Man arrested over dying of British lady present in suitcase in Athens

A 26-year-old man has been arrested by Greek police in connection with the death of a British woman whose body was found in a suitcase in Athens last month.

“Officers of the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime have solved the homicide of a 38-year-old UK national, whose body was found inside a suitcase in an abandoned building in the Kypseli area on July 18,” the Hellenic Police said on Sunday.

Police say suspect confessed

The victim, identified in British and Greek media reports as 38-year-old Elisabeth-Jane Ross from Scotland, arrived in Greece in late June and was last known to be in the Athens area on July 10. She was later reported missing.

Police said the suspect, a foreign national, confessed on Thursday and now faces charges including intentional homicide, robbery and firearms-related offenses.

“It emerged that the [suspect] placed the body in a suitcase and transported it to the abandoned premises. Furthermore, in the days that followed, the 26-year-old used the victim’s bank cards to withdraw sums of money,” police said.

According to reports, the suspect said the victim was already dead when he found her, although police made no mention of this in their statement.

A replica pistol and a knife were recovered from the suspect’s home.

Greek police said international cooperation, including support from Interpol authorities in the US and UK law enforcement agencies, helped identify the victim despite advanced decomposition.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar

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