- Nicholas Rossi, who is accused in Utah of faking death to avoid rape charges, denied being a suspect in court Tuesday.
- Rossi, also known as Nicholas Alaverdian, is accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, in 2008.
- Rossi is currently being held without bail in the case, with a detention hearing scheduled for January 26th.
A Utah man accused of faking his death and fleeing the United States to avoid rape charges denied in court Tuesday that he was the suspect and did not give his real name in an apparent British accent. He called it “complete hearsay.” ”
Nicholas Rossi, whose real name is Nicholas Alaverdyan, was charged with raping a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, in 2008, prosecutors said. He was not identified as a suspect until nearly a decade later, due to a backlog of DNA test kits at the Utah State Crime Lab.
Rossi, 36, was extradited from Scotland earlier this month. According to KSTU-TV, he identified himself as Arthur Knight Brown on Tuesday and gave his date of birth in British English (listing the day first, followed by the month and year), but Rossi reported to be different from that of
US rape suspect flees to Scotland on suspicion of faking death, sentenced to Utah prison
He appeared in court by video from prison wearing an oxygen mask but did not enter a plea at his first court appearance. His words were difficult to understand at times and I had to lift my mask to hear.
Nicholas Rossi will leave his post as Sheriff of Edinburgh and Justice of the Peace Court in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 12 July 2023. A U.S. fugitive charged with faking death to avoid a rape charge in Utah made his first court appearance in Salt Lake City on Jan. 16. 2024. (Andrew Milligan/Pennsylvania via AP)
Salt Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Tamara Vazuez said Rossi has not acknowledged his name or date of birth since returning to Utah.
“I disagree, ma'am, it's complete hearsay,” Rossi told the judge.
UK reports American fugitive faked his own death to avoid rape charges
Rossi will be jailed without the possibility of bail in the Orem case. The judge set a detention hearing for Jan. 26.
The judge said Mr. Rossi would be appointed a lawyer. He has, but his attorney said he has not received notice of Tuesday's hearing.
Rossi, who grew up in a foster home in Rhode Island, made a name for herself there as a vocal critic of the state's Department of Children, Youth and Families.
Four years ago, he told Rhode Island media that he had terminal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and had only weeks to live. His obituary published online states that he passed away on February 29, 2020.
American who faked death claims he was an Irish orphan and never visited the US to avoid extradition
Prosecutors say he used at least 10 different aliases over the years.
Authorities said his escape ended when he was arrested in December 2021 after someone recognized him while he was being treated for COVID-19 at a hospital in Glasgow, Scotland. He claimed to be an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight and that he had never set foot on American soil.
The man had claimed that police had his fingerprints taken while in a coma and that he was framed by authorities in order to link him to Rossi. He appeared in court multiple times in a wheelchair, used an oxygen mask and spoke with a distinctly British accent.
After a protracted legal battle, Judge Norman Macfadyen at Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled in August that the extradition could proceed. The judge described Rossi as “evasive and manipulative, as well as dishonest and deceitful.”
