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Nicholas Rossi: the many faces of a fugitive who faked his own death

He claims to be a disabled Scottish academic called Arthur Knight. American prosecutors insist he is Nicholas Rossi, a serial rapist wanted by the FBI. Before he was extradited to Utah, he pleaded his innocence to Marc Horne

The man of many aliases: Nick Alahverdian, Nick Alan, Nicholas Brown and Arthur Brown — or Arthur Knight, as he insisted he was to Marc Horne. A judge ruled he was Nicholas Rossi, a US fugitive
The man of many aliases: Nick Alahverdian, Nick Alan, Nicholas Brown and Arthur Brown — or Arthur Knight, as he insisted he was to Marc Horne. A judge ruled he was Nicholas Rossi, a US fugitive
ROBERT PERRY FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
The Sunday Times

This article was first published on May 12.

It is March 2022, in the West End of Glasgow, and one of America’s most wanted men is gasping and gurgling as he trundles towards me in a motorised wheelchair. He is wearing a spotted bow tie, a check three-piece suit in battleship grey, plum socks and a gold pocket watch, and has a transparent respirator mask clamped over his whiskery jowls.

Behind him on a shelf are images of Winston Churchill, Julius Caesar and the Great Sphinx of Giza, plus a Paddington Bear toy. Slippers embossed with Prince of Wales feathers lie near his feet. Puffy and perspiring, he proffers a clammy hand but his greetings are all but drowned out by the roar of an