US rape suspect accused of faking death, fleeing to Scotland is booked in Utah jail

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An American fugitive accused of faking his own death and fleeing the country to escape rape charges has been extradited from Scotland to Utah, where he was booked into jail, according to jail records.

Nicholas Rossi, 36, was booked Friday afternoon into the Davis County Jail on two felony rape charges, and will likely be transferred to Utah County to stand trial, according to the Utah County Attorney’s Office. A trial date has yet to be set.

Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, has been wanted in the 2008 sexual assault of a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, since a DNA test kit identified him as a suspect in 2018.

He is also facing a felony rape charge in the 2008 sexual assault of a 26-year-old former girlfriend, and has multiple other complaints against him in Rhode Island and Ohio for alleged domestic violence, sexual abuse and fraud.

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Nicholas Rossi pictured leaving Edinburgh Sheriff and Justice of the Peace Court in Scotland during his extradition hearing on June 30, 2023. (Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images, File)

Rossi allegedly faked his own death and fled the country, with an obituary published online claiming Rossi died Feb. 29, 2020, of late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 

The fugitive allegedly hid under at least 10 aliases during his time evading authorities. He was finally arrested in Scotland in 2021 after receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 and claiming he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight.

Rossi lost his extradition appeal and was taken into the custody of U.S. Marshals in December. On Friday, he was booked into a jail in Utah, where he is wanted on felony rape charges. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images, File)

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In August, a Scottish judge called Rossi “as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative” and ordered his extradition to the U.S. to move forward. 

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Rossi was taken into the custody of U.S. Marshals in December after losing an appeal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.