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Nicholas Rossi: Rapist who faked death and fled to Scotland dies in US hospital

Paul McLarenBBC Scotland News
Utah Department of Corrections A man with black hair and a long black/grey beard has a breathing tube in his noseUtah Department of Corrections
Rossi pictured in his prison cell in Utah

Nicholas Rossi, the American rapist who faked his death and fled to Scotland in a bid to escape justice, has died in a US hospital.

The Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) said the 38-year-old had been suffering from "chronic, degenerative conditions".

It said Rossi died in a local hospital on Thursday after "he chose to remove himself from the care that was being provided".

Rossi was found guilty of raping two women in Utah in 2008 after two separate trials in 2024.

A UDC spokesman said: "Rossi was pronounced dead at a local hospital on Thursday, June 25, 2026, at 20:32.

"Rossi died from complications of an existing medical condition after choosing to discontinue medical treatment.

"This notification follows communication with Rossi's family and his victims."

PA Media Nicholas Rossi wearing all black. He has a white cuff on his left arm, which is raised in front of his face. His right arm is clutching a black notebook with a white A4 page sticking out of it. He is seated and has a grey-black beard and dark rimmed glasses on. He has dark hair pushed to the left.PA Media
Nicholas Rossi leaving Edinburgh Sheriff Court in 2023

Rossi was serving 10 years to life for crimes that included sexual assault.

He had fled to Scotland in 2021 in an attempt to evade justice but was arrested in the Covid ward of a Glasgow hospital.

Staff recognised his mugshot and distinctive tattoos from an Interpol wanted notice - but he claimed to be an Irish-born orphan called Arthur Knight, who had never been to America.

He gave an interview to the BBC, where he maintained his story - but could not produce a birth certificate or a passport.

The story of Nicholas Rossi, the US fugitive who faked his own death

Rossi continued to insist at a series of hearings at Edinburgh Sheriff Court - which he usually attended in an electric wheelchair, wearing an oxygen mask, hat and three-piece suit - that he was the victim of mistaken identity.

He was finally extradited to the US in January 2024, more than a year after the court had ruled that he was indeed Nicholas Rossi.

He was convicted in separate trials in August and September that year of raping two women in Utah in 2008.

Salt Lake County Attorney Sim Gill said that Rossi was a "sexual predator who tried to escape accountability".

He said: "He was caught and died with the public knowledge of his guilt, and the personal accountability of being in prison.

"The survivors of his heinous acts have the consolation that he died in prison with the knowledge of the crimes he committed."

Born Nicholas Alahverdian in Rhode Island in 1987, Rossi spent time in care as a teenager and went on to become a child welfare campaigner.

Reports of his death emerged in 2020, but the authorities suspected Rossi had fled to the UK after discovering that the FBI were investigating an alleged credit card fraud.

His online footprint ultimately led police to the hospital in Glasgow, where he was identified by staff.

Rossi insisted that he had been given his distinctive tattoos while he was lying unconscious in the hospital in an attempt to frame him.

PA Media A man in a pin-striped suit and bow tie with trilby hat and sunglasses gives a victory salutePA Media
Rossi regularly attended court hearings in Edinburgh wearing an oxygen mask

He sacked several lawyers before a sheriff eventually ruled in 2023 that he was Nicholas Rossi, and that his mistaken identity claim was "implausible" and fanciful".

He was flown back to America in January 2024 after failing to overturn the decision. Several months later, he admitted his real identity during a bail hearing in Salt Lake City.