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Man accused of faking death and fleeing US to avoid rape charges will stand trial, Utah judge rules

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Man accused of faking death and fleeing US to avoid rape charges will stand trial, Utah judge rules


SALT LAKE CITY — A man accused of faking his own death and fleeing the U.S. to avoid rape charges will stand trial, a judge in Utah ruled Thursday.

District Judge Barry Lawrence ruled during Nicholas Rossi’s preliminary hearing that prosecutors had presented enough evidence to warrant a jury trial, KTVX-TV reported.

Prosecutors say Rossi, 37, raped a 26-year-old former girlfriend after an argument in Salt Lake County in 2008. In a separate case, he is accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, that same year and was not identified as a suspect for about a decade due to a backlog of DNA test kits at the Utah State Crime Lab.

Rossi during a hearing livestreamed on Jan. 16 in Salt Lake City.AP

His attorneys at the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press on Thursday evening.

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Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, has used several aliases and has said he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who had never set foot on American soil and was being framed.

The American fugitive grew up in foster homes in Rhode Island and had returned to the state before allegedly faking his death and fleeing the country. An obituary published online claimed Rossi died on Feb. 29, 2020, of late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Authorities and his former foster family doubted his death.

Rossi was arrested in Scotland in 2021 after being recognized at a Glasgow hospital during treatment for COVID-19. He lost an extradition appeal in the country in December.

Utah County court documents show that Rossi is also accused of sexual assault, harassment and possible kidnapping in Rhode Island, Ohio and Massachusetts, KTVX-TV reported.

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Multiple earthquakes detected near Kanosh

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Multiple earthquakes detected near Kanosh


KANOSH, Utah — The United States Geological Survey recorded multiple earthquakes near Kanosh Sunday morning, each of them having an average magnitude of 3.0.

The first earthquake, magnitude 3.0, was detected just after 12:30 a.m., with the epicenter located half a mile south of Kanarraville.

The second quake, magnitude 3.2, was detected around 5:45 a.m., with the epicenter nearly five miles south-southwest of Kanosh. This was followed by two more quakes in the same area, a magnitude 2.5 quake coming in around 6:35 a.m., followed by a third around 7:45 a.m, which measured at magnitude 3.3.

This has since been followed by another quake, measuring at magnitude 3.7, being detected around 8:45 a.m. The geographic location in the USGS report places the epicenter approximately over two miles south of the Dry Wash Trail, about six miles south-southwest of Kanosh.

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FOX 13 News previously spoke with researchers at University of Utah, who said that earthquake swarms are relatively common. A study published in 2023 posits that swarms may be triggered by geothermal activity. The findings came after a series of seismic swarms were detected in central Utah, within the vicinity of three geothermal power plants.

The study also says that the swarms fall into a different category than aftershocks that typically follow large quakes, such as the magnitude 5.7 earthquake that hit the Wasatch Fault back in 2020.





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Embattled Utah Rep. Trevor Lee loses county GOP convention — but wins enough support to make primary

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Embattled Utah Rep. Trevor Lee loses county GOP convention — but wins enough support to make primary


Earlier in the week, House Speaker Mike Schultz said lawmakers asked the attorney general to investigate allegations of fraud and bribery against Lee.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, running for reelection, addresses delegates during the Davis County Republican Party nominating convention at Syracuse High School on Saturday, April 18, 2026.



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A new bar brings the Himalayas to the foot of Big Cottonwood Canyon

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A new bar brings the Himalayas to the foot of Big Cottonwood Canyon


Also from Utah Eats: A Utah baker ends his run on a Food Network competition; Lucky Slice’s territory grows.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Yeti, a Himalayan-themed bar in Cottonwood Heights, is pictured on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.



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