Nicholas Rossi, the American rapist who faked his own death and fled to Scotland in an attempt to escape justice, has died.
The Utah Department of Corrections confirmed that the 38-year-old died at around 8.30pm on Thursday night while in a local hospital.
They confirmed that he died from complications of an existing medical condition after choosing to discontinue medical treatment.
A statement confirmed Rossi’s victims and his family had been notified of his death.
At the time of his death, Rossi was serving a cumulative sentence of ten years to life for two counts of First Degree Felony Rape.
STV NewsRossi was jailed in 2025 after he was convicted of raping a woman he was previously engaged to in Salt Lake City in 2008.
He was also found guilty of raping a second woman in Orem, Utah, in September 2008.
At the time of his death, he was just months into his ten year jail-term, which was to be served at Utah Correctional Facility.
Rossi was arrested in Glasgow in December 2021, while a Covid patient at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, after staff identified his distinctive tattoos from an Interpol “wanted” notice.
At the time, and for years after, he insisted he was the victim of mistaken identity – when in fact he was the man authorities were looking for.
In January 2024, Rossi was extradited following lengthy proceedings in Edinburgh.
During his sentencing last November, Rossi was described as a serial sex offender whose “future dangerousness to others” was clear.
The court heard how Rossi had dated a woman for a short period. After splitting up, the woman visited Rossi’s flat to ask for money that he owed her.
Rossi, who appeared in court under his other name Nicholas Alahverdian, didn’t have the money and prevented his ex-girlfriend from leaving the flat, going on to rape her.
The investigation was initially dismissed, however, the rape kit was eventually retested in 2018, identifying Rossi as the assailant – but he’d already faked his death and fled to the UK.
Investigators tracked him from state to state, first to Bristol in 2020, where he was pretending to be an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight.
Rossi eventually admitted his true identity in a Utah court, confirming he was born with the name Nicholas Alahverdian in a hearing to determine bail in one of the charges of rape.
He claimed he used the alias Arthur Knight after receiving “credible threats”.
For more on this long-running story, watch Who is Nicholas Rossi on the STV News website.
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