The trial has begun for a man accused of involvement in a double homicide

• Nicolas Rossi is accused of involvement in the murder of two women in 2008.
• He was arrested in Scotland after being identified by the police.
• The trial is ongoing, and Rossi is also awaiting another indictment in the fall.

Salt Lake City (AP) — A trial has begun in a federal court for a man accused of falsifying his own death and fleeing the country to avoid being indicted in a double homicide case. The man, known in the U.S. as Nicolas Rossi, whose real name is Nicolas Alaverdian, is accused of sexual assault against two women in Utah in 2008. The case is being heard separately, with the first hearing taking place in the Salt Lake area.

Nicolas, 38 years old, was arrested in Scotland in 2021 — a year after his name was made public — when a medical professional in Glasgow recognized him during treatment for COVID-19. He appealed against extradition, claiming that he is an Irish citizen named Arthur Knight, who has never been on American soil and whose identity he has presented.

Investigators found that Rossi used a fake identity to evade arrest. In court, he appeared in a wheelchair, dressed in a suit and with a cane. A woman who recognized him stated that he was "older and heavier," but overall, he looked the same.

Judge Barbara Lorenz explained that different people may call Rossi by different names. Prosecutors described him as a reasonable man who used his charm to score with young women. According to the words of the deputy prosecutor of Salt Lake County, Brendon Simmons, he called her when she refused to be under his control.

The woman, who requested not to be publicly named, described their turbulent relationship with Rossi, which began in the fall of 2008 when she was recovering from a head injury. They started meeting after she responded to a personal ad that Rossi posted on Craigslist, and they quickly became involved within two weeks.

After the arrest, their relationship quickly deteriorated, and Rossi became controlling and began to isolate her. During a conflict, he hit her with his car and blocked her exit from the parking lot. When she let him into her home, he allegedly forced her to have sex with him.

She admitted that through troubling comments, her parents did not report it to the police at that time. However, she attempted to file a lawsuit against Rossi in court for minor claims, but eventually withdrew from the case.

In the fall, Rossi also appeared before the court in connection with another indictment in the Salt Lake area. He appeared in preliminary hearings in Rhode Island and returned to status before the time he was supposed to falsify his death. Online announcements confirmed that he died on February 29, 2020, from non-Hodgkin lymphoma at later stages. The police status, along with the former attorney Rossi and his family, put under scrutiny information about his death. A year later, the medical professional in Scotland recognized his tattoo for the information provided by Interpol and related authorities. He was extradited to Utah in January 2024.

Rossi's attorney, Mackenzie Pottter, compared the case to "old headlines from second-hand news," noting that "this is 13 years, not all pieces are in place, some parts are from another headline." Prosecutors objected that any "pieces" are absent, as this is due to the attorneys' attempts to exclude certain evidence.

Tags: USA/Crime