Sky News: Nicholas Rossi, the US rapist who faked his death and fled to Scotland in bid to escape justice, dies Nicholas
Sky News: Nicholas Rossi, the US rapist who faked his death and fled to Scotland in bid to escape justice, dies Nicholas Rossi dies

The American rapist who faked his own death to dodge justice, then resurfaced alive in Scotland, has died in a US hospital. This time it appears to be genuine. [1]

His first death was the fake one. Rossi, a sex offender wanted in the United States, staged his own demise and fled across the Atlantic, only for the act to collapse when he turned up in Scotland very much alive. The BBC, STV and Sky News each reported his actual death on 26 June. [2]

Nicholas Rossi, who also used the alias Arthur Knight

Then the part that made the case unforgettable. Cornered by Scottish authorities, Rossi did not simply deny being Rossi. He claimed to be an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight and committed to the role in open court. As one widely-upvoted commenter quotes from the court reporting, he "spoke in an apparent English accent and referred to the judge as 'm'lady'" in a "laboured, breathy tone."

The accent did not convince anyone.

“Genuinely one of the most obvious fake British accents I've ever heard.”
— voivoivoi183 on Reddit

What's confirmed is narrow and solid: he faked his death, fled to Scotland, and has now actually died, reported consistently across outlets. [3] What these dispatches do not settle is the cause or exact circumstances, beyond that it happened in a US hospital.

The reaction skewed darkly comic. "Very unlucky bloke," one commenter wrote. "As if he had negative karma for things he did." [4] Another offered grim practical advice: faking your death is "not that uncommon to fail at the first time, but get better with each try." [5]

A man who once forged his own ending has reached the real one. The paperwork is all that's left.

Sources

Primary source: Reddit comment by MiamiViceGuy

  1. Tweet by @SkyNews — @SkyNews · community
  2. Tweet by @BBCNews — @BBCNews · community
  3. Tweet by @STVNews — @STVNews · community
  4. Reddit comment by toutetiteface — toutetiteface · community
  5. Reddit comment by lemoche — lemoche · community
  6. Reddit comment by voivoivoi183 — voivoivoi183 · community
  7. Reddit comment by Iceman6211 — Iceman6211 · community
  8. Reddit comment by stevencastle — stevencastle · community