Fugitive Rape Suspect Who Faked His Death to Avoid Charges to Face Trial in Utah

a man accused of Faking his own death then fleeing to Europe all to avoid rape charges returns to court objection my lady that is complete a say Nicholas Rossy whose legal name is Nicholas alerian is charged with the 2008 rape of his then 21-year-old girlfriend and in a separate case is accused of raping another woman in the same year but his identity as a suspect wasn't revealed until nearly a decade later his case has made national and international headlines after faking his death fleeing across the pond and adopting a new accent and a new look are you Mr Rosy are you Mr Rosy might have to take that [Music] off is that a yes having a heart I now you um I think I'm gonna have to have the jail restate what he said having a really hard time hearing him what is it my name is arur he says his name is Arthur [Music] Knight I can't hear want have him State his name and dat yeah we can't hear him at all can you ask him can you please state your name date of birth here get a little closer lady my name is author night brain my date of birth is 22nd of the 11th 1986 okay I don't I think we're having a a problem with understanding who this person is I don't this is not number 3 six your honor we've got him as Nicholas Rossy but he's saying his name as Arthur Knight Brown oh that's one of the AKA so who is Nicholas alerian who also happens to be Nicholas Rossi who is also Arthur Knight Brown according to reports he was born Nicholas alerian in July 1987 he was later adopted by his stepfather David Rossi who changed his last name to Rossi is it July 11th 1987 no lady it's 22nd of November 1986 22nd of November 1986 yes ma'am while he lived in Rhode Island he reportedly made a name for himself as a vocal critic of the state's department of children youth and families then in early 2020 Rossy told rhod Island Media he had late stage Hotchkins Lymphoma with only weeks left to live but by this time he was wanted by Utah authorities on a pair of rape charges where he allegedly lured the victims online and trapped them in his home and sexually assaulted them by February 29th of that year an obituary was published online claiming rossie was dead then in a twist his former lawyer said he moved to an unknown location in Ireland a year prior to his supposed death during that time he changed his moniker to Arthur Brown and he met his wife Miranda Knight the pair later married in early 2020 and he took on the name Arthur KN Brown prosecutors say over the years Rossi has used at least 10 different aliases authorities eventually caught up to Rossi when he was arrested in December 2021 after being recognized by someone in a Glasgow Scotland Hospital while he was being treated for covid but of course he denied being Nicholas Rossy instead he insisted he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight and claimed to have never set foot on us soil the so-called Arthur Knight claimed he was framed by authorities who took his fingerprints while he was in a coma in August of 2023 a UK judge ruled Ross he can be extradited to the United States and dismissed the mistaken identity claims as implausible and fanciful he was extradited back to the US on January 5th of this year and booked into the Davis County Jail in Utah where he's remained since this individual has been extradited um and he has not admitted his name or D birth date accurately and so I don't think we're going to be successful on that today either it's also known objection my lady that is complete aay and I would ask your ladyship that the prosecution should cuse for why they [Music] proceeded Mr Mr Knight Mr KN appealing in the Supreme Court and now he's set to face the charges that he originally fled from on August 22nd Rossy appeared in a Utah County courtroom for his preliminary hearing ahead of his rape trial but the judge previously decided to address Rossy as his Alias Arthur Knight all right welcome everybody we got our attorneys here Mr Knight is here good afternoon Mr Knight um Council you ready to proceed state is ready okay the state presented one witness during the hearing Detective Derek coats who previously worked for the Utah Department of Public Safety where he was assigned to work under the sexual assault kid initiative a Federal grant where he investigated the backlog of sexual assaults and assault kits which previously went untested prosecutors say Rossi wasn't identified as a suspect in the 2008 rape case until nearly a decade later due to the backlog of DNA testing detective coach testified he interviewed one of rossy's alleged victims after she reported her rapist was on the news what kind of allegation was made in the Utah County case and when did that allegation come from okay so the the case in Utah County was a reported uh again sexual assault and so the DNA from that sexual assault kit was submitted for testing under the saki program as I described earlier um and so that case required an investigation and followup which then led to other information okay when and where was the uh sexual assault in Utah County alleged to have happened uh best recollection I'm sorry it's been a minute since I've looked at it it was 2008 I remember that uh it was around the summer the late like spring summer of 2008 okay and was that in a what city was it in or was the reporting agency okay um so so and I'm sorry I've just forgotten your answer when did you approximately when did you say you uh kind of took the lead in the in the investigation in that uh orm case I don't remember the specific but it was in 2020 it was like uh right on the cut both December January okay did you hear um so I'm jumping forward in time now uh did there start to be uh media attention about uh that investigation and the subsequent investigation later on yes um as of result