The family of the American wife of Sharif Ahmadzai opposed the couple’s marriage, according to a Daily Mail report published just days after his arrest over the murder of 38-year-old British woman Elizabeth-Jane Ross in the Athens neighborhood of Kypseli.

According to his wife’s aunt, Aleina Hall’s parents had expressed serious concerns about her relationship with the 26-year-old Afghan, who arrived in Greece as a migrant in 2016, converted to Christianity, and later married the American volunteer.

“I never met him. I’ve only heard about him. But I can tell you that my brother and sister-in-law never wanted them to get married,” Hall’s aunt told the British newspaper.

The couple had one child and founded the Christian organization Love Every Nation Athens, which supports refugees. Ross also worked with Christian and humanitarian organizations and, according to reports, knew the couple through their work. The apartment on Rethymnou Street where she was staying belonged to the organization, and Ahmadzai and his wife reportedly had keys to it.

Ross’s body was found on July 18 inside a suitcase in an abandoned building in Kypseli, three days after she disappeared. Security camera footage proved crucial to the investigation. Authorities say Ahmadzai was recorded leaving the apartment carrying a suitcase and a backpack, walking toward the location where the body was later discovered, and returning a few minutes later without the luggage.

The investigation focused on the 26-year-old after his wife alerted police to his suspicious behavior. In her statement, she said that on the night of July 15 she noticed her husband was missing from home and, using a location-tracking app, saw that he was at Ross’s apartment.

Ahmadzai told investigators that he found the British woman dead in the bathroom. However, he allegedly admitted using her bank cards to withdraw cash and using her mobile phone to send messages to her relatives and friends while pretending to be her.

After Ross’s body was discovered, his wife left their home with their child. According to the report, the 26-year-old gave her €2,550 and a new mobile phone, but she handed both over to police, believing they had been purchased with the victim’s money.

Police search

During a search of the couple’s home, officers found a metal Glock-style replica pistol and a military-style knife.

Who is Sharif Ahmadzai?

According to the British newspaper, Ahmadzai crossed Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey on foot before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos in 2016, after two failed attempts to cross the Aegean Sea.

In Greece, he learned English, met his wife, converted to Christianity, and took up boxing. Together with Aleina Hall, he became involved in refugee support initiatives, organizing food distributions, free boxing lessons for unaccompanied minors, and other community activities.

According to police sources cited by the newspaper, the suspect had told his wife that he had argued with Ross because she was trying to persuade him to join a more conservative Christian group.

Elizabeth-Jane Ross, originally from Edinburgh, had been visiting Greece over the past seven years, volunteering in programs supporting refugees, homeless people, and other vulnerable groups. Her last confirmed communication was on the evening of July 15, when she called a close friend. Afterwards, relatives and friends received text messages that they found unusual because they did not match her normal style of communication.