A Rhode Island fugitive who faked his own death and fled to Scotland fogged up his glasses in anger while furiously insisting he was a Briton named Arthur Knight.
Nicholas Alahverdian – aka Nicholas Rossi, 35 – also tried to stand theatrically during a Dateline chat with Andrea Canning, which will be shown Friday at 9pm ET, to prove the extent of his alleged disability.
“I’m not Nicholas Alahverdian. I don’t know how to make that clearer,” he told NBC in a bizarre accent muffled by an oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose.
The interview was conducted in February following a November 2022 ruling in which a Scottish judge refuted Rossi’s claims and confirmed he is the US-born fugitive. He is currently being held in a Scottish prison while awaiting extradition proceedings.
But Rossi seemed determined to continue the deception and got so angry he couldn’t see out of his small, round glasses.
The US is now trying to extradite him to face a range of sexual assault charges, including an allegation that he raped a 21-year-old woman in Utah in 2008. They say he faked his death in 2017 and fled to Scotland.
Nicholas Alahverdian, also known as Nicholas Rossi, appeared in an interview with NBC’s Dateline where he vehemently insisted he was a Brit named Arthur Knight
Rossi appeared alongside his British wife, Miranda Knight, who reassured him as he tried to demonstrate that he couldn’t walk
In the interview, which was taped in February while he was on bail, Rossi appeared alongside his British wife, Miranda Knight, and told NBC, “We used to be a normal family, but thanks to the media, our lives have been cut short.”
Speaking in what sounded like an English accent, he continued: “And we want privacy and I’d like to be a normal husband again, but I can’t because I can’t breathe, I can’t walk. ‘
In a desperate attempt to prove he couldn’t walk, Rossi tried to get up before dramatically falling back in his chair while his wife stabilized him.
“Exactly, exactly,” he told the interviewer.
When asked if he’s doing a show, he says, “That’s a low blow, that’s a very low blow.”
On Thursday, Alahverdian was due to appear for an extradition hearing in Glasgow, Scotland, but failed to appear after a “dispute” in Edinburgh, a court has been told.
He was seen leaving Edinburgh Sheriff’s Court in a wheelchair and the extradition hearing was postponed to a later date.
Rossi was first arrested in October 2021 after he admitted to a Glasgow hospital with a severe COVID infection. This is the condition he claims he needs an oxygen tank for now.
Medical staff and police were able to identify him by comparing his tattoos to pictures of Rossi on a red note from Interpol.
Nicholas Rossi leaves Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday after a “dispute”.
A series of preliminary hearings then took place, during which Rossi dismissed at least six lawyers and claimed to have been tortured in prison.
The hearings culminated in an extraordinary identification case in which he insisted his fingerprints had been manipulated and he had been tattooed while unconscious in hospital to resemble Rossi.
He was subsequently accused of aggressive behavior towards a counselor and a senior nurse at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
Rossi reportedly told US media in December 2019 that he had late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma and had weeks to live.
An obituary dedicated to him appeared online, and multiple outlets reported that he had died in February 2020.
After his arrest, the US authorities issued further extradition requests – one in connection with another allegation of rape and one on allegations of sexual assault.
Assistant Attorney Paul Harvey said at the time: “As a result of the extradition proceedings, I have been informed that two other women have made sexual offense allegations in Utah.
“On Friday, October 28, the US Embassy in London issued a Diplomatic Notice for Additional Extradition Requests requesting the person’s extradition.
Rossi arrives at a court in Edinburgh in April 2022 in a wheelchair alongside his wife Miranda, who is wheeling an oxygen tank for him
Prosecutors said Rossi is a Rhode Island man wanted after he fled the United States in 2017 to avoid charges of identity theft and fraud and a 2008 sexual assault charge in Utah
“This morning the Scottish ministers authenticated the extradition requests and copies of both extradition requests and the Scottish ministers’ certificate were served on the wanted person by a police officer in court this morning.”
He said one related to an allegation of rape in Salt Lake City and another to an allegation of sexual assault elsewhere.
