Trial begins for US fugitive accused of faking his death to avoid rape charges

Nicholas Rossi was arrested in Scotland in 2021, a year after he was reported dead. He claimed he was an Irish orphan who was being framed

A man accused of faking his death and fleeing the country to avoid rape charges faced an alleged victim in court on Monday as a jury trial in Utah began.

The man known in the United States as Nicholas Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, is accused of sexually assaulting two women in Utah in 2008. Prosecutors are trying the cases separately, with the first set in Salt Lake County.

Rossi, 38, was arrested in Scotland in 2021 – a year after he was reported dead – when he was recognised at a Glasgow hospital while receiving treatment for Covid-19.

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