Man Who Faked His Own Death, Fled US To Avoid Charges Was Convicted Of Rape

Nicholas Rossi, a man accused of faking his death and fleeing the United States to avoid rape charges, was found guilty of first-degree felony rape on Wednesday (August 13) in Salt Lake County, Utah. The verdict came after a three-day trial in which the accuser and her parents testified. Rossi, 38, declined to testify on his own behalf and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 20, facing five years to life in prison under Utah law. He is also set to stand trial in September for another rape charge in Utah County.

The case stems from a 2008 incident where the victim, recovering from a traumatic brain injury, met Rossi through a personal ad. Their relationship quickly progressed to an engagement, but the victim testified that Rossi became hostile and raped her. She did not report the incident initially due to her parents' dismissive comments but decided to come forward after seeing news of Rossi's other alleged crimes.

Authorities identified Rossi from a decade-old DNA rape kit in 2018, as Utah worked to clear its rape kit backlog. Rossi was extradited from Scotland in January 2024 after hospital staff recognized his tattoos from an Interpol notice. Rossi had claimed to be an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight and used multiple aliases to evade capture.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill praised the victim's courage in coming forward, stating, "It took courage and bravery to take the stand and confront her attacker to hold him accountable."