Nicholas Rossi, the convicted rapist who once staged his own death and slipped off to Scotland to dodge Utah charges, has died while in state custody at age 38. Prison officials say he chose to end medical treatment and died Thursday evening at a local hospital.
The Utah Department of Corrections confirmed Rossi's death in a public notice, and department spokesperson Richard Piatt told the Associated Press that Rossi died Thursday night "from complications of an existing medical condition after choosing to discontinue medical treatment." The department said victims and Rossi's family were notified but offered no additional details.
How he was found and extradited
Rossi, who cycled through aliases including Nicholas Alahverdian and Arthur Knight, was arrested in Scotland in 2021 after hospital staff spotted his distinctive tattoos and called police. He was extradited to the United States in January 2024, according to CBS News. Months earlier, an online obituary had claimed he died in 2020, a notice investigators say was part of the ruse that helped him travel under false identities. While fighting extradition, he repeatedly insisted he was someone else and made a string of unusual court appearances.
Sentencing and prison time
In two separate Utah trials in 2025, jurors found Rossi guilty of rape in incidents dating back to 2008. Judges handed down indeterminate terms of five years to life on each count and ordered the sentences to run consecutively, leaving him to serve at least 10 years behind bars, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. After the trials, he was sent to the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison to begin serving his time.
Victims, notifications and limited details
The Utah Department of Corrections said it notified Rossi's victims and relatives of his death but declined to release specifics about his medical condition. During earlier court appearances, Rossi sometimes arrived in a wheelchair and using an oxygen tank, details noted by CBS News. State officials have not said whether his death will prompt an internal review.
Why this case drew attention
Investigators have said Rossi was tied to the Utah rape case through a decade-old DNA rape kit, a break that set off the long search for him and eventually led to his extradition, as chronicled by BBC News and local reporting. The case has highlighted how long-shelved evidence and cross-border cooperation can collide years after an assault.
