Details of the sexual assault case against US suspect Nicholas Rossi have been revealed for the first time after he was extradited from Scotland despite claiming for years that he is the victim of mistaken identity.
Court filings obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com confirm Rossi, who is alleged to have faked his death and fled to the UK to evade justice, was wanted for one count of first-degree felony rape after allegedly ‘forcing’ himself on his 21-year-old former girlfriend and penetrating her, during an incident in Orem, Utah in 2008.
Up until now, there had never been an official public version of events because Rossi has insisted he is an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight, even after his identity was confirmed through DNA and distinctive tattoos when he was on the run.
A probable cause statement submitted in the filings reveals the victim, identified only by initials ‘K.P.’, reported to a local hospital in September 2008 that she had been raped by her ex-boyfriend, identified as Rossi.
According to the woman, the pair initially met on Myspace four months earlier in July before meeting in person for the first time about two weeks later.
Nicholas Rossi, pictured after his extradition in Edinburgh, Scotland in July, was finally booked into a Utah jail last week after a years-long legal battle
Court filings reveal Rossi (pictured left in 2008 and right in 2010) has been linked to criminal cases of sexual assault, harassment, and possible kidnapping from 2007 to 2019 in Rhode Island, Ohio, Utah, and Massachusetts
Court filings obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com confirm Rossi was wanted for one count of first-degree felony rape after allegedly ‘forcing’ himself on his 21-year-old former girlfriend and penetrating her, during an incident in Orem, Utah in 2008
She confirmed they had been ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ but explained that Rossi had been getting ‘more rough with her’ during sex, leaving her with bruises on her legs, and that he had ‘bit her on the shoulder’, the papers state.
She also described one incident when she felt hesitant to have intercourse and claimed Rossi told her that it ‘turned him on’ when she was ‘kinda reluctant to have sex with him.’
The woman said the relationship ended ‘two weeks before school started’, blaming the breakup on the ‘amount of money’ Rossi owed her and his increasingly ‘aggressive’ behavior.
She said Rossi later invited her over on September 13, indicating that he would pay her the money he owed her.
But during that meeting, Rossi allegedly unzipped his pants, exposed his penis, and ‘started to masturbate in front of K.P.’ before attempting to ‘dry hump’ her,’ according to the documents.
After she told him to stop, she told police, Rossi then pushed her onto the couch and removed her clothes.
She said she had told him ‘no’ at least ’10 times’ and ‘described crying during this,’ according to the filing.
It was then that Rossi allegedly ‘forced intercourse’ and eventually ejaculated.
According to the woman, Rossi allegedly told her this was her fault because she is ‘mentally unstable and too emotional to deal with.’
She also claimed that Rossi at one point blocked the door to prevent her from leaving, and that she was eventually able to run out when he got ‘distracted’ by a text message.
DailyMail.com can confirm Rossi was booked into Davis County Jail last Friday
Rossi – who appeared throughout his court dates in a wheelchair, using an oxygen mask – was extradited to the US on rape charges after allegedly faking his death and fleeing to the UK
The 36-year-old was previously interviewed alongside his wife, Miranda Knight, whom he met in Bristol after fleeing to the UK to escape allegations of sexual assault in the US
A rape kit was later completed and in 2018 Orem police were notified that the DNA swabs matched Rossi.
The documents also reveal that during their investigation, police located reports involving criminal cases of sexual assault, harassment, and possible kidnapping from 2007 to 2019 in Rhode Island, Ohio, Utah, and Massachusetts.
They also uncovered a ‘consistent pattern of behavior’ by Rossi, who had an apparent habit of meeting women online, and initially meeting them in person in a public place.
‘Eventually both Rossi and the female will go somewhere alone. Rossi will initiate some inappropriate contact leading the female to want to leave. Rossi either will threaten suicide or will force a non-consensual encounter,’ the papers state.
Rossi’s extradition last week marks a dramatic breakthrough in the years-long legal battle, which had been stymied by a backlog of DNA test kits at the Utah State Crime Lab, resulting in a 13-year delay of the suspect’s arrest.
The 36-year-old, who has used at least 10 aliases in his run from the law, was booked last Friday afternoon into the Davis County Jail, which houses many federal detainees in northern Utah.
Rossi will likely be transferred to Utah County in the coming days, where he will stand trial for felony rape charges, according to the Utah County Attorney’s Office.
He faces another felony rape charge in Salt Lake County, where prosecutors say he sexually assaulted a 26-year-old former girlfriend after an argument, also in 2008.
His initial court date had not been set as of Monday and records did not yet indicate who will represent him in court.
Scottish ministers signed an order in September last year giving permission for Nicholas Rossi, 36, to be extradited.
Last month, appeal judges had quashed Rossi’s bid to avoid extradition, paving the way for him to be removed from Scotland to face serious sex charges in the US.
Police believe Rossi staged his own death in 2020 to escape sex and fraud charges
Rossi appeared at the court by video link in August after claiming to be unwell
Nicholas Rossi as a child sitting on his stepfather’s motorbike in Providence, Rhode Island
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: ‘We assisted partner agencies with the extradition of a 36-year-old man.’
