Nicholas Rossi given five-year stretch after fleeing justice by faking his death | World | News
A sex offender who apparently faked his own death and fled the US to avoid capture has finally been jailed. American Nicholas Rossi, who incredibly claimed to be an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight, has been sentenced to five years in prison for his vile attacks.
Nicholas Rossi has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence in the 17 years since he sexually assaulted two women, even suggesting the victims had made up their own stories before sentencing yesterday. He was captured in Scotland 13 years after the attacks, after fleeing the US.
An online obituary previously claimed that Rossi succumbed to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer, just months before his arrest.
But Rossi, 38, was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday after District Judge Barry Lawrence of Salt Lake City, Utah, heard of the “trail of fear, pain and devastation” left behind by the attacks in the state in 2008. Testifying in court, one of the survivors said: “This is not a demand for revenge. This is a demand for safety and accountability in recognition of the harm that will never be fully realized.” to improve.”
Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Brandon Simmons told the court that Rossi, who had three failed marriages, “used rape to control women” and posed a threat to public safety.
Rossi did not testify on his own behalf during his trial. Given the opportunity to speak before his sentencing on Monday, Rossi continued to maintain his innocence.
Rossi, legally known as Nicholas Alahverdian, said: “This is not my fault. These women are lying.”
The defendant was convicted and imprisoned for one of the attacks; The sentence for the other rape, which also occurred in Utah in 2008, was set for November 4.
More than a decade passed from the time of the rape to his conviction. The search for Rossi began in 2018 when Utah authorities identified her through a decade-old DNA rape kit linked to the other case.
He was among thousands of rape suspects identified and later charged amid efforts to clear Utah’s backlog of rape kits. Months after he was charged in the case, an online obituary claimed Rossi had died, but police in his native Rhode Island, along with his former attorney and previous foster family, cast doubt on whether he was actually dead.
Rossi was arrested the following year while being treated for COVID-19 in Scotland, after hospital staff recognized his distinctive tattoos (including the Brown University crest drawn on his shoulder, although he had never attended) from an Interpol notice.
He was extradited to Utah in January 2024 after a protracted court battle. At the time, Rossi insisted that he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who had been slandered.
Investigators say they have identified at least a dozen aliases Rossi used to evade capture over the years.
At his first trial in Utah, Rossi’s lawyer denied the rape allegation and urged jurors not to comment too much about his move abroad. But the jury found Rossi guilty of rape on Monday.
