A court docket has dominated for the primary time {that a} man arrested on a COVID ward in Scotland is an American rape suspect who faked his personal loss of life.
The court docket sheriff has determined that the person calling himself Arthur Knight is in actual fact Nicholas Rossi.
Sheriff Norman McFadyen mentioned: “I am ultimately satisfied on the balance of probabilities, by the evidence of fingerprint, photographic and tattoo evidence, taken together, supported by the evidence of changes of name, that Mr Knight is indeed Nicholas Rossi, the person sought for extradition by the United States.”
Fugitive Rossi is needed in reference to intercourse assaults on three completely different ladies in Utah, and can be alleged to have dedicated various different crimes throughout the US.
Authorities say he fled the US to keep away from prosecution and tried to trick investigators into believing he was lifeless, even trying to carry a pretend memorial mass to commemorate his passing.
But he was tracked through an Interpol arrest warrant to a hospital in Glasgow the place he was present process therapy for COVID-19 in December 2021.
Since his arrest he has insisted he’s a sufferer of mistaken identification – that his identify is Arthur Knight, and that he’s an Irish orphan who has by no means visited the US.
Fingerprints and tattoos
But immediately officers at Edinburgh Sheriff Court dominated this story was false and that he was certainly the person wished by US authorities.
Three days of proof had been heard this week as attorneys tried to get to the reality of the person’s identification.
Advocate Depute Paul Harvey referred to as 10 witnesses together with hospital employees, law enforcement officials and fingerprint consultants who had been all adamant the person they’d encountered in Glasgow was the person recognized by the Americans as Rossi.
Two fingerprint consultants from Police Scotland recognized distinctive traits of prints from “Arthur Knight” which they mentioned had been “identical” matches for prints taken from Rossi.
A nurse, from Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, described “distinctive” tattoos on her affected person’s biceps, which had been the identical as photos launched by Interpol as a part of the manhunt.
Bizarre claims ‘completely fanciful’
During the course of his defence, the wished artificial a collection of weird claims to elucidate away the biometric proof put earlier than the court docket.
He instructed the sheriff that he didn’t have any tattoos earlier than his admission to hospital and that he “awoke” from a coma to search out his physique had been tattooed whereas he was unconscious.
In one other unusual twist, he alleged the fingerprints on the Interpol warrant solely matched his personal as a result of they had been taken by an NHS worker in Glasgow. He claimed a person recognized solely as “Patrick” took the prints whereas he was sedated after which despatched them to a corrupt official in Utah who in flip circulated them to Interpol.
His collection of weird tales, excuses and stalling techniques had been branded “entirely fanciful” and “outlandish” by the prosecutor, who steered there was little question the person in court docket was Rossi himself.
At one level within the proceedings Rossi appeared to cry and wheeze, describing his expertise of Scottish jail as “challenging and dystopian”.
He mouthed “I love you” at his spouse Miranda, who has stood by him and maintains that her husband Arthur is a sufferer of mistaken identification.
US extradition bid
This case, which has been plagued with delays, is without doubt one of the most weird to be heard in a Scottish court docket.
Today’s ruling by Sheriff Norman McFadyen brings to an finish the relentless battle over the identification, removes any suggestion of the existence of alias “Arthur Knight” and paves the best way for full extradition proceedings that are prone to get underneath manner subsequent 12 months.
American officers need him extradited to face trial.
Source: information.sky.com”