Who is Arthur Knight & what happened after he woke from Covid coma in C4’s Imposter: The Man Who Came Back from the Dead
SPEAKING with an upper-class English accent through an oxygen mask, Arthur Knight doesn’t seem a likely candidate for a US fugitive.
But according to the FBI, he was actually suspected serial rapist and conman Nicholas Rossi, who had faked his own death after fleeing the States.
Who is Arthur Knight?
Real name Nicholas Alahverdian, Arthur Knight was born on July 11, 1987, in Rhode Island, United States.
He is known by the police as Nicholas Rossi, among other aliases,
Rossi is an American sex offender who faked his own death in 2020
He has one prior conviction, for sexually assaulting Mary Grebinski when she was a 19-year-old student in Ohio in 2008.
For a short period of time, Rossi studied comparative literature in extension program classes offered by Harvard University.
However, he didn’t graduate as in 2012 he was “administratively withdrawn” from the course when the uni learned of his sex offender status.
Despite this, Rossi claimed to be a “Harvard scholar, political scientist and sociologist”.
Why did Nicholas Rossi go by the alias, Arthur Knight?
Rossi is believed to have lived under at least 16 different names.
He often posed as a Harvard University graduate or campaigning whistleblower.
Rossi is understood to have changed his name to Arthur Knight when he fled to the UK in 2017 to evade changes for rape.
Previously, Rossi also went by the names:
- Nicholas Edward
- Nicholas Brown
- Arthur Brown
- Nicholas Alahverdian-Rossi
What happened to Nicholas Rossi aka Arthur Knight?
After coming to the UK, Rossi seemed to think the authorities would stop pursuing him if he convinced them he was dead.
He planned an elaborate memorial service for himself back home in Providence, Rhode Island, after pretending to have died of cancer in 2020.
However, Rossi was rumbled in a Glasgow hospital in December 2021 while being treated on a ventilator for Covid after being in a coma.
Rossi insisted he was really Arthur Knight, an Irish academic who had grown up an orphan.
But the patient’s fingerprints matched wanted Rossi’s.
Still claiming to be Arthur Knight, he then went on to court the media, hoping to convince the world he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Investigative journalist Jane MacSorley was invited to his Glasgow home for a meal, spending four hours with him and second wife Miranda, who he married in February 2020.
Jane told The Sun: “He was charming. They cooked me chicken casserole and gave me champagne. What did they have to celebrate?”
Prior to meeting Rossi, Jane was convinced that he was not the Irish man Arthur was claiming to be.
Her mission was to study his arms which, according to American police files, were covered in distinctive tattoos.
Jane changed her mind when he rolled up his sleeve to reveal ink-free skin – little did she know, he’d had them removed.
She said: “I was as close to him as I was to my own arm and he had no make-up and no scarring.
“I thought it must be a case of mistaken identity.”
But after she continued to delve further into the case, Rossi turned nasty.
Jane said: “I think he is dangerous. I was fearful of him. He plagued me with calls and text messages. It was quite menacing.”
Why is Nicholas Rossi one of America’s most wanted criminals?
Rossi fled fled the US in 2017, where the FBI wanted to speak to him about fraud and rape offences.
In May 2024, he appeared in a US court to face the first of two trials for rape after being extradited from the UK in January 2024.
It was revealed Rossi will represent himself at his trials.
During the hearing in May, the judge repeatedly urged him to take advantage of professional legal expertise, but he has refused.
Rossi will stay in Utah County Jail until the case calls again in June 2024 – he denies the charges.
How to watch Imposter: The Man Who Came Back From The Dead
A four-part Channel 4 documentary reveals the extreme measures Rossi took to evade justice.
They include having a huge number of distinctive tattoos removed from his arms after they helped to identify him in hospital.
You can watch Imposter: The Man Who Came Back From The Dead at 9pm on Channel 4 from May 20, 2024, concluding on June 3, 2024.
Man behind mask
By Gordon Tait
MY story about fugitive Rossi in January 2022 sparked a worldwide media circus – with tonight’s Channel 4 documentary the latest to unpick his lies.
But what is most amazing about the “man behind the mask” mystery is there was actually no mystery at all.
I tracked down Rossi to a flat in Glasgow’s Woodlands area and we captured a first glimpse of the man – that has since been aired worldwide – cowering under a blanket while being arrested.
Days later, I received a call from a wheezing man with a bizarre English/Irish accent.
It was “Arthur”. He said he wanted to work with me to show he was an innocent victim of a terrible wrong.
He lavished me with compliments, but within minutes of our conversation, his story began to fall apart – he could not explain how his tattoos and fingerprints matched Rossi’s.
He asked me: “Do you want to be called Gordon or Mr Tait?”. I told him I didn’t mind, I only had one name.
There was no way I was dancing to his tune, or allowing a suspected multiple rapist a sympathetic ear, so I started calling him Nick instead of Arthur.
He wasn’t happy and his pleas for me to visit him were rebuffed. I then received a torrent of abusive emails and threats, which got personal.
I met Rossi face to face for the first time at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in April 2022.
He drove up to me in his wheelchair, extended his hand and tried to introduce himself. I declined and told him: “I don’t shake hands with sex offenders, Nick.”
That prompted a slew of rage and insults. I’ve heard a lot worse, but the explosion of anger – something he has been accused of since he was 18 – showed what he was all about.
In early November 2022, after numerous delaying tactics, his identity was finally established with fine collaboration between US and Scottish police.
He was extradited late last year and now faces trial in the US – but the fascination with him continues.