'Fingerprints of rape suspect are similar to Nicholas Rossi's'

Second forensic expert comparing fingerprints of man facing extradition to the US and wanted rape fugitive Nicholas Rossi tells court they have ‘similar characteristics’

• US officials say man who appeared in court in Edinburgh today is Nicholas Rossi
• A second forensic expert said that his fingerprints match those of the fugitive
• The wheelchair-bound man in court claims to be 35-year-old ‘Arthur Knight’ 
• Rossi has been fighting an extradition hearing by US authorities since December 

A second forensic expert comparing the fingerprints of a man facing extradition to the US have ‘similar characteristics’ to wanted fugitive Nicholas Rossi. 

Anita Vezza, a Tenprint Identification Officer, was called to give evidence at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

The court is trying to establish the identification of a man, 35, who claims he is Arthur Knight, but whom officials in America have insisted is Nicholas Rossi who is wanted for a rape charge in Utah.

American authorities claim Rossi faked his death from cancer in the US to avoid a sexual assault charge, before fleeing to Scotland. 

Ms Vezza, 53, confirmed she was asked to compare fingerprints taken by police from the man in HMP Saughton with those of wanted Rossi, which were issued on an Interpol red notice.

The witness, who has worked in forensics for 16 years, told the court: ‘I found there were similar characteristics on each that were unique to that person.’

A man (pictured), whom officials in the United States have said is Nicholas Rossi, appeared at an extradition hearing in Edinburgh today

The claim comes 24 hours after another identification expert, Lisa Davidson, gave evidence in court suggesting the prints were ‘identical’. 

Ms Davidson, who has worked in fingerprint identification for 22 years, was asked by advocate depute Paul Harvey what her conclusion was when she compared the fingerprints on the two documents.

She replied: ‘I found that they were identical. The fingerprints were identical. All 10 prints were identical.’

In today’s court hearing, Ms Vezza said when comparing the man’s fingerprints released by police and those of Rossi printed on an extradition request, the left thumb, the right forefinger and the left forefinger ‘all had similar characteristics, unique to that individual’.

Mungo Bovey KC, defending, asked Ms Vezza if she required a certain number of similarities to reach a particular view, to which she replied: ‘We don’t use numbers. The way it’s formed is unique to that person, you’re looking for uniqueness.’

Cindy Aze, a registrar of birth, death and marriages for Bath and north east Somerset, was also called to give evidence at the hearing.

The 35-year-old, who claims to be called Arthur Knight, has been fighting an extradition hearing by US authorities since he was arrested in December 2021

She was asked to confirm details on a marriage certificate for a Nicholas Brown, 33, and a Miranda Knight, 33, who were married on February 22 2020 in Bristol.

The certificate said the name and occupation for the father of Nicholas Brown was ‘unknown’, while for Mrs Knight the details were given.

The court heard the man was arrested on October 13 last year while being cared for at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow after developing respiratory problems from contracting Covid-19.

Charge nurse Ruth Keating, 58, who was on duty at the time, was called to give evidence at the hearing on Monday.

She told the court she cared for a patient called Arthur Knight.

She was presented with the same Interpol red notice document featuring images of Rossi, but was asked by Mr Harvey to focus on photos of his arms, which featured tattoos.

Addressing one particular photo showing a tattoo of a red cross above an angel wing, Ms Keating replied: ‘That looks like the tattoo I saw on Arthur Knight.’

When Mr Harvey asked the witness if she could identify Arthur Knight in the court room, Ms Keating pointed to the man.

Dr Robert Hart, 36, an intensive care consultant who treated Rossi, also recognised the photos shown to him by police as patient Arthur Knight.

Rossi (left) is accused of faking his death from cancer in the US to avoid a sexual assault charge, before fleeing to Scotland

He said the tattoos he saw on the patient were a ‘match’ to those shown in the wanted man’s photos.

The witness told the court the tattoos were ‘discoloured’, and ‘the skin around the tattoos was fairly warped.’

Mr Harvey put it to Dr Hart if he had seen similar skin on patients who had tattoos removed, to which he replied: ‘I am no expert in that.’

The two police officers who arrested the man at QEUH, PC Shannon McGill and PC Jamie Crombie, who were also called to give evidence, said the man’s tattoos matched those in the document.

Detective Constable Lorn Gibson, 46, and Detective Constable Zahra Pirmohamed, 52, from Police Scotland’s extradition unit based at the Scottish Crime Campus at Gartcosh, were also called to give evidence and confirmed how they fingerprinted the man at Saughton on July 15 this year.

Earlier, the man arrived at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in a wheelchair chained to custody officers.

Dressed in a navy pinstripe suit, the man wheeled himself into the court building without saying a word. 

Following a stream of preliminary hearings which saw the man fire six lawyers and claim he was being tortured in prison, the case to determine his identity officially commenced on Monday.

Dressed in a navy pinstripe suit, the man wheeled himself into the court building without saying a word

Asked at the beginning of the hearing if he was Nicholas Rossi or Arthur Knight, he replied: ‘Arthur Knight.’

His lawyer, Mungo Bovey KC, proceeded to tell the court of multiple issues concerning legal proceedings with regard to his client and requested the case be adjourned.

One of these included complaints that some information from a solicitor for the man ‘seems to be misconstrued by the sheriff’.

He also told the court there were legal concerns over the way the warrant for the man’s arrest was issued, and claims his client did not receive the provisional arrest certificate (PAC) after his arrest in December.

Advocate depute Paul Harvey, however, disputed this, claiming action from a previous sheriffs had been what was required of them, and that the man had received the PAC.

The case continues.  

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