The order followed a battle in Scotland’s courts in which Rossi was ruled to be wanted by authorities in Utah for the alleged rape of a woman in 2008.
Officials in the US believe he is a fugitive who faked his death and fled to the UK to evade justice.
But Rossi has repeatedly claimed he is the victim of mistaken identity and says he is an Irish orphan called Arthur Knight.
The suspect, who was born Nicholas Alahverdian before changing his surname to that of his adoptive stepfather, David Rossi – claimed he had been diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in late 2019 and told friends he was dying.
An obituary appeared online for Rossi in early 2020 saying he had died and that his ashes had been scattered at sea.
But the following year he was arrested in a Covid hospital ward in Scotland, where he was registered as Arthur Knight.
It was then ruled that the fugitive – who appeared throughout his court dates in a wheelchair, using an oxygen mask – is indeed Rossi after he was identified through DNA and distinctive tattoos, which were described in an Interpol alert.
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.
In July 2020, DNA allegedly linked him to a 2008 rape in Utah which is ultimately what led to his discovery in Scotland.
He was arrested on December 13, 2021 at the Glasgow hospital by police officers who served him with an Interpol red notice.
With the assistance of medical staff at the hospital, the patient initially named as Arthur Knight was identified as Rossi, but he has continued to insist he is not the suspect.
In one interview with Dateline, Rossi is seen speaking in what appears to be an English accent and he angrily insists he is a British man called Arthur Knight.
He also theatrically tried standing to prove that he was unable to walk before throwing himself back down.
Rossi appeared alongside his wife British wife, Miranda who shouted: ‘Woah’, before trying to stabilize him.
‘I am not Nicholas Alahverdian. I do not know how to make this clearer,’ he told NBC in a bizarre accent, muffled by an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose.
In court appearances, he has maintained his pained English accent, with an Irish lilt whenever he mentions the word Dublin, where he claims to have been born.
Miranda has continued to stand by her husband’s side since he was first arrested in December 2021.
‘I’m here with Arthur,’ she told the Daily Record in February. ‘I know my husband, I love my husband, and he’s always been the perfect gentleman to me and he’s always wanted the best for me.’
Last year, his stepfather, David Rossi – an Engelbert Humperdinck impersonator – revealed an old photograph of a floppy-haired teenager on a motorcycle, who, despite lacking a breathing aide and looking many pounds lighter, bears a striking resemblance to the man in court.
In a wide-ranging interview, he described his estranged stepson as ‘the devil’s spawn’ and said he was an ‘evil’ child who punched his mother and grandmother.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘He’ll do anything to hide from the law. The wheelchair, the mask. It’s c**p. There’s nothing wrong with him. Everything about him is Nicky.
‘My first impression of Nicky was that he had mental problems. He just got worse with every day.’
Who is Nicholas Rossi?
Nicholas Rossi was born as Nicholas Alahverdian in Providence, Rhode Island, in July 1987 to mother Diana Alahverdian and father Jack Alahverdian, according to reports in US newspaper The Providence Journal.
He was adopted by his stepfather David Rossi, and changed his surname to Rossi.
Rossi had a turbulent childhood and left his family home as a teenager, spending much of his adolescence in Rhode Island’s Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) care facilities.
He spoke out against the conditions in care, claiming to have suffered abuse and neglect and he made a name for himself by campaigning to improve facilities for children living in the state’s care.
In 2008, Rossi was convicted of sexually assaulting a student while attending a community college in Ohio. He was placed on the sex offenders register as a result.
Rossi claimed he had been diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in late 2019 and around this time, friends in the media and politics say they began receiving calls from him to say he was dying.
An obituary appeared online for Rossi in early 2020 saying he had died and that his ashes had been scattered at sea.
Rossi departs Edinburgh Sheriff and Justice of the Peace Court after an extradition hearing on July 11
What is Rossi accused of?
Rossi is wanted in the US for allegedly raping a woman in Utah in 2008 and also faces domestic abuse charges.
Authorities say he faked his own death in order to evade charges in the US.
What happened next?
It is unclear when Rossi left the US for the UK, as he continues to insist he Irish orphan Arthur Knight.
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-19 that he had to be hospitalised at the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
How was Rossi caught?
In July 2020, DNA allegedly linked him to a 2008 rape in Utah which is ultimately what led to his discovery in Scotland.
He was arrested on December 13, 2021 at the Glasgow hospital by police officers who served him with an Interpol red notice.
With the assistance of medical staff at the hospital, the patient initially named as Arthur Knight was identified as Rossi.
What is Rossi’s version of events?
There has never been an official version of events from Rossi because he continues to insist he is Arthur Knight and that the authorities have the wrong man.
In court appearances, he has maintained his pained English accent, with an Irish lilt whenever he mentions the word Dublin, where he claims to have been born.
In his latest interview with The Times, as Arthur Knight, he said he wanted the ‘real’ Rossi to come forward to ‘save my wife and me from this mess’.
