A Rhode Island fugitive who faked his personal dying and fled to Scotland steamed his glasses up with rage whereas angrily insisting he’s a British man referred to as Arthur Knight.
Nicholas Alahverdian – aka Nicholas Rossi, 35 – additionally theatrically tried standing to show the extent of his alleged incapacity throughout a Dateline chat with Andrea Canning that can be screened Friday at 9pm ET.
‘I’m not Nicholas Alahverdian. I have no idea the right way to make this clearer,’ he advised NBC in a weird accent, muffled by an oxygen masks over his mouth and nostril.
The interview was carried out in February, after a November 2022 ruling during which a Scottish choose rubbished Rossi’s claims, and confirmed he’s the US-born fugitive. At the moment he’s being held in a Scotland jail as he awaits extradition proceedings.
However Rossi appeared decided to proceed with the deception, and grew so irate he was unable to see out of his small, round-framed glasses.
The US now seeks to extradite him to face plenty of sexual assault prices, amid them an accusation he raped a 21-year-old lady in Utah in 2008. They are saying he faked his dying in 2017 and fled to Scotland.
Within the interview, recorded in February whereas he was out on bail, Rossi appeared beside his British spouse, Miranda Knight, and advised NBC: ‘We have been as soon as a standard household, however because of the media our lives have been interrupted.’
Talking in what appeared like an English accent, he continued: ‘And we might like privateness and I want to return to being a standard husband, however I can not as a result of I can not breathe, I can not stroll.’
In a determined try to then show he’s unable to stroll, Rossi tried to face up earlier than dramatically falling again into his chair as his spouse stabilized him.
‘Precisely, precisely,’ he advised the interviewer.
When requested if he’s placing on a present, he says: ‘That could be a low blow, that could be a very low blow.’
On Thursday Alahverdian was attributable to seem for an extradition listening to in Glasgow, Scotland, however failed to seem after an ‘altercation’ in Edinburgh, a courtroom was advised.
He was seen leaving Edinburgh Sheriff’s Courtroom in a wheelchair and the extradition listening to postponed till a later date.
Rossi was first arrested in October, 2021, after checking himself in to a hospital in Glasgow with a critical COVID an infection. That’s the situation he claims now necessitates his use of an oxygen tank.
Medical employees and police have been capable of establish him by evaluating his tattoos with photos of Rossi on an Interpol pink discover.
Nicholas Rossi leaving the Sheriff Courtroom in Edinburgh on Thursday after an ‘altercation’
A stream of preliminary hearings then occurred, which noticed Rossi sack no less than six legal professionals and declare to have been tortured in jail.
The hearings culminated in a unprecedented identification case the place he insisted his fingerprints had been meddled with and that he had been tattooed whereas unconscious in hospital with a purpose to resemble Rossi.
He was then charged with appearing aggressively in direction of a guide and senior nurse at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth College Hospital.
Rossi reportedly advised US media in December 2019 that he had late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma and had weeks to reside.
An obituary devoted to him appeared on-line, and several other shops reported that he had died in February 2020.
After his arrest US authorities issued extra extradition requests – one associated to a different allegation of rape and one other to an allegation of sexual assault.
Advocate depute Paul Harvey stated on the time: ‘Because of the extradition course of I’m advised that two different ladies in Utah have come ahead with allegations of sexual offences.
‘On Friday, October 28 the US Embassy in London issued a diplomatic discover for supplementary extradition requests, requesting the extradition of the particular person.
Rossi arriving at an Edinburgh courtroom in April 2022 in a wheelchair beside his spouse Miranda, who’s wheeling a tank of oxygen for him
Prosecutors stated Rossi is aRhode Island man needed after fleeing the US in 2017 to evade prices involving id theft and fraud, and a 2008 sexual assault cost in Utah
‘This morning Scottish ministers licensed the extradition requests and copies of each extradition requests and the Scottish ministers’ certification have been served on the requested particular person by a police constable on the courtroom this morning.’
He stated one pertains to an allegation of rape in Salt Lake Metropolis and one other to an allegation of sexual assault elsewhere.
Rossi, who arrived at courtroom together with his spouse Miranda Knight, is already combating an extradition request by authorities in Utah who allege he raped a 21-year-old within the state.
He was arrested on December 13 final yr after being admitted to the Queen Elizabeth College Hospital in Glasgow – below the alias Arthur Knight – for pressing Covid therapy.
He was traced following a tip off from Interpol whereas he was on a ventilator in intensive care.
