A fugitive American rape suspect who faked his own death and spent two years in a legal battle against his extradition from Scotland has made headlines many times in the long-running saga.
Suspected con man Nicholas Rossi continues to insist he is in fact an Irish orphan, Arthur Knight, as he awaits trial in Utah.
The rape suspect was returned to the United States in January 2024, but both he and his wife Miranda insist he is the victim of mistaken identity.
Rossi, who has become known for his bizarre court appearances in which he speaks with a British accent and wears an oxygen mask, is accused of two rapes in 2008, for which he could face life in prison.
Tonight, Imposter: The Man Who Came Back From The Dead, airing on Channel 4, asks who the real Nicholas Rossi is.
Here, Femail reveals everything you need to know about the alleged rapist and scammer.
Rape suspect Nicholas Rossi (pictured) continues to insist he is in fact Arthur Knight as he awaits trial in Utah
As Imposter: The Man Who Came Back From The Dead airs on Channel 4, FEMAIL asks who Nicholas Rossi is (pictured before fleeing to Scotland)
Who is Nicolaas Rossi?
Nicholas Rossi was welcomed into the world as Nicholas Alahverdian in July 1987 in Rhode Island by parents Jack and Diana Alahverdian.
According to the Independenthe was later adopted by his stepfather David Rossi and took his surname.
Rossi, according to both his own writings and family accounts, spent his childhood moving between treatment centers and foster homes.
He was also diagnosed with behavioral and mental health problems, according to the newspaper The Providence Journal.
On one occasion, Rossi, then 12, was released from his treatment program and foster home for the Christmas holidays in 1999.
But after a dispute broke out between family members, his parents requested he be removed from their home just days after New Year.
The 12-year-old later found himself in a boys’ shelter in Woonsocket and described it to the Providence Journal as “decent for someone my age.”
“There were caring people there. Activities were organized for us every evening,” he said.
After spending his years in the care of the Department of Children Youth and Families, Rossi became an outspoken critic of the system.
At a conference at State House in 2011, the founder of social advocacy organization Nexus claimed to have been subjected to “torture, abuse and ill-treatment in various forms.”
Rossi told WJAR: ‘I was refused contact with anyone, anyone. These facilities are dangerous. My question to Rhode Island is, “Why are we paying for it?”
Rossi, according to both his own writings and family accounts, spent his childhood moving between treatment centers and foster homes
What did Nicholas Rossi do?
Nicholas Rossi was accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah in 2008.
Due to a backlog of DNA testing kits at the Utah State Crime Lab, Rossi was not named as a suspect until about a decade later.
Later in 2020, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He is also accused of raping another woman, 26, in Salt Lake County the same year.
Several allegations of domestic violence have also emerged against him from his hometown of Rhode Island.
In early 2020, Rossi announced to the media that he had only weeks to live due to late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Independent reports.
An obituary declaring his death was released online on February 29, 2020.
His ex-lawyer claimed Rossi traveled to Ireland in 2019 for a fresh start, but it is not clear where he was staying.
Nicholas Rossi was charged with raping two women, ages 21 and 28, in Utah in 2008; an arrest warrant was issued for him in 2020
In early 2020, Rossi announced to the media that he had only weeks to live due to late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. An obituary announcing his death was later published.
His ex-lawyer claimed Rossi traveled to Ireland in 2019 for a fresh start, but the exact location at the time of his whereabouts remains unknown
By the time he saw his wife Miranda Knight for the first time in Bristol that same year, he was believed to be going by the alias Arthur Brown.
A year later, the couple tied the knot, with Rossi taking the surname Knight.
‘Arthur’ and Miranda Knight settled in Scotland in 2021, where he reportedly worked as a professor at the University of Glasgow.
Neighbors noted that Rossi often used an English accent, telling The Times: “For someone on the run, he liked to draw attention to himself.”
Miranda’s brother claimed that Rossi spoke with a thick Irish accent and never talked about his own family.
According to Kevin, his sister was beside herself when the allegations against her husband emerged.
The brother claimed Miranda believed authorities had charged the wrong man.
He told the Daily record in 2022: ‘Nicholas is a master manipulator. He told her it was a case of mistaken identity.
‘He captivated my sister. He has used all possible tricks of manipulation to keep her under her spell.”
Prosecutors believe Rossi has used 10 different aliases over the years, including Nick Alan, Nicholas Brown and Nick Alahverdian.
He met his wife Miranda Knight (pictured) in Bristol in 2019, under the alias Arthur Knight. The couple later married in 2020
Her brother claimed Miranda (pictured with Rossi) was devastated as he believed authorities had accused the wrong man
What happened to Nicholas Rossi and where is he now?
Nicholas Rossi was detained after waking from a medically induced coma in a COVID ward at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in December 2021.
He was arrested in Glasgow hospital on 13 December 2021 by police officers who served him with an Interpol red warrant.
The fugitive claimed that police framed him after taking his fingerprints while he was in a coma.
In November it was determined that Arthur Knight was in fact Rossi, and he later lost his final appeal against extradition.
Rossi has been awaiting trial in Utah prison since December last year.
During one of his first court appearances in the US, he continued to speak with a British accent throughout the hearing and wore an oxygen mask which made it difficult to understand what he was saying.
There has never been an official version of events from Rossi, as he continues to insist that he is Arthur Knight and that the authorities have the wrong man.
Imposter: The Man Who Came Back From The Dead airs on Channel 4 on May 20 at 9pm
