Fugitive Nicholas Rossi found guilty of second rape in US

Nicholas Rossi leaving Edinburgh Sheriff Court in 2023

An American fugitive who faked his death and fled to Scotland to escape justice has been found guilty of a second rape in the United States.

Nicholas Rossi, 38, had denied sexually assaulting his victim in 2008 after refusing to let her leave his home.

According to local news outlets in Utah, Rossi was convicted by a jury in the city of Provo following a week-long trial.

Last month he was convicted of another first degree felony rape in a separate case in Salt Lake County, which also dated back to 2008.

Rossi will be sentenced for the first rape conviction on 20 October and faces five years to life behind bars.

Rossi made a series of bizarre court appearances in the UK

Rossi, who was born Nicholas Alahverdian, came to UK media attention after he faked his own death in 2020 and fled a US investigation into credit card fraud.

In December 2021 he was arrested in the Covid ward of a hospital in Glasgow.

Staff had recognised his mugshot and distinctive tattoos from an Interpol wanted notice.

Rossi claimed he was the victim of mistaken identity and that his name was Arthur Knight - an Irish-born orphan who had never been to the US.

He made a series of bizarre court appearances in Scotland - in a wheelchair, wearing a three-piece suit and an oxygen mask, maintaining his claim of mistaken identity.

An order granting Rossi's extradition to the US was signed by Scotland's justice secretary in September 2023.

He was flown back to the US in January 2024 after losing his final appeal.