Nicholas Rossi admits he used the alias Arthur Knight as he faces rape trial

Rossi, who was arrested while being treated for COVID at a Glasgow hospital in December 2021, argued for years he was a victim of mistaken identity.

Thursday 17 October 2024 15:22, UK

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Rape suspect Nicholas Rossi - who fought extradition from Scotland to America after claiming to be the victim of mistaken identity - has admitted for the first time in court that he and alias Arthur Knight are the same person.

Rossi made the admission while giving evidence at a bail hearing in one of two separate rape cases he faces in Utah.

He denies fleeing from the US to the UK in 2017 and faking his death in a bid to escape arrest.

Rossi spoke in an American accent and told the hearing in Provo that after moving to Europe in 2017, he learned of credible threats against his life in 2020 so changed his name as a means to remain safe.

Rossi - also known as Nicholas Alahverdian and Nicholas Brown - was extradited to the US at the beginning of the year following a long-running legal battle in which he claimed to be Irish orphan Arthur Knight who had never set foot in America.

Rossi, who was arrested while being treated for COVID at a Glasgow hospital in December 2021, repeatedly argued he was a victim of mistaken identity.

In November 2022, Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled that his tattoos and fingerprints matched those of Rossi.

Rossi had previously argued that the tattoos must have been applied to his body while he was unconscious in hospital.

Rossi is facing charges of raping a 21-year-old woman in Orem in 2008 and raping a 26-year-old woman in Salt Lake County the same year.

During this latest hearing over the alleged rape of the 21-year-old, he once again pleaded not guilty and claimed he learned in 2020 through contacts he made while working in politics in Rhode Island that there were credible threats against his life.

Rossi had been an outspoken critic of Rhode Island's Department of Children, Youth and Families, testifying before state politicians about being sexually abused and tortured while in foster care as a child.

He implied the threats were related to his work to reform the foster care system but objected to revealing who was threatening him.

"I don't want to give a mouse cheese," he said.

Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan temporarily closed the courtroom to the public so Rossi could identify the source of the threats.

Rossi's comments came as his lawyers unsuccessfully tried to convince Judge Pullan that he was not a flight risk and that his bail should be lowered so he could be released from jail while facing prosecution.

Investigator Derek Coates testified Rossi left the US for Ireland in 2017 while a foundation he launched to help abused children was being investigated for suspected fraud in Ohio by the FBI.

Rossi had an Irish driver's licence using the name Nicholas Brown but police there confirmed it was a false identification using a stolen document, Mr Coates said.

Rossi depends on oxygen to breathe and uses a wheelchair as a result of his muscles reportedly becoming weakened by COVID. The defence team argued he should be let out of jail partly so he could get physical therapy to allow him to walk again.

Judge Pullan said Rossi's history, and the fact his wife in the UK periodically sends him money, make him believe he could be a flight risk despite his health problems.

The judge ordered that Rossi be held in jail without being able to post bail.

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