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US fugitive accused of faking his death to avoid rape charges denies he is the suspect at hearing (apnews.com)
submitted 10 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
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A man accused of faking his death and fleeing the U.S. to avoid rape charges in Utah denied at a court appearance Tuesday that he is the suspect and, in an apparent British accent, called allegations that he wasn’t giving his true name “complete hearsay.”

Nicholas Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, is charged with the rape of a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, in 2008, prosecutors said. He wasn’t identified as a suspect until about a decade later due to a backlog of DNA test kits at the Utah State Crime Lab.

Rossi, 36, was extradited from Scotland earlier this month. He identified himself Tuesday as Arthur Knight Brown and gave a birthdate in British English — listing the day first, followed by the month and year — that is different from Rossi’s, KSTU-TV reported.

He appeared from jail via video wearing an oxygen mask and did not enter a plea at the initial court appearance. He was difficult to understand at times and had to lift up the mask to be heard.

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[-] jballs@sh.itjust.works 20 points 10 months ago

What a wild story. I feel like there's more behind the scenes that's not being said. According to the article, hospital staff recognized him while he was on a ventilator in Glasgow, Scotland as being a suspect in a rape that took place in Utah more than a decade earlier. Then later confirmed it was him through a DNA test.

That order of events seems really fishy to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they caught a rapist here. I would just love to hear more about how someone recognized this guy halfway around the world more than a decade later.

[-] ArtieShaw@kbin.social 18 points 10 months ago

There was a televised special about this guy, and it's wild from start to finish. He comes across as a weird mix of clever and dumb, charming and disgusting. Mostly the latter and the latter, but I have the benefit of knowing about him beforehand. His victims didn't.

If I remember correctly, it was his absurdist need to fake (and publicize!) his own death that led people in the US to him. He literally reached out to multiple news orgs in his home state to say that he was 100% dead, even though no one had asked. I guess the moral is that if you're going to dangle something that weird in front of reporters, expect them to follow up.

[-] Crack0n7uesday@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

He has matching tattoos, scars and birthmarks on top of the DNA evidence. He's really committed to this false identity thing. Didn't he get married under his false identity and his wife still swears it's mistaken identity, I'm sorry lady but if this evidence was a snake it would be a boa constrictor and have already eaten you.

[-] Kbobabob@lemmy.world -2 points 10 months ago

I'm glad they caught a rapist here.

Was he convicted?

[-] HonoraryMancunian@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

Hahaha that accent is so fake

[-] ivanafterall@kbin.social 1 points 10 months ago

There's a documentary called Mister Organ that focuses on a similar character with similar questions about his supposed background. It was a wild ride.

this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
124 points (97.7% liked)

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