‘He had talent, brains and people trying to help him…but he didn’t have the will’: US politician on rape suspect Nicholas Rossi as extradition hearings begin again

A rape suspect facing extradition to the United States after attempting to create a fake identity in Scotland failed to take the chance to escape the legacy of a brutal childhood, according to a politician who tried to mentor him.

Nicholas Rossi – who is expected to attend another extradition hearing in Edinburgh tomorrow – has made headlines around the world since being arrested in a Glasgow hospital in December 2021.

He insists he is Irish orphan Arthur Knight and claims to have no knowledge of Rossi but, in November, a sheriff formally identified him as Rossi, 35, from Rhode Island, who had been placed on the US sex offenders register after assaulting an 18-year-old woman in 2008, and is facing sexual assault allegations in the US and England.

Former Rhode Island state ­representative Joanne Giannini tried to help teenage Rossi when he lived in a children’s home and persuasively styled himself as a campaigner for abuse victims in the care system. Today, she says, her heart goes out to his victims.

She said: “Nick Rossi was a victim of a broken system that has yet to be fixed by this state. However he turned out, it was due to lack of parental involvement in his life and a dysfunctional state system that has yet to get it right.

“He was brilliant and very ­manipulating. He learned to survive by being this way. I was shocked and dismayed when I heard about sexual assault accusations. It is so sad and such a waste he could not use his brain to better his life and the life of others.

“He had the talent. He had the brain. He had opportunities and people who helped him along the way but he didn’t have the will.”

Earlier this month, The Sunday Post spoke to victims, former friends and associates in Britain and the US and none had any doubt Knight, Rossi and his other alias, Nicholas Alahverdian, were the same man.

Over more than a decade, Rossi ­systematically targeted women, often on the rebound from break-ups, sexually assaulting them before blaming them for his actions and threatening to end his own life if they revealed his crimes, according to prosecutors.

In his formative years, he became too difficult for his parents and was put in the custody of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families.

By the time Rossi was 12 he was ­living in a boys’ home in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Over the years, he pursued an ambition to enter the world of politics. By the time he was 14, he ran errands for politicians at the State House and Senate in Providence.

Giannini added: “There are many Nicks out there. If we learned anything from this, it’s that you never know what people will do when they are desperate and need help.

“My heart breaks for his foster parents and all the victims of his actions. My hope is he gets the help he needs and that all his victims have time to heal. I always felt that I was trying to help a child in need. As a legislator, that was my job. As a human being that was my choice.”

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It has been alleged Rossi faked his death in 2020 and fled to Scotland to evade prosecution before he was arrested in December 2021.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this month, Mungo Bovey KC requested Rossi, who appeared in a wheelchair and wearing a face mask, be granted bail until extradition proceedings were concluded.

Bovey said that being in custody had a “very serious” impact on Rossi. He said the tenancy that Rossi and his wife, Miranda, had was coming to an end and she was “facing losing her accommodation at a time when she is facing a health crisis”.

He said his client had been subject to “special security measures” in HMP Edinburgh and “his electric wheelchair was removed from him within the prison with the effect of limiting his mobility and quality of life”. However, Sheriff Christopher Dickson said Rossi posed “a substantial risk of absconding” and remanded him in custody.

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The hearing was called to address Rossi’s identity in relation to a second extradition request from US authorities. It is connected to a second rape allegation, brought to the Scottish courts’ attention during Rossi’s formal identification hearing in November last year.

The full week-long extradition hearing is expected to take place at Edinburgh Sheriff Court tomorrow.

But, even if extradition is granted, Rossi may not yet be returning to the US. Essex police has said it wishes to interview him about an allegation of rape.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has previously said that alleged offences in the UK must be dealt with first, which means his extradition could be delayed.