Two weeks after 38-year-old Elisabeth Ross was found stuffed inside a suitcase in central Athens, police arrested an Afghan suspect over the death of the British woman who was an aid worker who used to travel to Greece regularly to help refugees and homeless people. The 26-year-old Afghan man was a cleaner in the building where Ross was found dead.Greek cops said they detained the man for “intentional homicide, robbery and violation of the law (regarding) weapons.” Police said the man claimed that the woman was already dead when he found her but the sleuths have been working on the theory that Elisabeth was killed in the flat.George Kalliakmanis, the president of the Attica Police Officers’ Union, told The Times: “[The suspect] and his wife worked as the cleaners of the building where Elisabeth lived. He allegedly killed her, took her bank card, and put her body in a suitcase or a box. He then transported it to the abandoned building using a trolley.”“Once there, he realised the suitcase he had used would likely contain his fingerprints, so he transferred the body into a second suitcase, trying to be more careful to avoid leaving prints.”The possibility Elisabeth was suffocated is being “seriously contemplated” given the lack of evident injuries on her body, The Sun reported citing sources.Police found a replica pistol and a knife in a raid of the suspect’s home, which is a ten-minute walk from the derelict block where Elisabeth’s body was found. He was reportedly identified on CCTV using her credit cards to withdraw money from ATMs.
Use of ATM gave away Afghan man
The suspect made an elaborate plan to delay the discovery of Elisabeth’s murder. He used her phone to send messages and mislead those who were in touch with her. Her dad, a lawyer from Edinburgh, said he received texts for up to two weeks after her death. Messages sent to family and friends claimed that she needed to take some time for herself and wanted to be alone for a while.A Facebook post announcing that she was going to travel to Turkey was made on July 24, six days after her body was foundElisabeth arrived in Athens on a flight from Edinburgh on June 26. A Greek couple who Elisabeth was staying with in Keratsini told cops she was going to stay with some Americans she knew in Kypseli. But cops later revealed that they believed she used it as a cover story to visit the homeless community in central Athens without worrying her friends.