ATHENS, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A 26-year old professional boxer from Afghanistan accused of killing a Scottish woman whose body was found in a suitcase in central Athens last month appeared in court on Wednesday.
Police have identified the victim as Elisabeth Jane Ross, 38, an aid worker who had been missing since July 15.
Ross' body was found on July 18 wrapped in black fabric, in a green suitcase left in an abandoned construction site in the busy Kypseli neighbourhood, where the suspect lived.
A post-mortem examination could not determine the cause of death due to decomposition, but did not rule out asphyxiation, a police official said.
The suspect, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is in custody but denies the murder accusations, the official added.
He is a professional boxer involved in volunteer work, his wife told police in testimony reviewed by Reuters. He was born in Afghanistan and had been granted asylum, a second police official said.
The police case was driven by the testimony from his wife and from mobile phone tracking data and CCTV footage including of the suspect allegedly walking with a suitcase on July 16 near where the body was found, the two officials said.
He was arrested on Sunday and appeared in court on Wednesday as a first chance to respond to the charges of manslaughter, robbery and illegal gun possession after police found a knife and a replica pistol in his apartment, the officials said. Those charges could change as the case develops.
The suspect left the Athens court on Wednesday after judges gave him a 24-hour extension to respond to the charges. He was escorted into an unmarked car by masked policemen and will return to court on Thursday morning, a legal source said.
He told police earlier this week that he found Ross's body in an apartment bathroom, panicked, placed it in a suitcase and tried to dispose of it.
Ross, a certified psychotherapist and volunteer aid worker with Christian and refugee organisations, arrived in Greece on June 29, one of the officials said.
She initially stayed at a friend's flat in Piraeus before moving to a central Athens flat managed by a non-governmental organisation. The suspect and his 28-year-old wife, a U.S. national, held keys to the flat.
On July 15, Ross planned to return to her friend's home in Piraeus. No one in her circle had seen or spoken to her since then.
Police allege that the suspect used Ross's bank card to withdraw money after her death and may have used her phone to send messages suggesting she was alive.
Judges will likely rule on Thursday whether he will be freed or jailed pending trial.
(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis and Renee Maltezou; Editing by Edward McAllister and Lincoln Feast.)
