Nicholas Rossi has been found guilty of rape by a Salt Lake County jury after allegedly faking his own death to avoid the charges. The 38-year-old was convicted Wednesday following a three-day trial for the 2008 sexual assault of a former girlfriend.
The jury of four men and four women deliberated for more than eight hours before reaching their verdict, according to the BBC. Rossi declined to testify in his own defence, with the decision announced just hours after he made this choice.
His accuser and her parents testified during the proceedings. Evidence included financial fraud charges involving unauthorised credit card use up to $400 alongside the sexual assault allegations, the BBC reports.
Elaborate deception scheme
Rossi allegedly faked his death on February 29, 2020, with an online obituary claiming he died of late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Police in Rhode Island, along with his former lawyer and a former foster family, cast doubt on whether he was actually dead.
He fled to Scotland using the false identity Arthur Knight, claiming to be an Irish orphan who was being framed. Under the initial guise of Arthur Brown, he met Miranda Knight in Bristol in 2019 and married her in early 2020, then assuming the name Arthur Knight.
The pair moved to Glasgow in 2021 where he claimed to be a professor teaching at the University of Glasgow. Miranda Knight's brother Kevin Knight told the Daily Record that she had been distraught when accusations came to light, believing police had the wrong man.
International arrest and extradition
Scottish authorities arrested Rossi in December 2021 while he was receiving Covid-19 treatment at a Glasgow hospital. Hospital staff recognised his distinctive tattoos from an Interpol notice, leading to his capture.
He was extradited to Utah in January 2024 after losing his final appeal in December 2023. Throughout the extradition proceedings, he maintained his false Irish identity, with Kevin Knight noting that Rossi had always spoken with a thick Irish accent and never spoke about his family.
Background and upcoming trials
Rossi was born Nicholas Alahverdian in Rhode Island in July 1987 and grew up in foster homes, according to the Independent. He became a vocal critic of the state's Department of Children, Youth and Families before allegedly fleeing to Ireland in 2019.
The conviction relates to a case that was delayed due to DNA testing backlogs at the Utah State Crime Lab. A sealed arrest warrant was issued in 2020, a decade after the alleged incident, once Rossi was identified as a suspect.
He will be sentenced on October 20 and faces a second rape trial in Utah County in September. The conviction marks the end of an extraordinary international manhunt involving fake death, false identity, and complex extradition proceedings.
Sources used: "PA Media", "Independent", "BBC", "Scotsman", "Daily Mail" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
