DNA from Rhode Island conman Nicholas Alahverdian taken in the Utah County Jail in January, following his extradition from Scotland, matches DNA collected in 2008 from a woman who said he raped her, a police officer testified Tuesday.
Taking the stand at a hearing to determine if probable cause exists to prosecute Alahverdian, Orem Police Lt. Karalee Johnson became the first witness linking a recent sample of Alahverdian’s DNA to an alleged rape since he faked his death in 2020, sparking a sensational international story.
The scene in Provo District Court offered a sharp contrast to the theatrical outbursts of two years ago in Edinburgh when Alahverdian shouted, “It’s Knight, Knight, Knight!” when his Scottish extradition lawyer failed to refer to him by his masquerading name, Arthur Knight.
On Tuesday Alahverdian sat silently in a wheelchair, wearing a blue prison jumpsuit and an oxygen mask as the DNA evidence was presented.
Alahverdian, 37, faces two 2008 rape allegations from two separate Utah counties. He is charged in both cases under the name Rossi, the surname of his stepfather.
Tuesday marked the second time in less than a week that Alahverdian, once a familiar Rhode Island State House advocate for child welfare, did not contest his true identity − for the purposes of preliminary hearings, at least.
Under questioning from Utah County prosecutor Stephen Jones, Johnson said the DNA from the 2008 Orem rape had essentially sat on a shelf until 2018 when the state’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative worked through a years-long backlog of untested rape samples.
It was only then that the 2008 DNA sample was identified as Alahverdian’s, she said.
On Sept. 14, 2008, a 21-year-old woman identified in court Tuesday only as K.B. told Orem police that Alahverdian had raped her the previous day.
They had met on MySpace, she told investigators, and after a couple of weeks of dating he raped her after luring her to his apartment saying he would repay her money he owed her.
According to court records, Alahverdian then told the woman the assault was her fault because she is “mentally unstable and too emotional to deal with.”
Authorities have said police closed the case at the time without it being referred to prosecutors for possible prosecution.
Johnson said she was working in a police special victims unit when the results from the 2008 rape sample came back from the crime lab.
And what did the results determine, asked Jones.
“That the DNA returns to Nicholas Rossi," she said.
“And is Mr. Rossi in the room today?" asked Jones.
“Yes.”
“And can you describe what he’s wearing?” asked Jones.
“A blue jumpsuit, sitting in a wheelchair with an oxygen mask.”
“Your honor, will the record reflect this witness has positively identified the defendant in this case?” asked Jones.
“It will,” replied Judge Derek Pullan. “Based on the facts disclosed ... the court does find probable cause to believe that the defendant Nicholas Rossi committed the offense of rape as charged.”
The case was continued until Oct. 16 for a bail hearing and formal arraignment.
On Thursday a judge sitting in Salt Lake City also ruled that prosecution can move forward in Alahverdian’s other rape case.
Alahverdian is charged in that case with raping a 26-year-old woman in November 2008.
They, too, met online and had actually bought wedding rings, court records show. But the woman told investigators Alahverdian was emotionally and verbally abusive and raped her after a violent outburst.
Since his capture in December 2021 in a Glasgow hospital – where doctors say he almost died from COVID – Alahverdian has relied on a wheelchair, oxygen and a lie about his identity.
He says he is a former Irish orphan who with Dickensian spunk found his way to England, sold books on the street to survive and became a bookish resident of Glasgow with scholarly interests in theology.
He married a woman from Bristol, England, in February 2020, Miranda Knight, and one week later, with the help of his “widow,” distributed a glowing obituary informing Rhode Island reporters of his death and upcoming memorial services.
But law enforcement officials were skeptical of his demise and kept looking for him.
Last year an extradition judge approved Alahverdian's return to Utah describing him as “dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative.”
Contact Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Utah police: DNA taken from Nicholas Alahverdian in January matches his DNA taken from 2008 rape
Local News
