An American has been sentenced to 5 to life in prison after being found guilty of raping his ex-girlfriend 17 years ago.
He has been identified as Nicholas Rossi, 38, who feigned death and hid in Scotland to escape prosecution. According to the court in Salt Lake City, he did everything he could to hide his true identity and escape justice.
One of his schemes was to circulate a fake obituary, which said he died of cancer. While hiding in Europe, he used another name and pretended to be Irish. He was caught in 2021 after being identified at the hospital because of his tattoos that matched police records.
During the trial, Rossi defended himself by saying that he was mistaken and that his fingerprints had been changed. He even appeared in court in a wheelchair and with an oxygen mask, but doctors said he was strong and uninjured.
Rossi allegedly used more than 12 aliases to escape. He was caught after DNA evidence emerged that proved he was the culprit. In another case in September, he was also convicted of another rape that occurred in 2008.