Rossi, who appeared in court with his wife Miranda Knight, is already fighting an extradition request from Utah authorities who claim he raped a 21-year-old girl in the state.
He was arrested on December 13 last year after being admitted – using the pseudonym Arthur Knight – to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for urgent Covid treatment.
He was tracked down while on a ventilator in intensive care, following a tip from Interpol.
Rossi told US media in December 2019 that he had late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma and had weeks to live – before multiple outlets reported that he had died in February 2020, with a gushing obituary posting about him online became.
He is also said to have attacked women in the states of Rhode Island, Ohio and Massachusetts.
However, when he was arrested in Scotland, neighbors claimed he told them he was a British professor who said he worked at nearby Glasgow University.
The alleged academic, described as eccentric, was often spotted in large hats and elegant bow ties and spoke with a polished English accent.
Rossi claimed he was a British professor who said he worked at nearby Glasgow University. He is pictured in Edinburgh in July 2022, wearing pajamas and velvet shoes
Alahverdian, 34, was arrested at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital on December 13, according to an Interpol release, after nearly dying from Covid-19
It was also alleged that he enjoyed visiting bars in suits, sipping whiskey and making political rants about Brexit. A neighbor told the Times: “For someone on the run, he really liked to draw attention to himself.”
Alahverdian angrily denies he is the American wanted by the FBI, insisting he was misidentified by authorities.
Police and hospital staff initially identified the man as Rossi from tattoos on his body. Photos obtained by officials showed that he had tattoos on his arms.
Prosecutors said in 2020 that an anonymous email was sent to Rhode Island Media showing he had died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and was cremated and buried at sea.
The court heard that since the arrest of the alleged sex offender attracted media attention, Police Scotland had received “a complaint of a domestic nature to Essex Police in 2017” in relation to Rossi.
Several media reported in 2020 that Alahverdian died on February 29, 2020. They quoted the website EverLoved.com as saying his body was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.
An online obituary dedicated to him read: “Nicholas Alahverdian’s struggle for life ended on February 29, 2020.
“The children and families in the care of the Rhode Island Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) for whom he inspired and led through turbulent government transgressions have lost a warrior who fought on the front lines for two decades.”
A US man believed to be a fugitive on the run from the FBI has been found by police after years in hiding in Scotland matching his tattoos, prosecutors said. The man, who goes by at least 10 other aliases including Nicholas Alahverdian (pictured), appeared at a hearing in Edinburgh on Friday in a wheelchair, wearing an oxygen mask, pajamas and a dressing gown
Alahverdian, who also calls himself Nicholas Rossi, is a registered sex offender. He was convicted of two sex offenses in 2008. His sex offender registry mugshot is shown
He is accused of raping an ex-girlfriend in September 2008 and police are investigating him after discovering he had been reported to police for similar alleged assaults in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Utah and Ohio.
Rossi was convicted of sexual assault after an “encounter” with another student at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.
He is suspected of carrying out several other sexual assaults and has also been charged with a $200,000 fraud after taking out credit cards and loans on behalf of his foster mother’s husband in Ohio, sources say.
Rossi divorced his second wife in 2017 after less than two years of marriage and also reportedly owes her $52,000. Both of his ex-spouses issued restraining orders against him after their marriage ended.
More details of his bizarre behavior were described in the Providence Journal, which obtained a series of Pawtucket police reports from more than a decade ago.
A prosecutor told police in July 2010 that Rossi had lured them to his apartment on the pretext of visiting his studio. Instead, she told police, he took her phone and urged her to have sex.
This map traces the chaos and suspected criminal behavior of Nicholas Alahverdian across the United States
When she turned down his advances, he told her, “If she left, he would kill himself by stabbing himself in the chest,” the outlet reported.
He was then taken to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
Police returned to his home in November on a lead and said they found an “extremely upset” woman with injuries to both eyes.
The woman told police Rossi freaked out after her dinner guests’ baby started crying earlier that night and claimed they later got into an argument that turned violent.
Rossi “grabbed her and slammed her to the ground and held her down” and “slapped her in the face,” the outlet reported.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office in Provo began a hunt for Rossi in 2020 after testing old sexual assault kits.