Man charged with murder of Scottish aid worker found in suitcase in Athens

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A 26-year-old Afghan national has been formally charged with the murder of Scottish aid worker Elisabeth Jane Ross and remanded in custody.

The suspect, who entered Greece as an unaccompanied minor from Afghanistan in 2016 and later received asylum, was charged on Thursday with murder, robbery and illegal gun possession. He appeared before an investigative magistrate and was ordered held pending trial.

Police identified the victim as Elisabeth Jane Ross, 38, an aid worker from Edinburgh who had been missing since around 15 July. Her body was discovered on 18 July wrapped in black fabric inside a green suitcase left at an abandoned construction site on Evelpidon Street in the Kypseli neighbourhood of central Athens.

In testimony, the suspect denied killing Ross. He claimed he found her already dead in the bathroom of an apartment in Exarchia that belonged to him and his wife. He said he panicked, placed the body in a suitcase and transported it to the abandoned site because he feared being implicated.

A post-mortem examination could not determine the cause of death due to advanced decomposition but did not rule out asphyxiation. The suspect, described by his wife as a professional boxer involved in volunteer work, has been linked by police to the use of Ross’s bank cards after her death and to messages sent from her phone.

Greek authorities worked with UK, US and Interpol counterparts during the investigation. The case continues.

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