Rossi advised US media in December 2019 that he had late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma and had weeks to reside – earlier than a number of shops reported that he had died in February 2020, with a gushing obituary revealed on-line about him.
He’s additionally stated to have attacked ladies within the states of Rhode Island, Ohio and Massachusetts.
Nevertheless, when he was arrested in Scotland, neighbors claimed he had advised them he was a British professor who stated he was working on the close by College of Glasgow.
Described as an eccentric, the alleged educational was typically seen sporting massive hats, dapper bow ties and spoke with a cut-glass English accent.
Rossi claimed he was a British professor who stated he was working on the close by College of Glasgow. He’s pictured in Edinburgh in July, 2022, carrying pajamas and velvet sneakers
Alahverdian, 34, was arrested on an Interpol discover on the Queen Elizabeth College Hospital in Glasgow on December 13 after practically dying of Covid-19
It was additionally claimed he loved visiting bars carrying fits, the place he would sip on whiskey and go on political rants about Brexit. with one neighbor telling The Occasions: ‘For somebody who was on the run, he actually preferred to attract consideration to himself.’
Alahverdian furiously denies he’s the American needed by the FBI and insists he has been mistakenly recognized by the authorities.
Police and hospital employees initially recognized the person as being Rossi from tattoos on his physique. Pictures obtained by officers confirmed that he had tattoos on his arms.
Prosecutors stated in 2020 that an nameless e-mail was despatched to Rhode Island Media indicating he had died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and that he had been cremated and buried at sea.
The courtroom heard that for the reason that alleged sexual offender’s arrest acquired media consideration, Police Scotland had acquired ‘a criticism of a home nature to police in Essex in 2017’ in relation to Rossi.
A number of media shops reported in 2020 that Alahverdian had died on February 29 2020. They cited the web site EverLoved.com, which stated his physique was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.
A web based obituary devoted to him learn: ‘Nicholas Alahverdian’s battle for all times ended on February 29 2020.
‘The youngsters and households within the care of the Rhode Island Division of Kids Youth and Households (DCYF) for whom he impressed and led by means of turbulent authorities transgressions have misplaced a warrior that fought on the entrance strains for 20 years.’
A US man alleged to be a fugitive on the run from the FBI was discovered after years spent hiding in Scotland by police matching his tattoos, prosecutors have stated. The person, who goes by no less than ten different aliases, together with Nicholas Alahverdian (pictured), appeared at a listening to in Edinburgh on Friday in a wheelchair carrying an oxygen masks, pyjamas and a dressing robe
Alahverdian, who additionally goes by Nicholas Rossi, is a registered intercourse offender. He was convicted of two sex-related crimes in 2008. His mugshot from the intercourse offenders’ registry is pictured
He’s accused of raping an ex-girlfriend in September 2008, with police investigating him after discovering he’d been reported to the police over comparable alleged assaults in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Utah and Ohio.
Rossi was convicted of sexual assault following an ‘encounter’ with one other scholar at Sinclair Group School in Dayton, Ohio.
He’s suspected of finishing up a number of different intercourse assaults, and was additionally accused of a $200,000 fraud after taking out bank cards and loans in his foster mom’s husband’s identify in Ohio, it’s alleged.
Rossi divorced his second spouse in 2017 after lower than two years of marriage, and can be stated to owe her $52,000. Each of his former spouses took out restraining orders towards him after their marriage ended.
Extra particulars of his weird conduct was detailed by the Windfall Journal, which obtained a collection of Pawtucket police experiences from greater than a decade in the past.
One accuser advised police in July 2010 that Rossi lured her to his condo below the guise that she’d be visiting his artwork studio. As an alternative, she advised cops, he took away her cellphone and pressed her for intercourse.
This map exhibits the path of havoc and alleged legal conduct carried out by Nicholas Alahverdian throughout the US
When she refused his advances, he advised her ‘if she left, he would kill himself by stabbing himself within the chest with a knife,’ the outlet reported.
He was then was taken to hospital for a psychiatric analysis.
Police returned to his condo that November on a tip, and stated they encountered an ‘extraordinarily upset’ lady with accidents to each eyes.
The girl advised cops that Rossi snapped after their dinner friends’ child started crying earlier that night time, and claimed they later received into an argument which turned violent.
Rossi ‘grabbed her and knocked her to the bottom and held her down’ and ‘slapped her on the facial space,’ the outlet reported.
Utah County Sheriff’s Workplace in Provo started the hunt for Rossi in 2020 after testing outdated sexual assault kits.
