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PROVO — A United Kingdom sheriff, Gerard Macmillan, determined on Thursday a man awaiting extradition to Utah based on 2008 rape charges should no longer be on parole and should be held in custody.
Arthur Knight, 34, was arrested on July 5, 2022, after he "allegedly behaved in a threatening or abusive manner" at a hospital in Glasgow, according to the Glasgow Court Press Agency.
They claimed he shouted, swore and acted aggressively toward staff.
A statement from the Utah County Attorney's Office said Knight is known by multiple different names, including Nicholas Rossi, and is charged with rape, a first-degree felony, under the name Rossi in Utah County.
The charging documents, filed in September of 2020, accuse Rossi of raping a 21-year-old woman in 2008 in Orem. A rape kit from the incident was resubmitted for testing as part of the Utah Sex Assault Kit Initiative. The DNA test results matched a profile with the name Nicholas Rossi on police reports in Rhode Island, Ohio, Utah and Massachusetts, the charges state.
Each case cites similar behavior, alleging that Rossi would meet women online, make inappropriate contact with them, threaten to harm himself, and later tell police the woman was the aggressor. The charging documents say investigators learned he had fled the country to avoid prosecution and State Bureau of Investigation agents and other investigators were able to locate him under an alias in Scotland.
Initially, he was arrested in Scotland in January after being treated for COVID-19 in an intensive care unit for a month.
"We knew we had the right person and we look forward to proving the case against this individual," said Utah County Attorney David Leavitt in a prepared statement issued Thursday.
Although the hearing on extradition was postponed, Leavitt said it is forthcoming.
"This is a great day and I express appreciation to my chief deputy, Sandi Johnson, for the fine work to identify this individual and work with the State Bureau of Investigations, Department of Justice, and Interpol to identify and seek justice," Leavitt said.
Knight is in a wheelchair and his oxygen tank ran out during the hearing on Thursday, according to information from Glasgow Court Press Agency that was released from Leavitt's office. Knight's attorney, Munawar Ali, argued Knight should be released on bail due to medical needs.
Prosecutor Julie Clark opposed bail, which was previously granted to Knight by the Edinburgh Sheriff Appeal Court on Feb. 4. She argued that there is a significant risk he would not appear at a hearing and could reoffend.
At the hearing, Knight said, "That's not true" after Clark said he was identified as Nicholas Rossi, according to the statement.
Clark claimed at the hearing that he has at least 10 aliases and multiple accents. She said fingerprints confirm he is Nicholas Rossi, and doctors involved in his care have said he doesn't have lung issues. She also said investigators established he traveled to Dublin in 2017 but there is no record of him entering the U.K.
"It is not known how he made it to Scotland, but he was in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital being treated for COVID," she said at a hearing.
