- Nicholas Rossi's Utah County trial began with defense claiming money and lies promoted the allegations.
- Prosecutors allege Rossi raped a woman in 2008 after a financial dispute.
- Rossi, extradited from the U.K., was previously convicted of another 2008 rape in Salt Lake County last month.
PROVO — The Utah County trial for a man convicted of rape in Salt Lake County began Wednesday, with the defense arguing money and lies are at the heart of the situation.
Nicholas Rossi, 38, was charged in September 2020 with rape of a 21-year-old woman in Orem in 2008.
During opening arguments on Wednesday at the Provo District Courthouse, prosecutor McKay Lewis explained that Rossi and the woman met on MySpace in the late summer of 2008 and began dating soon thereafter. They had a consensual sexual relationship but ended up breaking up in early September, partially due to a financial dispute.
On Sept. 13, 2008, Rossi told the woman he had money he owed her and she needed to come over to get it back. When she arrived, prosecutors say he started acting sexually suggestive toward her. She tried leaving, but he prevented her, pushed her down and raped her, Lewis said.
The following day, the woman went to the hospital to get a rape kit and had a sexual assault examination done. She did an interview with an Orem police officer and an investigation began.
Shortly afterward, Rossi filed his own report, claiming the woman was the one assaulting him throughout their relationship, but that report was later dismissed. The woman's claims against Rossi were later dropped by an Orem police sergeant who claimed the woman had gone to dinner with Rossi after the rape, which the sergeant thought "isn't how a real rape victim would act. So, she closed the case," Lewis said in opening arguments.
Lewis said the woman denied that she went to dinner with Rossi, but the case was still closed for 10 years. In 2018, after a new initiative started analyzing a backlog of Utah rape kits that hadn't been tested, the woman's kit was tested and the DNA was linked to Rossi.
A new investigation began, and Rossi was located in a UK hospital while receiving care for COVID-19. He was extradited to Utah for the rape charge but denied the allegations.
Defense says Rossi's accuser wanted money
Rossi's defense claimed in court on Wednesday that money was the cause of the entire situation between the Utah County woman and Rossi.
"This ignites a fuse to a time bomb aimed squarely at Nicholas. This is about money, sex and lies," defense attorney Amanda Darcy said.
Darcy identified five differing accounts the woman had given to police officers or doctors about the incident during the investigation. Darcy pointed out inconsistencies in the details of what occurred, such as whether her pants were pulled all the way off or only partly pulled down, whether or not Rossi had grabbed her neck, and what occurred before the alleged assault.
"Five very significant different stories about one event. But there's one constant in all of this: money. This was very important to (the woman). This is why she went to his house that day. This is what she was hoping to get, but she never got it — even after sex. This is not evidence of a crime; it's evidence of the opposite," Darcy said.
Darcy said Rossi was scared due to the severity of the allegations and "overreacted" by calling the police to claim the woman had assaulted him. She said the Orem police sergeant who analyzed all of the data and evidence and ultimately determined to close the case was a veteran officer with years of experience.
When charges were eventually refiled, Rossi had already started a new life in the UK and believed the case had been laid to rest more than a decade prior. Darcy said Rossi "fought tooth and nail" against being extradited because "he had built a new life."
"Nothing about 2008 has changed. In 2008, (the woman) wanted her money. That's the reason she went over to his apartment, and that's the one thing she didn't get, and she was angry. Nicholas wasn't guilty in 2008. He's not guilty today," Darcy said.
A bizarre journey to prosecution
Rossi was convicted by a jury in Salt Lake County in August for the rape of a different woman in 2008. The Salt Lake County woman said she met Rossi through a personal Craigslist ad, leading to a relationship that lasted about a month before she decided she was done with him. Initially, she said, he was "very nice" and talked about how they would go to The Gateway in Salt Lake City or out to dinner.
The woman identified Rossi by a tattoo on his arm and said they had consensual sex three separate times. She said after the two got engaged, spontaneously buying rings on Black Friday, Rossi "became very emotionally and verbally abusive."
The Salt Lake County case came to light as Rossi was fighting extradition from the UK to face the rape charge in Utah County
Investigators located Rossi in Scotland in 2022, alleging he had moved away from the United States to avoid prosecution. Rossi, who was using the name Arthur Knight, was arrested at a Glasgow hospital after being in the intensive care unit for a month while he was treated for COVID-19. What followed was a lengthy legal battle with Rossi claiming he was really Knight, an Irish orphan who had never been to Utah, and it was a case of mistaken identity.
Rossi, who authorities say faked his own death and changed his name to avoid prosecution, was extradited to Utah from Scotland last year to face both rape charges. He eventually lost his court fight after DNA testing and distinctive tattoos were used to positively identify him as Rossi.
