The sheriff of the court has decided that the man calling himself Arthur Knight is actually Nicholas Rossi. Sheriff Norman McFadyen said: “I am ultimately satisfied on the balance of probabilities, from the fingerprint, photograph and tattoo evidence, taken together, supported by the name change evidence, that Mr Knight is indeed Nicholas Rossi, the person was searched for. for extradition from the United States’. He dismissed the 35-year-old’s claims of mistaken identity as “outrageous” and “baseless and imaginary”. Fugitive Rossi is wanted for sexually assaulting three different women in Utah and is also alleged to have committed a number of other crimes in the US. Image: Nicholas Rossi arrives in court today Authorities say he fled the US to avoid prosecution and tried to trick investigators into believing he was dead, even trying to hold a fake memorial mass to commemorate his death. However, he was tracked via an Interpol arrest warrant to a Glasgow hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19 in December 2021. Since his arrest he has insisted he is the victim of mistaken identity – that his name is Arthur Knight and that he is an Irish orphan who has never visited the US. Fingerprints and tattoos But today, officials at Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled that the story was false and that he was indeed the man wanted by US authorities. Three days of evidence was heard this week as lawyers tried to find out the truth about the man’s identity. Lawyer Paul Harvey called 10 witnesses, including hospital staff, police and fingerprint experts, all of whom were adamant that the man they had met in Glasgow was the man the Americans had identified as Rossi. Two fingerprint experts from Police Scotland identified unique fingerprint characteristics from “Arthur Knight” which they said were “identical” to Rossi’s fingerprints. A nurse, from Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, described “distinctive” tattoos on her patient’s biceps, which were the same as images released by Interpol as part of the manhunt. Strange claims ‘completely imaginary’ During his defence, the wanted man made a number of outlandish claims to explain the biometric evidence put before the court. He told the sheriff that he didn’t have any tattoos before he was admitted to the hospital and that he “woke up” from a coma to find that his body had been tattooed while he was unconscious. In another strange twist, he claimed the fingerprints on the Interpol warrant only matched his because they were taken by an NHS worker in Glasgow. He claimed a man known only as “Patrick” took the prints while being drugged and then sent them to a corrupt official in Utah, who in turn released them to Interpol. Sheriff McFadyen said Rossi’s claim that he had regained consciousness from a coma to find that he had been tattooed “was just as … if not more improbable and fantastic” than his claim that he had been fingerprinted by an NHS worker on behalf of US prosecutors while in intensive care. Regarding Rossi’s insistence that he was Arthur Knight and not the US wanted man, the sheriff added: “It seems very suspicious to me that the name change went through a series of permutations. That seems to me consistent with someone who was hiding from someone or something.” Rossi’s string of outlandish stories, excuses and stalling tactics were branded “totally fantastic” and “strange” by the prosecutor, who suggested there was no doubt the man in court was Rossi himself. At one point during the proceedings Rossi was seen crying and wheezing, describing his experience in the Scottish prison as “challenging and dystopian”. He said “I love you” to his wife Miranda, who stood by him and claims her husband Arthur is a victim of mistaken identity. US version offer This case, plagued by delays, is one of the strangest to come before a Scottish court. Today’s decision by Sheriff Norman McFadyen ends the relentless fight for identity, removes any suspicion of the existence of the alias “Arthur Knight” and paves the way for the full extradition process which is likely to start next year. US officials want his extradition to stand trial.
