<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A Rhode Island man accused of faking his death and fleeing the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="_blank" title="United States "><span>United States</span></a><span> to evade rape charges was found guilty late Wednesday of sexually assaulting a former girlfriend in his first of two Utah trials.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An eight-person jury in Salt Lake County found Nicholas Rossi guilty of a 2008 rape after a three-day trial in which his accuser and her parents took the stand.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rossi, 38, declined to testify on his own behalf. He will be sentenced on October 20 and is set to stand trial in September on another rape charge in Utah County.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/finance/productivity-australia-what-is-it-why-its-important-goverment-roundtable-tax-explained/70c962e5-90da-4fed-9888-661ff0318a38" target="_blank"><strong><span>The crucial factor that could soon cost every Aussie $14,000 a year</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>First-degree felony rape carries a punishment in Utah of five years to life in prison, said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are grateful to the survivor in this case for her willingness to come forward, years after this attack took place," Gill said in a statement. "</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It took courage and bravery to take the stand and confront her attacker to hold him accountable."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/man-accused-of-faking-his-death-to-avoid-rape-charges-is-found-guilty-of-sexual-assault/20e55c02-d67f-4b18-afc2-b2f72fc6e7ff" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Utah authorities began searching for Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, when he was identified through a decade-old DNA rape kit in 2018.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was among thousands of rape suspects identified and later charged when Utah made a push to clear its rape kit backlog.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Months after he was charged in Utah County, an online obituary claimed Rossi died on February 29, 2020, of late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But police in his home state of Rhode Island, along with his former lawyer and a former foster family, cast doubt on whether he was dead.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/powerball-100-million-dollar-win-lotto-to-hold-jog-in-bondi-junction-to-seek-winner/16a49841-a167-47ad-abd7-5ce638df73eb" target="_blank"><strong><span>Bizarre ploy to find mystery $100 million winner</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was arrested in Scotland the following year while receiving treatment for COVID-19 after hospital staff recognised his distinctive tattoos from an Interpol notice.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Extradited to Utah in January 2024, Rossi insisted he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who was being framed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Investigators say they identified at least a dozen aliases Rossi used over the years to evade capture.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He appeared in court this week in a wheelchair, wearing a suit and tie and using an oxygen tank.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rossi's public defender denied the rape claim and urged jurors not to read too much into his move overseas years later.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You're allowed to move, you're allowed to go somewhere else, you're allowed to have a different name," attorney Samantha Dugan said. She declined further comment following the verdict.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutors painted a picture of an intelligent man who used his charm to take advantage of a vulnerable young woman.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/aldi-australias-best-supermarket-canstar-awards/5585cf2a-e49c-4175-a7c6-7dd2fab9346c" target="_blank"><strong><span>Australia's favourite supermarket crowned as shopping costs surge</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The woman was living with her parents and recovering from a traumatic brain injury when she responded to a personal ad Rossi posted on Craigslist. They began dating and were engaged within about two weeks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She testified Rossi asked her to pay for dates and car repairs, lend him $1,000 so he wouldn't be evicted, and take on debt to buy their engagement rings.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He grew hostile soon after their engagement and raped her in his bedroom one night after she drove him home, she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Brandon Simmons told jurors Wednesday that the woman did not consent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is not romantic, this is not her mistaking things."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The woman said her parents' dismissive comments convinced her not to go to the police.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She came forward a decade later after seeing him in the news and learning he was accused of another rape from the same year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rossi's lawyers said the woman built up years of resentment after he made her foot the bill for everything in their month-long relationship.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-alaska-summit-putin-praises-trump-efforts-end-ukraine-war/8c9303e0-e4a1-43ad-b66d-d05763e852bd" rel="" target="_blank" title="Putin praises Trump ahead of Ukraine war summit"><strong><span>Putin praises Trump ahead of Ukraine war summit</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They argued she accused him of rape to get back at him years later when he was getting media attention, and sought to undermine her credibility with jurors.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rossi's accuser in the Utah County case, who testified at this week's trial, is also a former girlfriend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She went to police at the time of that alleged rape.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He is accused of attacking her at his apartment in Orem in September 2008 after she came over to collect money she said he stole from her to buy a computer.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When police initially interviewed Rossi, he claimed she raped him and threatened to have him killed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rossi grew up in foster homes in Rhode Island and returned there before allegedly faking his death.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was previously wanted in the state for failing to register as a sex offender.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The FBI says he faces fraud charges in Ohio, where he was convicted of sex-related charges in 2008.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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