If you do the crime but don’t want to do the time, faking your own death and fleeing your country sounds like a pretty good plan. If you’re an American citizen, it is easier said than done.
Nicholas Rossi — a Rhode Island native also known as Nicholas Alahverdian, who allegedly faked his death and fled to Scotland to outrun a rape allegation in Utah along with a slew of other alleged foul deeds — has been booted out of the United Kingdom and returned to the United States.
As of Monday, Rossi is in a Utah jail, according to The Associated Press.
Nicholas Alahverdian awaits court appearance on rape charge in Utah https://t.co/7Ruc5Kgrvw
— NBC 10 WJAR (@NBC10) January 8, 2024
In 2008, Rossi was suspected in a sexual assault case in Utah, according to David O. Leavitt’s office. Leavitt was County Attorney at the time. The rape kit from that case was used in 2017 for a DNA test that matched another sexual assault case in Ohio, where Rossi was also the suspect.
When he felt the weight of justice weighing down on him like an albatross around the neck of a doomed sailor, Rossi went public with the “news” that he he had a lethal case of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and only weeks to live, according to The Providence (Rhode Island) Journal.
An obituary reporting his death was published in February of 2020.
But it turned out there was plenty of life in him left — he’d just decamped to Scotland under an assumed name.
Is our justice system at risk?
In fact, it was concern for that life that led him to a hospital in Glasgow in December 2021 with a serious case of COVID-19. And it was in the hospital that he was identified and arrested.
In a January 2022 update on the case, the prosecutor’s office stated, “The individual formerly known as Arthur Knight (Nicholas Rossi/Nicholas Alahverdian) was arrested by the Scotland authorities on December 13, 2021. His bail hearing was on December 23, 2021, in Scotland.”
It’s unclear how and why Scottish authorities zeroed in and Rossi, who was going by the name Arthur Knight at the time, according to Yahoo News. What is clear is that “Knight’s” tattoos and fingerprints matched Rossi’s.
“As part of this investigation the suspect was identified through photo evidence,” a news release from the Utah county attorney’s office stated. “The hospital was then provided photos and confirmed that the person in the hospital matched the photos provided. As part of the extradition process, DNA and fingerprints were provided to Interpol as part of supporting evidence for extradition.”
Rape allegations may have been the most heinous allegations against Rossi, but there was a whole slew of others, according to The Providence Journal. Rossi was linked to crimes in multiple states, including opening at least 22 credit cards and loans under his foster mother’s husband’s name and piling up approximately $200,000 in illegal debt.
Maybe Rossi will find living is better than dying because man’s justice (prison) may be preferable to God’s (damnation). If he can just go on living, maybe Rossi thinks he can figure out a way to fake living and forever elude divine retribution. Criminal minds are like that. They don’t give up easily.
Was it divine justice or dumb luck that Rossi lived?
Whatever the case, he lost the final appeal in a long line of appeals against extradition.
Rossi — who changed names like used tissues, going by monikers Nicholas Alahverdian, Nicholas Alahverdian Rossi, Nicholas Edward Rossi, Nicholas Alahverdian-Rossi, Nick Alan, Nicholas Brown, Arthur Brown and Arthur Knight — clearly isn’t very sharp, even though he did manage to take authorities on a wild goose chase across an ocean and through the courts.
Rossi’s saga made a “mockery of the justice system” while “creating an international spectacle” by dragging the case through the courts for years, as a Sky News correspondent described it. Rossi denied the charges even when his fingerprints and tattoos matched those of the accused. He dared to claim the tattoos had been inked on his arms in an attempt by authorities to frame him.
If you’re going to fake your death and flee the country, why on earth would you head to a country that has an extradition treaty with the United States? Rossi treated the entire affair as an elaborate joke — as if the law were made by idiots who must have been created by an idiot god. The last laugh, however, will be on him.
If you’re an American, justice has a very long arm. People like Rossi can run, but they can’t hide — especially in the United Kingdom.
Leavitt, who officially filed rape charges in August 2020, is no longer the prosecutor in charge of the case, but he still follows it. A statement released by Leavitt’s media coordinator during his time as county attorney read, “David O. Leavitt, former Utah County Prosecutor, extends heartfelt respect and gratitude to law enforcement agencies worldwide for their unwavering commitment to seeking justice for the victims. Today marks a pivotal moment in the pursuit of justice, as the responsibility shifts to Utah County,” according to KUTV.
According to the AP, Rossi’s initial court date had not been set as of Monday. Records did not indicate who would represent him in court.
I’m glad it’s not me.
