A Salt Lake County jury on Wednesday convicted Nicholas Rossi, the Rhode Island native who spent years denying his identity as he eluded US authorities, of raping a former girlfriend in 2008. Rossi, 38, was found guilty of first-degree felony rape after a three-day trial during which the victim and her parents testified. He faces five years to life in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 20. Prosecutors linked Rossi to the long-cold case in 2018 after his DNA was matched to a rape-kit sample. Months later an online obituary claimed he had died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma on Feb. 29, 2020. He was discovered alive in December 2021 at a Glasgow hospital, where staff recognised his distinctive tattoos from an Interpol notice while he was being treated for COVID-19. After fighting extradition under the alias “Arthur Knight,” Rossi was returned to Utah in January 2024; he appeared at this week’s trial in a wheelchair and declined to testify. Investigators say Rossi used at least a dozen aliases over the years and is also wanted for failing to register as a sex offender in Rhode Island and for fraud in Ohio. He faces a separate rape trial in neighbouring Utah County next month, keeping the spotlight on a saga that began with a falsified death notice and ended with a guilty verdict.