmadzai ran free boxing sessions five nights a week for unaccompanied teenage boys, while the pair distributed food bags and prescriptions weekly to refugee families and organised community events and sports sessions for young people across Athens.
Police sources previously said Ahmadzai told his wife he had argued with Ms Ross because she wanted him to join her "stricter" Christian group. A police source said: "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." He was arrested shortly after Ms Ross's mobile phone, off for days, was suddenly switched on, leading police to a residence in Athens where he was staying.
Ms Ross's final days
Ms Ross, 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, including previously with the One Heart organisation, which provides medical support to refugees, particularly from Afghanistan or Iran.
She arrived in Athens on June 26 and initially stayed with Greek friends in the Keratsini district before moving to Rethymnou Street in the city centre on July 2, where she volunteered with a Christian-based NGO. The last confirmed sign of life from her was a phone call to a close friend at 9.41pm on July 15. Friends and relatives continued to receive messages afterwards but grew suspicious they were not genuine because of the style of language, including references to her wanting to be alone, which they thought was out of character.
Ahmadzai is due to appear before magistrates in Athens on Wednesday.
