An American man who allegedly faked his own death to avoid rape charges was wheeled into court on a wheelchair after being extradited from Scotland.
Nicholas Rossi, also known as Nicholas Alahverdian and his alleged alias Arthur Knight, is facing two rape charges dating back to 2008, with one being heard in Utah court in a trial that began this week.
Prosecutors allege Rossi raped a former girlfriend, 26, in Salt Lake County back in 2008. He’s accused of raping another woman, 21, that same year in Ohio, and is suspected of several other attacks.
His appearance in court came as a Utah judge ruled that prosecutors had presented adequate evidence for Rossi to be tried for first-degree rape, days after another Utah judge came to the same conclusion for the second rape charge.
Rossi made headlines after he was arrested in Scotland in December 2021 while being treated for Covid-19 under the name Arthur Knight. He was exposed when his fingerprints were found to match those of Rossi, who had been sought by cops for a variety of crimes but was reported dead.
Alleged rapist Nicholas Rossi was wheeled into court Tuesday, where he was ordered to stand trial for a 2008 rape charge in Utah
Rossi made headlines in 2021 when he was accused of faking his own death the year before to flee rape charges, leading to a legal battle that led to his extradition from Scotland in 2023 (pictured that year)
Rossi maintained that his arrest was a case of mistaken identity since being apprehended in 2021.
But his attorneys finally dropped that fiction on August 22 as the first order for him to stand trial this month was made.
At a hearing on Tuesday, Rossi was wheeled into the courtroom in a blue prison jumpsuit, handcuffs and an oxygen mask.
The charges in this case stemmed from an alleged 2008 sex attack in Utah on a 21-year-old woman. Prosecutors said Rossi’s DNA was matched to an untested sexual assault kit that was only tested in 2018.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Orem Police Lt. Karalee Johnson testified that the re-testing of the kit was a match for Rossi, as she identified Rossie as the suspect in the courtroom wearing the oxygen mask, reports KSL.
Rossi’s alleged victim did not testify, however she was represented by a victim advocate who testified about the woman’s statement submitted to the judge.
Prosecutors allege Rossi raped a former girlfriend, 26, in Salt Lake County back in 2008. He’s accused of raping another woman, 21, that same year in Ohio
The alleged serial rapist has been locked up in Utah since his extradition from Scotland, however Rossi’s attorney said Tuesday that she intends to call witnesses to argue that he should no longer be kept in Utah County Jail.
While that hearing on Rossi’s bail is set for October 16, this month he was also ordered on August 22 to stand trial on another first-degree rape charge for an alleged attack in Salt Lake City in 2008.
Following the alleged attacks in Utah, prosecutors said Rossi moved to Rhode Island, where he grew up in the state’s foster care system.
In 2020, reports surfaced that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and died, however authorities were quick to question the legitimacy of his death as no death certificate could be found.
In July 2020, DNA allegedly linked him to a 2008 rape in Utah which is ultimately what led to his discovery in Scotland.
Mr. Rossi also goes by the aliases Nick Alahverdian, Nick Alan, Nicholas Brown and Arthur Brown. He was pictured in 2011, when he was campaigning against the state’s welfare system
Under the guise of Arthur Brown, Rossi is believed to have met his wife, Miranda Knight, in Bristol in 2019 and married her in early 2020, assuming the name Arthur Knight.
They moved to Glasgow shortly afterwards but in 2021, Rossi became so ill with Covid that he had to be hospitalized at the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
He stirred up confusion during his first court appearance in the US in January as he continued to speak in a British accent throughout the hearing and sported an oxygen mask that made it difficult to understand what he was saying.
Rossie is next scheduled for a bail hearing in the Salt Lake County case on October 16, the day before his bail hearing in Utah County.
