Nicholas Rossi, a fugitive accused of faking his own death in 2020 to evade rape charges in the U.S., has died at age 38. Rossi passed away Thursday night after being taken to a hospital from a Utah prison, succumbing to "complications of an existing medical condition after choosing to discontinue medical treatment," according to Richard Piatt, a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Corrections.

Rossi was serving a sentence of at least 10 years for two sexual assault cases that went to trial in Utah in 2025. His death concludes a yearslong international effort to locate and extradite him from Scotland.

Authorities had been searching for Rossi after he was identified in 2018 through DNA evidence from a decade-old rape kit. Months after being charged in the U.S., an online obituary claimed he died on Feb. 29, 2020, of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, law enforcement in his home state of Rhode Island, along with his former legal counsel and foster family, raised doubts about the veracity of his reported death.

He was arrested in Scotland in 2021 while receiving treatment for COVID-19. Hospital staff recognized distinctive tattoos, including a Brown University crest, although he had not attended the institution. Rossi maintained he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight and was being framed, with investigators stating he used at least a dozen aliases to evade capture.

Salt Lake County prosecutor Sim Gill commented on Rossi's death, stating, "Mr. Rossi was a sexual predator who tried to escape accountability. The survivors of his heinous acts have the consolation that he died in prison with the knowledge of the crimes he committed."

During court proceedings, Rossi had appeared in a wheelchair and utilized oxygen. Two women in Utah had accused him of sexual assault. One alleged that Rossi raped her after she went to an apartment to collect money he had stolen from her. Another woman testified that after meeting Rossi through a Craigslist personal ad, becoming engaged within weeks, she was asked to finance their lifestyle, including car repairs and rent, and take on debt for engagement rings.

At a sentencing hearing in October 2025, Rossi asserted his innocence, stating, "I am not guilty of this. These women are lying."