Nicholas Rossi, the Rhode Island man who fled the United States, faked his own death, and assumed a new identity in Scotland to avoid rape charges, has died in prison at the age of 38.

According to the Utah Department of Corrections, Rossi was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 8:32 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, 2026. He died from “complications of an existing medical condition after choosing to discontinue medical treatment.”

Rossi, who also went by Nicholas Alahverdian, was serving a cumulative sentence of 10 years to life after being convicted in two separate 2008 rape cases in Utah in August and September 2025. He had maintained his innocence throughout the legal proceedings, even claiming in court to be an Irish man named Arthur Knight who was being framed.

A Dramatic Criminal History

Rossi’s story gained international attention after he fled the U.S. around 2017. He eventually settled in Scotland using aliases. In an attempt to evade justice, he faked his death in 2020, with an online obituary claiming he had died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

He was arrested in 2021 while being treated for COVID-19 in a Glasgow hospital after authorities recognized his distinctive tattoos from an Interpol notice. He was extradited back to the United States in January 2024.

In both rape cases, the victims were former girlfriends whom Rossi allegedly assaulted at his apartment in Orem, Utah. Prosecutors described him as “a serial abuser of women.”

Final Days

At the time of his death, Rossi was behind bars in Utah. The Department of Corrections confirmed that notifications were made to his family and the victims.

Further details about his specific medical condition were not released publicly.