KSL.com/Salt Lake City On Monday, a dancing instructor gave testimony regarding her recollection of a 2008 relationship that she claims resulted in rape.
According to the woman, she met 38-year-old Nicholas Rossi through a personal Craigslist ad. They dated for approximately a month before she decided to break up with him. At first, she claimed, he was really pleasant and they discussed going to dinner or the Gateway mall in Salt Lake City.
The woman claimed to have had three distinct instances of consensual sex with Rossi, identifying him by a tattoo on his arm. She said that Rossi became extremely verbally and emotionally abusive after the two became engaged and impulsively purchased rings on Black Friday.
She said that when she told him he couldn’t drive her car, he would become upset and tell her what to dress. She eventually put her engagement ring in her purse and walked back to her car after he made a remark at the mall.
According to her testimony, Rossi showed up after she had locked herself in her car and was screaming and hollering outside, preventing her from getting inside.
She said, “I had never seen such anger in his eyes.”
After she took him home and he insisted she come inside, the lady claimed she saw the same anger in his eyes when he had her have sex with him a few hours later. She claimed that he did not kiss her or ask if she would be OK having sex after she informed him that their relationship was over. She stated in her testimony that she was afraid, numb, and frozen.
“I had no idea what else he could do,” she stated. What else is there for someone to do if they can do that?
She claimed that because her parents didn’t support or listen to her when she told them about the incident, she didn’t report it to the police at the time. In 2022, after reading a news piece about Rossi in connection with another case, she did tell the police her account.
Rossi was extradited from Scotland to Utah last year to face allegations of raping two women in 2008—the lady who testified on Monday and a 21-year-old woman in Orem—and investigators claim he staged his own death to evade prosecution. In both cases, he faces charges of rape, a first-degree felony.
When it was revealed that in 2022, a man called Arthur Knight was arrested at a hospital in Glasgow after spending a month in the intensive care unit receiving treatment for COVID-19, his story took an odd turn. It was a case of mistaken identity, and the result was a protracted legal battle with Rossi, who claimed he was actually Knight, an Irish orphan who had never visited Utah.
After being definitively identified as Rossi by DNA testing and distinguishing tattoos, he ultimately lost his legal battle.
She never forgot
During opening comments, Brandon Simmons, a deputy Salt Lake County attorney, stated: Nicholas Rossi changed his name, moved on, and moved away, but (the woman) never forgot what he had done.
He urged the jury to convict Rossi of rape. According to Simmons, Rossi pushed the lady who testified on Monday to be engaged within two weeks of their online meeting. However, he became domineering, criticized her, and wanted to be the focus of attention when they bought rings. He claimed that both of them had second thoughts, which ultimately resulted in an argument.
According to Simmons, the victim was startled and then horrified when Rossi raped her while holding her down.
He said that because of his bad credit, she later changed her phone number and launched a small claims lawsuit in an attempt to recoup the money she had agreed to sign a loan for in order to buy the engagement rings. She said that the two kept in touch via email until his reaction to her case, at which point she decided to dismiss the small claims litigation. She then halted all communication and filtered his emails into the garbage.
According to Simmons, jurors will hear testimony from Rossi’s roommate, the detective who eventually found Rossi in Bristol, England, in 2021, another woman who dated Rossi that year, and a mental health counselor regarding delayed sexual abuse reporting during the trial, which is set to conclude on Friday.
The Utah County case against Rossi, which is set for trial starting on September 15, involves that woman as the alleged victim.
An old puzzle
This case is like an old puzzle from the thrift store, defense lawyer Mackenzie Potter told the jurors, with bits from a whole other puzzle mixed in with the missing pieces. According to her, it is also lacking crucial information, such as the precise date of the alleged incident.
She described the relationship between her client and this woman as a brief romance that ended when both parties had second thoughts. She claimed that the two drifted apart until 13 years later, when she saw Rossi on the news, recalling that he had piled up debt for her from the rings as well as money she had given him to help pay the rent.
In the Utah County case from 2008, Potter added, two police officers will testify that they did not recommend that prosecutors bring criminal charges against Rossi. However, almost ten years later, another investigator did suggest that charges be brought.
She requested that Rossi be found not guilty by the jury. He is not guilty; that is who he is. She said, “He’s innocent.”
Defense lawyer Samantha Dugan questioned the alleged victim and pointed out discrepancies, stating that the woman first said the assault occurred in January but suddenly thought it occurred in early December. She asked the woman about her memories of Rossi’s home and bedroom, as well as the chronology of events, demonstrating that her initial account evolved as she found documents to forward to the investigator.
Simmons voiced issues over Potter’s jigsaw comparison, stating that the judge decided that some facts in the case, such as proof that Rossi faked his death and resisted being extradited from Scotland, could not be disclosed to the jury.
Judge Barry Lawrence of the Third District stated that he did not see any issues with that reasoning, believing that any defendant could make such an argument.
