Nicholas Rossi prosecutor buys Scottish castle
- Published
The sale of Knockderry Castle brings an end to a struggle lasting two decades
The US prosecutor behind efforts to extradite US fugitive Nicholas Rossi has been revealed as the new owner of a controversial Scottish castle.
Utah lawyer David Leavitt said he and wife Chelom would spend the next few years restoring Knockderry Castle in Argyll and Bute.
The Victorian mansion was sold for more than £1.15m after its former owners were evicted following a 22-year legal battle.
The row started over a £230 bill.
Mr Leavitt told BBC Scotland a decade-long fantasy to buy, restore and ultimately live in a Scottish castle led him and his wife to purchase Knockderry.
Speaking on his return to Utah after his latest visit to Scotland he said: "My wife and I have been looking at Scottish castles for at least a decade."
"It just so happened that the particular characteristics of Knockderry spoke to us in a way that prompted us to act. We like the fact that it's right next to the loch. We like the history and it met all of our criteria."
David Leavitt stepped down as Utah County Attorney in January after being voted out in an election last summer.
He described the Nicholas Rossi case as "one of the most important" he worked on during his time in the role.
Mr Leavitt filed charges against Mr Rossi after identifying him as a suspect in a 2008 rape case.
Extradition proceedings began after Mr Rossi was discovered in the Covid ward of a Glasgow hospital in December 2021 having moved to Scotland after attempting to fake his own death.
Following his arrest, the man claimed to be an Irish orphan called Arthur Knight and insisted he was the victim of mistaken identity.
However, last November a sheriff ruled he was Nicholas Rossi and the court will decide next month whether or not to send the 35-year-old back to the United States to face charges.
David Leavitt said finding himself at the centre of not one, but two high-profile stories was "mind boggling".
Nicholas Rossi claimed to be a man called Arthur Knight when he was arrested in hospital in Glasgow
"When my wife and I saw the top stories from the BBC in Scotland in 2022 we were dumbfounded to find that we were part of two of them," he said.
"I don't know what to make of it except that sometimes life is stranger than fiction."
The expectation that people would quickly make the connection with the Rossi case caused the Leavitt's to think twice about buying Knockderry Castle.
Another cause for concern was the property's troubled recent history, explored in the BBC iPlayer documentary Battle For The Castle.
Previous owner Marian Van Overwaele was evicted last March following a 22-year sequestration case.
Marian Van Overwaele was initially taken to court over a bill for repairs at her bridalwear store in Helensburgh
She was initially taken to civil court in 1996 over an invoice for property repairs.
As she fought the case her legal fees and outlays grew to more than £1m.
She claimed to have been the victim of "conspiracy" and a miscarriage of justice, a claim denied by lawyers and accountants attempting to liquidate her assets.
David Leavitt said he was close to walking away from the sale after discovering more about the background to the case.
'Preserve for future generations'
"I think it's a tragedy and my heart goes out to her," he said.
"We also know that someone is either going to buy this castle or it is going to continue to deteriorate in value.
"In the end we concluded to purchase the castle not out of any desire to take advantage of someone who's been through lots of trouble but in a way to preserve the castle for future generations."
The Leavitt family insurance firm is the source of considerable private wealth for David and his wife Chelom who is a professor at Brigham Young University.
The couple said they did not know how much it would cost to restore Knockderry castle but were now documenting their efforts in an online blog.
"It's going to take a number of years," Mr Leavitt said. "The way we're approaching this is that we're not going to do a half-baked job on the restoration but we're not going to make it the Taj Mahal either."