Major update in case of man who faked his own death and fled US to avoid rape charges

A man who allegedly faked his own death and fled the United States to avoid facing court over rape charges will stand trial.

Nicholas Rossi, 37, was extradited to the US in January after two years of fighting the orders in Scotland, where he was arrested in 2021. 

Prosecutors allege Rossi raped a former girlfriend, 26, in Salt Lake County back in 2008. He's accused of raping another woman, 21, that same year in Ohio.

Court documents from Utah County reveal he is accused of sexual assault, harassment and possible kidnapping, NBC News reported.

He appeared in court on Thursday, where he was told by District Judge Barry Lawrence that prosecutors had presented enough evidence to proceed to a jury trial.

Nicholas Rossi, 37, was extradited to the US in January after two years of fighting the orders in Scotland, where he was arrested in 2021

Prosecutors allege Rossi raped a former girlfriend, 26, in Salt Lake County back in 2008. He's accused of raping another woman, 21, that same year in Ohio

At the time of his arrest in Glasgow in 2021 - at a hospital where he was receiving treatment for Covid - Rossi claimed it was a case of mistaken identity.

He said his name was Arthur Knight, born in Ireland and orphaned. He insisted he'd never stepped foot on US soil.

Scottish judges rejected those assertions.

In reality, prosecutors allege Rossi grew up in foster homes in Rhode Island and returned there before faking his death via an obituary published online.

That obituary stated Rossi died in February 2020 of late-stage non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. 

In July 2020, DNA allegedly linked him to a 2008 rape in Utah which is ultimately what led to his discovery in Scotland. 

Under the guise of Arthur Brown, Rossi is believed to have met his wife, Miranda Knight, in Bristol in 2019 and married her in early 2020, assuming the name Arthur Knight.

They moved to Glasgow shortly afterwards but in 2021, Rossi became so ill with Covid that he had to be hospitalized at the city's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Mr. Rossi also goes by the aliases Nick Alahverdian, Nick Alan, Nicholas Brown and Arthur Brown. 

Mr. Rossi also goes by the aliases Nick Alahverdian, Nick Alan, Nicholas Brown and Arthur Brown. He was pictured in 2011 introducing a bill to perform the child welfare system in Rhode Island

He stirred up confusion during his first court appearance in the US in January as he continued to speak in a British accent throughout the hearing and sported an oxygen mask that made it difficult to understand what he was saying.

He is awaiting trial in Utah. He will reappear in court on October 17 for a bail hearing.