Nicholas Rossi, who allegedly faked his own death and fled the U.S. to avoid rape charges in Utah, had his first appearance in the 4th District Court on Tuesday after refusing to appear for his two most recently scheduled hearings.

Rossi, who claims to be Arthur Knight, appeared before the judge remotely from the Utah County Jail, and the judge stated he was being charged with first-degree felony rape. The state also moved to dismiss an additional charge of sexual battery, which the judge granted.

During his arraignment Tuesday, Rossi reiterated his claim that his name is not Nicholas Rossi. He was extradited from Scotland in early January and, during his first court appearance in Utah’s 3rd District Court on Jan. 16, told the judge his name was Arthur Knight, reported Fox 13.

On Tuesday, he told the judge he had retained an attorney, Lance Bastien, but Bastien stated during the hearing that he had not been formally retained by Rossi and discussions with him were ongoing. Bastien also referred to Rossi as “Mr. Knight” during the arraignment.

Rossi was wearing an oxygen mask during the hearing and was difficult to understand while speaking in a raspy voice, with the judge having to ask him to repeat himself multiple times.

Rossi initially was scheduled to appear in the 4th District Court on Jan. 23 but refused to appear for unknown reasons. He also was scheduled to appear in the 3rd District Court on Jan. 26 but refused again, leading to the judge issuing a reasonable force order, reported Fox 13.

The man, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, was extradited from Scotland in early January after being identified as a suspect in a rape case from 2008 in Orem. Rossi was identified as a suspect after a backlog of DNA test kits were processed by the Utah State Crime Lab and he was first arrested in Glasgow in 2021, according to The Associated Press.

The DNA wasn’t tested until 2017, when it was connected to a sexual assault case in Ohio, the AP reported. Rossi allegedly faked his death in Rhode Island in 2020 and then fled to Europe.

His next hearing in the 4th District Court is set for March 5, and another in the 3rd District Court is set for March 8 for a separate case.

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