Nicholas Rossi, a 38-year-old man from Rhode Island who appeared to have faked his own death to avoid facing rape charges, was sentenced to prison on Monday in Utah for one of two separate rape convictions. District Judge Barry Lawrence in Salt Lake City handed down a five-year prison sentence in connection with one of the cases, marking the first of two scheduled sentences Rossi will face after being convicted of raping two women in northern Utah back in 2008.
The sentencing followed a highly emotional impact statement delivered by one of the victims, who described the lasting trauma Rossi caused. She told the court that he left behind a "trail of fear, pain and destruction," emphasizing that her statement was not a call for vengeance but a plea for safety, accountability, and acknowledgment of the irreparable harm he caused. Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Brandon Simmons echoed these sentiments in court, arguing that Rossi used rape as a tool to control women and represented a serious risk to public safety.
Rossi’s sentencing on Monday corresponds to one of two convictions obtained in recent months. He was found guilty in August and September of raping two separate women in Utah, with the second sentencing scheduled for November 4. That sentence could range from five years to life in prison, depending on the judge’s ruling.
During the trial earlier this year, jurors heard testimony from one of the victims and her parents over the course of a three-day trial. Rossi did not testify in his defense at that time. However, given the opportunity to speak before Monday’s sentencing, Rossi maintained his innocence, quietly asserting, "I am not guilty of this. These women are lying," despite the weight of the evidence against him.
The road to Rossi’s convictions was long and complex, spanning over a decade from the time the crimes occurred to the moment he was finally brought to justice. The cases remained unsolved until Utah authorities began systematically reviewing old rape kits to clear a backlog of untested evidence. In 2018, a decade-old DNA sample linked Rossi to one of the assaults, prompting authorities to launch a manhunt.
In a bizarre twist, months after charges were filed, an online obituary surfaced claiming that Rossi had died on February 29, 2020, from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, law enforcement in Rhode Island, his home state, along with his former lawyer and a foster family he had lived with, expressed strong doubts about the authenticity of the death notice. Their suspicions were confirmed when police arrested Rossi in Scotland the following year. Hospital staff had identified him through distinctive tattoos, including a Brown University crest inked on his shoulder—a detail that stood out since Rossi never attended that institution. He was recognized from an Interpol notice and taken into custody while receiving treatment for COVID-19.
After a lengthy extradition process, Rossi was returned to Utah in January 2024. Throughout the legal proceedings, Rossi maintained a complex web of false identities. At one point, he claimed to be an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who was being framed. Investigators have uncovered at least a dozen aliases he used over the years to evade law enforcement and avoid capture.
Rossi’s defense attorney in the first Utah trial urged jurors not to read too much into Rossi’s time abroad, dismissing the rape allegations as unfounded. Nonetheless, the prosecution painted a starkly different picture of Rossi’s history and behavior.
One of the victims testified that she had been recovering from a traumatic brain injury and living with her parents in 2008 when she responded to a personal ad Rossi posted on Craigslist. Their relationship quickly escalated, and they became engaged within weeks. During this time, Rossi pressured her to pay for dates, car repairs, and even lent him $1,000 to prevent eviction. He also coerced her into taking on debt to buy engagement rings. The relationship soon turned hostile, and she testified that Rossi raped her one night after she had driven him home. She did not report the assault immediately but came forward years later after learning that Rossi had been accused of assaulting another woman in the state around the same time.
The second victim came forward shortly after her assault, reporting that Rossi attacked her at his apartment in Orem, Utah. She had gone there to collect money that Rossi allegedly stole from her to buy a computer. Both women’s testimonies contributed to Rossi’s convictions.
Rossi’s troubled past includes a childhood spent in foster homes in Rhode Island. Prior to fleeing