- Nicholas Rossi, 38, was found guilty of raping a woman in Utah County.
- The rape occurred in 2008, and DNA linked Rossi to the crime in 2018.
- Rossi was extradited from the UK, where he lived under a false identity.
PROVO — A man convicted of raping a woman in Salt Lake County in 2008 was found guilty in Utah County of raping a different woman that same year.
Nicholas Rossi, 38, was charged in September 2020 with rape of a 21-year-old woman in Orem in 2008. He was found guilty of rape by a jury in the 4th District Court on Wednesday.
Rossi's Utah County trial started last week, when the defense gave an opening statement arguing that "money, sex and lies" were at the heart of the situation. The woman and Rossi met on MySpace in 2008 and dated for a short time before breaking up, partially due to a financial dispute.
Prosecutors said the woman went to Rossi's apartment to get the money back that he owed her, but he did not have the money, prevented her from leaving when she tried to do so, and raped her. The next day, she went to the hospital to get a rape kit and had a sexual assault examination done.
An investigation began but was eventually dismissed after an Orem police sergeant claimed the woman and Rossi went to dinner after the alleged rape occurred, prosecutors said. In 2018, the woman's kit was tested and DNA was linked to Rossi after a state initiative started analyzing a backlog of Utah rape kits that hadn't been tested.
A new investigation began, and Rossi was located in a UK hospital where he was receiving care for COVID-19. He was extradited to Utah for the rape charge but denied the allegations.
When charges were refiled in Utah County, Rossi had already started a new life in the UK and believed the case had been laid to rest more than a decade prior. Defense attorney Amanda Darcy said Rossi "fought tooth and nail" against being extradited because "he had built a new life."
In August, Rossi was convicted by a jury in Salt Lake County 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 that 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.
His sentencing for the Salt Lake County rape conviction is scheduled for Oct. 20. Since the Adult Probation and Parole is already preparing a presentence investigation report in the Salt Lake County case, Judge Derek Pullan ordered the board to prepare a supplemental report for the Utah County sentencing, which was scheduled for Nov. 4.
