SALT LAKE CITY (WPRI/AP) — It appears to be a case of mistaken identity no more.

Nicholas Alahverdian, the man accused of faking his own death and moving to the United Kingdom to avoid rape charges, admitted for the first time in court Wednesday that he changed his name upon leaving the country.

Prior to his testimony, Alahverdian asserted that he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who had never set foot on American soil and was being framed.

Alahverdian, who’s gone by a number of aliases including Nicholas Rossi, is accused of raping a 26-year-old former girlfriend after an argument in Salt Lake County in 2008.

Prosecutors also believe he raped a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, that same year, but he was not identified as a suspect for about a decade due to a backlog of DNA test kits at the Utah State Crime Lab.

The 37-year-old American fugitive grew up in foster homes in Rhode Island and returned to the state before reportedly faking his death and crossing the pond. An obituary published online claimed he died on Feb. 29, 2020, of late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Alahverdian testified that he left the country in 2017 and changed his name to protect himself because he was being threatened by elected officials in Rhode Island.

Having been an outspoken critic of Rhode Island’s Department of Children, Youth and Families, Alahverdian implied the threats were related to his work to reform the foster care system, but refused to identify who was threatening him.

“I don’t want to give a mouse cheese,” he said.

Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan temporarily closed the courtroom to the public so Alahverdian could identify the source of the threats.

Alahverdian testified that he kept in touch with Rep. Ray Hull while in England after assuming his new identity. He said Hull warned him that he was in danger, but the state lawmaker told 12 News that “never happened.”

Hull called Alahverdian’s testimony “comical,” adding that the last time the two spoke was prior to his purported death.

Alahverdian also claimed he was in contact with East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva, whose office declined to comment on the assertion when asked by 12 News.

The Rhode Island native was arrested in Scotland in 2021 after being recognized at a Glasgow hospital while being treated for COVID-19. He lost an extradition appeal in the country in December and returned to the United States less than a month later.

Utah County court documents show that Alahverdian has also been accused of sexual assault, harassment and possible kidnapping in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Ohio.

Alahverdian has been behind bars in Utah since he returned to the United States, having been unable to post his $350,000 bail. He depends on oxygen to breathe and uses a wheelchair as a result of his muscles becoming weakened by the coronavirus.

Pullan deemed Alahverdian a flight risk despite his health problems, citing his history and the fact his wife occasionally sends him money from the United Kingdom. He ordered Alahverdian be held without bail while awaiting trial.

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