Nicholas Rossi: Fugitive in US court as rape case goes ahead

Nicholas Rossi, a man who was extradited from Scotland to the United States, recently appeared in court regarding serious allegations of rape. The case against him is moving forward, and he has been fighting extradition for over two years. Rossi, who is 36 years old, claimed to be an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight, insisting that he was a victim of mistaken identity. However, in November of last year, a judge ruled that he could be sent back to the US, describing Rossi as 'dishonest and deceitful. ' In December 2021, Rossi was arrested under an international warrant after being hospitalized in Glasgow due to Covid. He was finally returned to the US in January and appeared in a Utah courtroom. During the preliminary hearing, Rossi requested to be called Mr. Knight. The court heard from former Detective Derek Coats, who led the investigation into a reported sexual assault involving Rossi in Orem, Utah, back in 2008. Coats, who now works for the Utah Department of Corrections, mentioned that after he took over the investigation in 2020, another woman reached out to him due to media coverage of the case. This woman claimed to have had a relationship with Rossi and identified him as Nicholas Rossi. The detective interviewed her in January 2022, and she alleged that Rossi had sexually assaulted her. After the preliminary hearing, Judge Barry Lawrence determined that there was probable cause to believe the prosecutor's claims. He scheduled an arraignment hearing for mid-October. Additionally, Rossi is facing another separate allegation of rape in Salt Lake County.