A MAN accused of faking his own death to escape a court appearance, as well as claiming to be an Irish orphan to avoid extradition from Scotland, is to stand trial in Utah, a judge has ruled.
Nicholas Rossi (37) was finally extradited from Britain to the US in January after a lengthy case in the Scottish courts. He spent more than two years fighting the case claiming to be an Irish orphan. He insists he has been a victim of mistaken identity, maintaining throughout that he is Irishman Arthur Knight.
An obituary published online claimed Rossi died on February 29 2020 of late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
District Judge Barry Lawrence ruled during Rossi’s preliminary hearing in Utah that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to warrant a jury trial, KTVX-TV reported.
Prosecutors say Rossi, 37, raped a 26-year-old former girlfriend in 2008 in Utah.
In a separate case, he is accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, that same year. He was not identified as a suspect for about a decade due to a backlog of DNA tests at the Utah State Crime Lab, according to Associated Press.
Utah County court documents show that Rossi is also accused of sexual assault, harassment and possible kidnapping in Rhode Island, Ohio and Massachusetts, KTVX-TV reported.
Rossi is scheduled to return to court for an arraignment and bail hearing on October 17.