The extraordinary saga of Nicholas Rossi, convicted rapist, conman and international fugitive, has ended with him dying in jail in Utah.
The Utah Department of Corrections issued a statement on Friday that confirmed Rossi, born Nicholas Alahverdian, was dead.
“Rossi died from complications of an existing medical condition after choosing to discontinue medical treatment,” the statement said.
Rossi, who was 38, was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 8:32 p.m. on Thursday night, the department of corrections said.
The statement said Rossi’s family and his victims were notified of his death before the public announcement.
Rossi was serving 10 years to life for two counts of first degree felony rape after finally being brought to justice last year.
In February 2020, facing investigations into his crimes, Rossi faked his own death, fled to Europe, and assumed a new identity.
He wrote his own obituary and began life on the lam. When authorities caught up with him in Scotland in 2022, he had assumed the name Arthur Knight, one of 16 aliases Rossi had lived under.
Arthur Knight claimed to be an Irishman who had never been to the United States. But his true identity was revealed when he was admitted to hospital with COVID, and hospital staff recognized him from Interpol wanted posters.
Using DNA, fingerprints and an analysis of his tattoos, a judge ruled he was Nicholas Rossi and ordered him to face an extradition hearing.
His DNA and fingerprints were on file because of a previous conviction in Ohio for public indecency and sexual imposition. Although he did not receive jail time in that case, he was placed on the sex offender registry.
Victims of his crimes span decades, and many U.S. states. He was born in Rhode Island and took the name Rossi when his mother remarried.
He was eventually extradited in 2024, and faced two separate rape trials in Utah where he was convicted in August and September of 2025.
“He was caught and died with the public knowledge of his guilt, and the personal accountability of being in prison,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement. “The survivors of his heinous acts have the consolation that he died in prison with the knowledge of the crimes he committed.”
