Utah rape case.A man who faked his own death and fled the U.S. to avoid rape charges is the man identified in the case during an online court appearance from prison Tuesday.
Nicholas Rossi, 36, appeared without explanation after missing two court dates in January. after the Utah 4th District Judge Derek Pullen in Provo allowed jail officials to use reasonable force to show him, Rossi made his initial appearance sitting behind a green gas tank and wearing an oxygen mask.
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Pullen asked Rossi if he had received the charging document accusing him of raping a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, in 2008.
“For the record I’m not Nicolas Russi,” he replied in a sullen voice with a British accent. “But I’ve got the document.”
Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, used several aliases and said he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who never set foot on American soil. He did not provide his identity Tuesday, and Pullen did not ask before his next court appearance was scheduled for March 5.
Rossi lost an appeal against his extradition to Scotland. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Rossi made similar claims at a court hearing in January. He was handed over to America. Scotland Earlier this month
Rossi was not identified as a suspect in the Orem rape for nearly a decade because of a backlog of DNA test kits at the Utah State Crime Lab. He also faces a felony charge in Salt Lake County, where prosecutors allege he also raped a 26-year-old ex-girlfriend in 2008 after an argument.
He faces numerous other allegations of domestic violence, sexual assault and fraud in Rhode Island and Ohio.
The American fugitive grew up in foster homes in Rhode Island and reportedly returned to the state before claiming his own death and fleeing the country. An obituary published online claimed that Rossi died on February 29, 2020, of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Authorities and her former foster family suspected her death.
Rossi was arrested. Scotland 2021 after being recognized while being treated for COVID-19 in a Glasgow hospital. He lost an extradition appeal in December.