An American fugitive who faked his death and fled to Scotland to escape justice has been found guilty of rape in the United States.
Nicholas Rossi, who appeared in court under his other name, Nicholas Alahverdian, had denied all charges.
The case relates to an attack in Salt Lake County but he still faces another trial for an alleged rape in Utah County, which is scheduled for September.
It took the jurors of four men and four women more than eight hours to reach their verdict. Rossi will be sentenced on 20 October and faces five years to life behind bars.
Rossi, who had previously been joking with his legal team, showed no emotion as the verdict was read out.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said: “We are grateful to the survivor in this case for her willingness to come forward, years after this attack took place.
“We appreciate her patience as we worked to bring the defendant back to Salt Lake County so that this trial could take place and she could get justice.
“It took courage and bravery to take the stand and confront her attacker to hold him accountable.”
The court had heard from the woman Rossi raped in Salt Lake County – referred to as MS.
She said they initially met online in 2008, began dating and were engaged after two weeks.
She said Rossi’s behaviour soon changed, that he became controlling, borrowed money from her, would not let her drive her own car and criticised her clothing.
The court heard the woman decided to end the relationship, at which point Rossi pushed her on the bed at his apartment and raped her.
The defence claimed the case was like a “puzzle from a thrift shop” as it has pieces missing and there is not a complete picture.
Getty ImagesThey claimed MS was resentful after losing money on the engagement rings and only spoke of the rape allegation after seeing Rossi in the news 13 years later.
The court then heard from the woman Rossi is accused of raping at his apartment in Orem, Utah County, who appeared as a witness in the current case – referred to as KP.
KP said she met Rossi on social networking site MySpace in August 2008, when she was 21, and they began a short relationship.
She told the court on one occasion, she woke up at Rossi’s apartment to find he had spent up to $400 (£296) on a computer using her credit card details without permission.
Rossi said he would pay her back but, after the relationship ended, admitted he did not have the money.
She said he then began performing a sex act on himself and when she tried to leave, Rossi pulled her clothing down and pinned her to a couch or other piece of furniture before raping her.
Rossi’s trial for allegedly raping KP is scheduled to start in Utah County next month is expected to last for two weeks.
Who is Nicholas Rossi?
Nicholas Rossi was born Nicholas Alahverdian in 1987 – Rossi was the name of his stepfather.
Under investigation for credit card fraud, he faked his own death in 2020 and fled the US in attempt to escape justice.
Authorities suspected he was somewhere in the UK.
That same year, Rossi married his wife Miranda in Bristol.
He caught the attention of the British press in December 2021 when he was arrested in the Covid ward of a hospital in Glasgow.
Staff had recognised his mugshot and distinctive tattoos from an Interpol wanted notice – but Rossi claimed he was the victim of mistaken identity and that his name was Arthur Knight, an Irish-born orphan who had never been to the US.
PA MediaLegal proceedings began, but dragged on largely due to Rossi’s antics.
He made a series of court appearances in a wheelchair, wearing a three-piece suit and an oxygen mask, maintaining his claim of mistaken identity.
Rossi insisted that he had been given his distinctive tattoos while he was lying unconscious in the Glasgow hospital in an attempt to frame him.
When asked by journalists, he has been unable to provide a birth certificate or passport.
He sacked several lawyers before a sheriff ruled he was Nicholas Rossi, and that his mistaken identity claim was “implausible” and fanciful”.
An order granting Rossi’s extradition to the US was signed by Scotland’s justice secretary in September 2023, and he was flown back to the US in January 2024 after losing his final appeal.
During a bail hearing in Salt Lake City last October, Rossi admitted for the first time that he and the alias Arthur Knight were the same person.
He denied fleeing to the UK to escape arrest, claiming that he had left the country and later used the alias in order to escape threats.
