Nicholas Rossi goes on trial accused of faking death and fleeing US to avoid rape charges

Nicholas Rossi goes on trial accused of faking death and fleeing US to avoid rape charges

A man accused of faking his death and fleeing the US to avoid rape charges has faced an alleged victim in court as a jury trial begins. The man known in the US as Nicholas Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, is accused of sexually assaulting two women in Utah in 2008.

Prosecutors are trying the cases separately, with the first set in Salt Lake County, Utah.

Thirty-eight-year-old Rossi has links to Bristol, having married his wife Miranda in the city in 2020. He was extradited from Scotland to the US in January 2024 after a lengthy case in the Scottish courts.

He came to the attention of authorities when he was identified at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in December 20