Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — A man who was living under an alias in the United Kingdom when he was arrested was ordered Thursday to stand trial for rape in Utah.
Third District Judge Barry Lawrence said Nicholas Rossi, whom he referred to by his preferred alias of Arthur Knight, will face trial for rape, a first-degree felony.
Rossi was living in Scotland under the Knight alias and receiving treatment for COVID-19 at a hospital when he was arrested, then later extradited to Utah to face rape allegations. He is charged with two counts of rape, a first-degree felony — one in Utah County and the other in Salt Lake County. Both allegations are from 2008.
Thursday's preliminary hearing was short, with testimony from one police detective and a written statement submitted by the alleged victim.
Utah Department of Public Safety detective Derek Coats testified that he initially became aware of Rossi while working for the sexual assault kit initiative in 2018. He said a DNA match for Rossi was discovered for a 2008 Utah County case and a separate case in Ohio. After Rossi was charged with rape in Provo, a woman reached out to Coats with allegations that Rossi raped her during a similar time period in Salt Lake County, leading to the second rape charge.
Coats said he interviewed the woman in early 2022 and began investigating the case, including locating the house where she said Rossi lived and looking at an application for wedding rings and cellphone records. He said the statement the woman signed for the preliminary hearing was accurate to what she had told him at the time.
He said there was no DNA available in the Salt Lake County case, but said the case shows a "pattern of manipulation and control."
Defense attorney Samantha Dugan said Rossi plans to ask for the opportunity to be released on bail, which will be addressed at his next hearing on Oct. 17.
Before that hearing, Rossi will appear in court on Tuesday in Provo for a separate preliminary hearing.
Rossi, 36, is accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in Orem in 2008. He was named a suspect in 2018 after the Utah State Crime Lab identified him through a DNA rape kit. He was charged with the crime in 2020 while receiving treatment for COVID-19 at a United Kingdom hospital.
