Faked-death rapist Nicholas Rossi dies in Utah hospital

Nicholas Rossi, who faked his own death and fled to Scotland to avoid rape charges, has died in a Utah hospital from illness-related complications.

Faked-death rapist Nicholas Rossi dies in Utah hospital

Nicholas Rossi, a 38-year-old American who faked his own death and fled from the United States to Scotland to evade rape charges, has died in a hospital in Utah. Iltalehti reports the news, citing Sky News.

According to the Utah Department of Corrections, Rossi died from complications related to illness after declining further medical treatment. Authorities informed the public of his death only after discussions with both his family and his victims.

Rossi was convicted last year of raping two women in Utah in 2008. The minimum sentence was ten years, and he could have faced life imprisonment.

After the charges were filed, Rossi staged his death. An obituary published in February 2020 claimed he had died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In reality, he was alive and hiding in Scotland.

He posed as an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight. Investigators say he used more than a dozen aliases over the years to avoid capture.

Rossi was finally arrested in 2021 when hospital staff in Glasgow identified him by his tattoos while he was being treated for COVID-19. He was extradited to the United States only in January 2024 following a lengthy legal battle.

During the trial, one of his victims described the lasting impact of his crimes as leaving behind a trail of "fear, pain, and destruction."

Source: Iltalehti