New details have come to light about the past of 26-year-old Afghan Sharif Ahmadzai, who is accused of murdering 38-year-old British woman Elizabeth Jane Ross in Ky, are coming to light, one day after he was remanded in custody.
The 26-year-old was remanded in custody yesterday in connection with the case, and during the arraignment proceedings, he chose to remain silent.
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Meanwhile, an American couple who had taken him under their wing when he was still a teenager on Lesbos say they are “devastated” by the charges he faces.
Speaking to the Daily Mail on condition of anonymity, the couple describes a teenager who, they claim, had never shown any signs of extreme violence, and says he cannot reconcile the person he met about a decade ago with the allegations being made against him today.
“When I heard the news, I couldn’t imagine it was true. Not in a million years,” said the woman, who broke down in tears while speaking about the 26-year-old. “It doesn’t seem real at all. I keep thinking I’ll wake up and it will all be a nightmare. I’m devastated. I can’t make sense of any of this. It’s as if I feel, for this boy—who is now a grown man—the love and affection of a mother,” she added.
They had taken him into their home after the fire in Moria
. The couple met Sharif Ahmadzai in 2016 on Lesbos. The two Americans were on the island at the time, participating in humanitarian work at the Moria camp. Ahmadzai was just 16 years old at the time and was working as a translator for aid organizations. According to the couple, he had lost his few belongings when the tent where he was living was destroyed by a fire that broke out in the camp.
“When the camp burned down, I took him and two other children home around five in the morning. He stayed; the others left,” the man recalls. “In a way, we kept him with us. We sort of adopted him,” he says.
Their relationship grew to the point where the young Afghan boy called the couple “Mom” and “Dad,” while their two sons essentially became his new family.
He stayed with them on Lesbos for nearly two years, until they returned to the U.S. The last time they say they saw him in person was during a trip to Europe in 2019.
“He had never shown any signs that he was capable of something like this”
The couple maintains that during the time Ahmadzai lived with them, he had not exhibited any behavior that would have led them to believe he was capable of extreme violence.
“Absolutely not,” replied the 26-year-old’s stepfather when asked if he had ever imagined that the young man he was hosting could be involved in such a case. “He had his problems, like everyone else. There were difficult moments, but they were usually a reaction to times when he felt sorry for himself,” he said.
His wife described his behavior during that period as “normal teenage stuff,” while also noting that Ahmadi had gone through particularly traumatic experiences.
The man, however, admits that many years have passed since then and that the person he knew may have changed. “Anything I say is speculation. But I’m almost certain that the Sharif I knew as a teenager is not the Sharif of today,” he said.
The Journey from Afghanistan to Lesbos
Ahmadzai had previously spoken publicly about his life and the journey that led him from Afghanistan to Greece. According to his own account, he lost his entire family in his home country.
His father and one of his brothers were killed by the Taliban, while his mother, sister, and another brother lost their lives in a suicide bombing.
He left Kabul and followed the migration route through Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey, claiming that he spent a total of 45 days traveling and walking under extremely difficult conditions.
As he recounted, two of his attempts to reach Greece from Turkey by sea failed, as the boats he was on sank. He finally arrived on Lesbos in 2016 and settled in Moria.
He later converted to Christianity and became active in Christian humanitarian organizations.
It was in this same environment that he met his wife, 28-year-old American Alaina Hall, who had traveled to Greece to do volunteer work. According to the couple who had hosted Ahmadzai, the two began dating in 2021 and got married two years later. Last April, they welcomed their first child.
Ahmadzai and his wife met 38-year-old Elizabeth Jane Ross through their Christian humanitarian work.
Ross, a Christian missionary, was in Greece doing volunteer work. According to reports, the apartment where she was staying in Athens belonged to the organization Love Every Nation Athens, and the 26-year-old man and his wife had access to the property.
Ahmadzai is accused of killing the 38-year-old woman on July 15 and then placing her body in a suitcase, which he allegedly transported and abandoned in a derelict building in Athens.
According to what has emerged about the investigation, his wife is said to have played a decisive role in the developments, as she contacted Greek authorities when she began to find his behavior suspicious.
She reportedly discovered that her husband had left their home in the middle of the night and tracked him down to the apartment where the 38-year-old woman was staying. After the body was found, according to the same reports, the young woman left their home with their baby.
The 26-year-old’s initial account and his silence during his testimony
Prior to his testimony, the 26-year-old had denied killing the 38-year-old woman.
According to what had been reported regarding his statement to the police, he claimed that he found the woman already dead and that he then panicked, taking actions he was unable to explain convincingly.
“I’ve never hurt anyone. I want you to understand me and believe me. I just panicked,” he reportedly said.
Yesterday, however, before the judicial authorities, the 26-year-old chose to exercise his right to remain silent, and after the proceedings concluded, he was remanded in custody.
Now, the judicial investigation is tasked with shedding light on the exact circumstances under which the 38-year-old woman lost her life, as well as the events that took place before and after her death.
