A man who once claimed he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight, and who faked his own death to escape rape charges in the United States, has died in an American hospital at the age of 38. Nicholas Rossi – also known as Nicholas Alahverdian – spent years on the run before being caught in a Glasgow hospital, and his case raised questions about how far someone can go to evade justice.
Rossi was an American fugitive who faked his own death and fled to the UK. In 2020, after being charged with rape in Utah, he posted an online obituary claiming he had died from late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. That same year, he married a woman he met in Bristol, and the couple moved to Glasgow. He was finally caught in December 2021 at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where staff recognised his distinctive tattoos from an Interpol "wanted" notice while he was being treated for COVID-19. Despite his arrest, Rossi insisted he was Arthur Knight, an Irish-born orphan who had never been to America.
“Nicholas Rossi faked his death, fled to Scotland, and was caught – now he has died in US custody.”
Rossi’s history of offending stretched back to 2008. He was found guilty of raping a former girlfriend in Utah in 2008, and later convicted of a second sexual assault on a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah. The initial investigation into the 2008 attack was closed, but a rape kit was retested in 2018, identifying Rossi as the perpetrator. By then, he had already faked his death and left the US. He was extradited from Scotland to the United States in January 2024 after a long legal battle in Edinburgh. In October 2024, he finally acknowledged his real identity in a Utah court, claiming he had fled because of "death threats". He was sentenced to five years to life for each rape, with the sentences to run consecutively.
For UK readers, Rossi’s case is a striking example of how fugitives can exploit international borders and the NHS. He was able to live openly in Glasgow for months before being caught, and his claims of mistaken identity tied up extradition proceedings for years. His capture came about because a hospital staff member recognised his tattoos – raising questions about how many other wanted individuals might be living undetected in the UK. The case also highlights the challenges of cross-border justice, particularly between the US and the UK, where extradition can be delayed by legal manoeuvres.
Q: Who was Nicholas Rossi? Nicholas Rossi, also known as Nicholas Alahverdian, was an American man convicted of two rapes in Utah. He faked his own death in 2020 and fled to Scotland, where he was caught in 2021. He died in a US hospital on June 25, 2026, after choosing to discontinue medical treatment.
Q: How did he fake his death? In 2020, after being charged with rape, Rossi posted an online obituary claiming he had died from late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This allowed him to disappear and move to the UK without immediate suspicion.
Q: Why was he in Scotland? Rossi married a woman he met in Bristol, and the couple moved to Glasgow. He was living there under the false identity Arthur Knight until December 2021, when staff at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital recognised his tattoos from an Interpol wanted notice.
Rossi died at a local hospital in the US on June 25, 2026. The Utah Department of Corrections said he had been suffering from "chronic, degenerative conditions" and chose to discontinue medical treatment. His death was reported to his family and victims. Prior to his death, he had indicated he planned to appeal both convictions. The case is now closed, but it remains a landmark example of how persistence in forensic testing and international cooperation can eventually catch a fugitive.