Rossi appears in American court over rape charges

Fugitive was extradited from Scotland

- Richard Elias

A SUSPECTED rapist from the USA who faked his own death and fled to Scotland before being arrested and deported has gone on trial in his homeland.

Nicholas Rossi spent months unsuccessfully fighting efforts to send him back to face an American court.

He repeatedly claimed that he was the victim of mistaken identity and was, in fact, an Irishman called Arthur Knight.

Rossi had been arrested at a Glasgow hospital in 2021 on an unrelated matter at the height of the Covid outbreak.

Wheelchair

It was only later that it was discovered he was a fugitive. Rossi spent the next three years fighting extradition before finally being sent back to the USA in 2024.

Now, he has appeared in a Utah courtroom to deny rape charges.