of that uh media attention did you hear from anyone in Salt Lake County I did who did you hear from so in this case uh I how we using initials or full name would you prefer State's preference would be initial okay so Ms reached out and had indicated that she had had a relationship with the individual on the news media named Nicholas Rosy or Nicholas Al she as Nicholas Rosy okay uh did you interview her I did do do you remember approximately when you interviewed her I want to say it was January 14th uh 22 2022 did um did she take you to see anything soon thereafter yes what did she take you to see so um based on the description that she had given we attempted to locate a house uh in the area of Salt Lake City where she believed that uh the individual Nicholas Rossy was living at that time um and was she um able to to take you to a to a particular Street to a particular house she was do do you remember the address of that house um 853 Blair Street if I recall okay and is that is that house in Su County correct okay what what's the general category of the crime that she alleged Nicholas Rousy had committed be sexual assault and when did approximately when did she tell you that that the Nicholas Rossy had sexually assaulted her that was in December of 2008 did she um give you any uh documents from the from from around that time from around December of 2008 that were related to her uh to her report correct yes she did what did she what did she give you she gave me I'd be objecting on the basis of here so I can't vot over she provided me a copy of a application for wedding rings to a Utah jewelry store at a local mall and she also provided me cell phone records around that time detective coat says he was able to match the alleged victim statement and verify that Rossy previously lived at the home where the alleged assault occurred so I looked at in core exchange for an activity that had UR involving the name of Nicholas Rossy and I also looked in local police reports for any activity that had involved his that same name okay and did you find uh any evidence connecting Nicholas Rossi to the um to the 1362 South 46 West orm address and did you find records connecting him to that address I did and what about the 853 uh Blair Street address I had also located within Salt Lake City's record system and as the court um and exchange that address okay so that was so Ms had reported something that happened back in December of 2008 as part of your investigation for the orm case had you researched the uh the subsequent the history the location and the the identity of Nicholas Rossi after December for where he went after December of 2008 Yes um so you mentioned um you mentioned DNA evidence uh that that that connected with the orm case was was uh where did you say that case was from the or case so so sorry the the the DNA that the Cod is hit that that so the Cod is hit from the orm case where where other than orm where was the codus H to it connected out of Ohio okay and were you able to locate a case for Mr Rossi in Ohio I have and approximately when was uh when was that case from that was um late winter uh seem to recall around February but it is 2008 as well okay out of Montgomery County earlier that same year correct okay um and was Nicholas Rossi um convicted in that case in Ohio that is my understanding yes okay um as a result of that conviction was he required to register as a sex offender he was and have you seen uh records of his Sex Offender Registration connected to that case I have okay now I want to ask you about um as you were investigating Mr Rossi um what did you determine to be his I mean did did you did you find a birth get for him yes your honor with the uh defense having stipulated to the identity in this CA the the identity of the of the defendant the state rests when it came time for the defense's line of questioning they kept it brief so there was a codus hit out of a Utah County case correct there is no DNA in the Salt Lake County case to your understanding correct correct okay and then are you involved in sort of both investigating both of these cases or just the Salt Lake County case both okay that's the only questions I have for this witness all right down any other evidence for the state the state rests all right any evidence to the defense no your I have previously advised my client about his right to testify today um it is my advice with Mr Roi as it is with all of my clients not testify at preliminary hearing given the standard that is a preliminary hearing I do believe he intend to take my advice is that still the case yes just to be clear then Mr Rosy you're going to follow your attorney's advice and not testify today is that correct okay any other evidence no and despite the brief hearing the judge ruled there was enough evidence for the case to move forward well this is a preliminary hearing at which the court needs to determine uh from the evidence whether there is probable cause to believe that the crime charged in the information was committed by this defendant in making this probable cause determination the prosecution is required to produce evidence sufficient to support a reason reasonable belief that the defendant committed the crime the the charged crime in doing so the court views all evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the prosecution applying that standard here I find and conclude that the state has met its burden and has presented evidence sufficient to establish probable cause to believe that the crime charged in the information was committed and it was committed by this defendant accordingly this matter is bound over and Nicholas Rousy who has been locked up since being extradited back to the US in January will appear in court again on October 17th for arraignment and a bail hearing reporting for Law and crime I'm Elizabeth Milner