Nicholas Rossi found guilty in second rape trial
Sep 24, 2025, 5:09 PM | Updated: 7:32 pm
In this image made from pool video footage, Nicholas Rossi accused of faking his death and fleeing to Europe to avoid rape charges, appears at a jury trial in Salt Lake City, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (Firecrest Films via AP, Pool)
(Firecrest Films via AP, Pool)
SALT LAKE CITY — A jury found Nicholas Rossi guilty of rape after a five-day trial in Provo on Wednesday.
Rossi, 38, was charged in September 2020 with the rape of a 21-year-old woman in Orem in 2008.
According to court documents, Rossi faked his own death in 2020 and fled the country. It wasn’t until 2022 that investigators located Rossi in Scotland, alleging he had moved away from the U.S. to avoid prosecution.
Rossi, who was calling himself Arthur Knight, was arrested at a Glasgow hospital after being in the intensive care unit for a month while he was treated for COVID-19.
He fought against the courts, claiming he was not Rossi, but an Irish orphan who had never been to Utah.
However, authorities claimed that Rossi was attempting to avoid prosecution, and he was extradited to Utah from Scotland in 2024 for two rape charges.
In August, Rossi was found guilty of raping a Salt Lake County woman in 2008.
This is a breaking news story and it may be updated.
