An American man who allegedly faked his own death to avoid rape charges was wheeled into court in a wheelchair after being extradited from Scotland.
Nicholas Rossi, also known as Nicholas Alahverdian and his alleged alias Arthur Knight, faces two rape charges dating back to 2008, one of which is being heard in a Utah court in a trial that began this week.
Prosecutors allege Rossi raped a 26-year-old ex-girlfriend in Salt Lake County in 2008. He is accused of raping another woman, 21, that same year in Ohio, and is suspected of several other attacks.
His court appearance came as a Utah judge ruled that prosecutors had presented adequate evidence for Rossi to stand trial on a first-degree rape charge, days after another Utah judge reached the same conclusion on the second rape charge.
Rossi made headlines after being arrested in Scotland in December 2021 while receiving treatment for Covid-19 under the name Arthur Knight. His identity was exposed when it was discovered that his fingerprints matched those of Rossi, who was wanted by police for various crimes but was reported dead.
Alleged rapist Nicholas Rossi was wheeled into court in a wheelchair Tuesday, where he was ordered to stand trial on a 2008 rape charge in Utah.
Rossi made headlines in 2021 when he was accused of faking his own death the previous year to flee rape charges, leading to a legal battle that led to his extradition from Scotland in 2023 (pictured that year).
Rossi claimed his arrest was a case of mistaken identity as he was detained in 2021.
But his lawyers finally abandoned that fiction on August 22 when the first order was issued for him to stand trial this month.
At a hearing on Tuesday, Rossi was led into the courtroom wearing a blue prison jumpsuit, handcuffs and an oxygen mask.
The charges in this case stemmed from an alleged 2008 sexual assault in Utah against a 21-year-old woman. Prosecutors said Rossi’s DNA matched an untested sexual assault kit that was only tested in 2018.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Orem Police Lt. Karalee Johnson testified that the new evidence from the kit matched Rossi’s, as it identified Rossie as the suspect in the courtroom wearing the oxygen mask, KSL reports.
Rossi’s alleged victim did not testify, but was represented by a victim advocate who testified about the woman’s statement to the judge.
Prosecutors allege Rossi raped a 26-year-old ex-girlfriend in Salt Lake County in 2008. He is 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, but Rossi’s attorney said Tuesday he intends to call witnesses to argue that he should no longer remain in the Utah County jail.
While Rossi’s bail hearing is set for Oct. 16, he was also ordered this month to stand trial on Aug. 22 on another charge of first-degree rape 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 emerged that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin 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, ultimately leading to his discovery in Scotland.
Mr Rossi also uses the aliases Nick Alahverdian, Nick Alan, Nicholas Brown and Arthur Brown. He was photographed in 2011, when he was campaigning against the state welfare system.
Under the name 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 after, but in 2021, Rossi became so ill with Covid that he had to be hospitalised at the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
He caused confusion during his first appearance in a US court in January, as he continued to speak with a British accent throughout the hearing and wore an oxygen mask that made it difficult to understand what he was saying.
Rossie’s next bond hearing in the Salt Lake County case is scheduled for Oct. 16, the day before his bond hearing in Utah County.
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