Μake us preferred on Google A newly released surveillance image appears to show the 26-year-old Afghan national accused of killing a 38-year-old British woman carrying a large suitcase believed by investigators to have contained the victim’s body shortly before it was abandoned in central Athens.
The image, obtained during the police investigation, allegedly shows the suspect walking along Evelpidon boulevard in the Kypseli district carrying a large travel suitcase and a blue bag of unknown contents.
The case emerged after the woman’s body was discovered on July 18 inside an abandoned parking garage in Kypseli, a densely populated district north of central Athens. According to the investigation, authorities pieced together the timeline using surveillance footage, mobile phone location data and a key witness statement.
Police say the victim had visited the suspect and his wife at their home in the Piraeus port district of Keratsini shortly before she was killed. The investigation took a decisive turn when the suspect’s wife approached police three days before the case was solved, alleging that her husband had confessed to the killing.
According to her testimony, the suspect claimed he killed the woman because he believed she was attempting to convert his wife to Christianity. During questioning, however, the defendant denied responsibility, telling investigators that he had found the victim already dead and disposed of her body to avoid becoming implicated while using her bank cards to withdraw money.
Investigators allege the suspect withdrew about 10,000 euros from the victim’s accounts before switching off her mobile phone several days after the killing. Police say he then obtained a new phone number and sent text messages to the victim’s acquaintances, his wife and even himself, falsely claiming to be a jihadist responsible for the murder in an apparent attempt to mislead investigators.
According to the investigation, the victim’s mobile phone was reactivated on July 19 in the mountain town of Arachova. Analysis of telecommunications data and surveillance footage allegedly placed the suspect there with his wife and their child.
Police also established that the victim had been staying since July 2 in a ground-floor apartment in the central Athens neighborhood of Exarchia – a counter-culture hub –to which both the suspect and his wife had access. The wife told investigators she noticed her husband was missing shortly after midnight on July 15 and, using a location-tracking application, determined that he was at the apartment where the victim had been staying. That discovery prompted her to contact authorities.
Investigators say surveillance cameras recorded the suspect arriving on Rethymnou Street on the evening of July 16 before leaving with a large suitcase. Additional footage allegedly shows him walking along nearby Evelpidon carrying the suitcase and a blue bag. Thirteen minutes later, he is seen leaving the area without either item, carrying only a light-colored backpack.
Over the past 72 hours, Greek authorities have continued to publicize new evidence from the investigation as prosecutors prepare the case against the suspect. The latest material, including surveillance images and the reconstruction of the suspect’s movements, has strengthened what investigators describe as a largely evidence-based case built on digital forensics, witness testimony and financial records. According to recent reporting, authorities are continuing to examine the suspect’s actions before and after the killing while reviewing additional forensic evidence collected during the investigation.
