Newly released CCTV footage has captured the main suspect in the death of a Scottish woman carrying a large suitcase through central Athens shortly before her body was discovered inside an abandoned building, adding a crucial piece of evidence to a case that has shocked Greece and the United Kingdom.
The footage, released by Greek media, allegedly shows the 26-year-old Afghan national wheeling the suitcase along city streets before abandoning it in a derelict building in Athens’ Kypseli district. The body of 38-year-old Elisabeth-Jane Ross, a Scottish humanitarian volunteer, was found inside the suitcase two days later after a homeless man alerted authorities to a strong odor.
Greek prosecutors have charged the suspect with murder, robbery, and illegal possession of a weapon. He has admitted transporting Ross’s body and using her bank cards after her death but denies killing her, claiming he found her already dead in the apartment where she had been staying. Investigators dispute that account and continue to treat the case as a homicide.
CCTV footage tracks suspect’s movements
According to investigators, security cameras recorded the suspect leaving the apartment building where Ross had been staying while pushing the suitcase believed to contain her body. Additional footage reportedly traces his route through Athens before the suitcase was left in an abandoned building on Evelpidon Street.
Police say the CCTV evidence, combined with forensic findings and digital data, helped reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the discovery of the body.
Authorities believe Ross had been dead for several days before she was found. While the exact cause of death has yet to be officially confirmed because of the advanced state of decomposition, investigators suspect she died from asphyxiation. Toxicology and forensic examinations are continuing.
Wife helped investigators
A significant breakthrough came after the suspect’s American wife contacted police with information she considered suspicious.
According to investigators, she became alarmed after tracking her husband’s phone location to Ross’s apartment and noticing he had suddenly come into possession of cash and a new mobile phone. She later provided police with information that helped focus the investigation, authorities said.
Police also allege the suspect withdrew approximately €10,000 using Ross’s bank cards and sent messages from her phone after her death in an apparent attempt to delay concerns about her disappearance.
Scottish woman was a humanitarian volunteer
Ross, originally from Edinburgh, had travelled to Greece to volunteer with organizations supporting refugees and migrants. She reportedly knew the suspect through humanitarian work, and shortly before her disappearance had been staying in accommodation linked to a refugee solidarity organization with which he was associated.
The motive for the killing remains under investigation. Greek authorities are examining several possibilities, including robbery and whether a personal confrontation preceded Ross’s death, but have not announced any definitive conclusions.
The case has attracted widespread attention in Greece and Britain because of the disturbing circumstances surrounding the discovery of Ross’s body and the chilling surveillance footage that investigators say documents the suspect’s movements before the suitcase was abandoned. The UK Foreign Office has confirmed it is providing consular assistance to Ross’s family as the Greek judicial process continues.
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