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Investigation Discovery dove into the case of Nicholas Rossi, legal name Nicholas Alahverdian, in The Curious Case of … The Orphan Imposter. Nicholas made headlines in 2020 after he allegedly faked his death and fled to Scotland in an attempt to avoid two rape charges in Utah. Investigation Discovery introduced fans to those who were once close with Nicholas, who is currently incarcerated, amid his trial – from his family to victims of his alleged fraud – during the Monday, February 3, premiere of The Curious Case of … The Orphan Imposter. In Touch recaps the episode below.
Nicholas Rossi Alahverdian Claims His Innocence
The Curious Case of … The Orphan Imposter kicked off with a recording of a court hearing held via Zoom.
“State vs. Rossi,” the judge said before the camera cut to Nicholas, who looked disordered in appearance while breathing through an oxygen mask at the Utah County Jail.
However, Nicholas denied that was his name and identified himself as Arthur Knight.
“This individual has been expedited, and he has not admitted his name or birthday,” a prosecutor said.
Nicholas reacted to the claim, calling it “complete hearsay.”
Victim of Nicholas Rossi Speaks Out
The scene traveled to Montreal, Canada, where a woman named Nafsika Antypas shared her experience when she employed Nicholas. Nafsika shared that she works in the entertainment industry and is the host of Plant Based by Nafsika, a vegan cooking show.
While searching for a marketing guru for her show on a freelancer website, the TV producer stumbled across a man named Nicholas Brown. In his bio, Nicholas claimed to be a marketing and PR honcho living in Bristol, England and hailed Harvard as his alma mater.
“He spoke with a British accent but said he was Irish,” Nafsika said, admitting she thought it was “suss.”
Despite her gut instinct, she hired Nicholas as a part-time freelancer.
“I had a mandate for him, which he agreed to. He was supposed to find sponsors and guests,” Nafsika said in the episode.
Nicholas Rossi Alahverdian Introduces Nafsika Antypas to His Wife
Nafsika later shared that she met Nicholas’ wife, Miranda, via phone call. Nafsika said once she noticed that Nicholas was “acting like he was busy but not producing anything,” Miranda called her and claimed that she was hospitalized.
Almost $30,000 and four months later, Nafsika fired Nicholas for failing to show her his work for her show.
“Nicholas’ response was very scary. He was very aggressive,” Nafsika said, before claiming that Nicholas started threatening her. Nafsika claimed that Nicholas showed her a website that he allegedly built for her business and called her a fraud. After their exchange, Nafsika was told that Nicholas contacted her parents’ home.
Nafsika reached her final straw and contacted the police, who reacted by telling her to contact them if he physically arrived on their property. That wasn’t good enough, so the entrepreneur hired a private investigator who told her, “Nicholas Brown does not exist; you’re dealing with a fraud.”
Nicholas Rossi Alahverdian’s Youth Was Troubled
Former Rhode Island State Representative Brian Coogan claimed to have first met Nicholas Alahverdian in 2000. Coogan recalled Nicholas being “14 or 15” at the time and noted he was “courteous” and an “overachiever.”
“We all knew he was going to be something,” Coogan said. “Turns out, he became something but not what we all thought he was going to be.”
Coogan detailed disturbing attributes about Nicholas’ physical appearance, claiming he commonly had “scrapes and bruises” on him. Coogan had a soft spot for Nicholas, who told him he was “being abused in the group homes” and claimed to be an only child of deceased parents.
Nick allegedly asked Coogan to adopt him, in an attempt to get out of the Rhode Island Department of Children Youth and Families’ custody. With the approval of his wife, Coogan agreed, but their plans were halted by a judge.
“Rep, you can’t adopt him, this kid is a bad seed,” Coogan recited of the judge, continuing, “Everything this kid has told you … he’s done to other kids.”
Coogan said Nicholas was “shipped” out by the judge at the courthouse, and he didn’t hear from the then-teen until seven years later in 2011.
Nicholas Rossi Alahverdian Reunites With Brian Coogan
Coogan said Nicholas was in his 20s when he received a shocking phone call from him in 2011. Nicholas claimed to have hopped families across the country and painted his upbringing as a “horrible, horrible picture. Almost like a torture chamber.”
“I’m suing the state of Rhode Island,” Coogan claimed Nick said on the other line and revealed that he eventually sued the state of Rhode Island, the Director of DCYF and Governor Gina Raimondo.
“This kid filed a good lawsuit, so instead of them airing their dirty laundry about DCYF, they said ‘let’s just pay him,’” Coogan said. “Thinking that would be the end of him”
Legal analyst Beth Karas claimed the DCYF and the State of Rhode Island settled with Nick for “an undisclosed amount.”
Coogan later shared he kept Nicholas “at a distance” in the years that followed – Until one day, when Nicholas contacted him from Dayton, Ohio, and shared that he got married to wife Kathryn Heckendorn.
Before meeting Kathryn, Coogan claimed Nicholas “got rejected a lot. And I mean a lot.”
Nonetheless, the men and their wives went to an upscale dinner together and engaged in a conversation over a $1,200 tab – that Nicholas footed. Coogan was impressed by Nicholas’ transformation and detailed the “nice suit” he had on, while raving over Kathryn’s “pure as snow” aura.
Nicholas Rossi Alahverdian Is Exposed
Coogan revealed that two days after Nicholas and Coogan’s double date, Kathryn called him frantic and revealed her husband’s ugly truth.
“Nick’s not the person you think he is. He robbed all my money, burnt all my credit. A family member of mine, he stole their identity,” Coogan recalled Kathryn saying during the phone call.
Coogan also alleged that Nicholas was physically abusive toward Kathryn and claimed he once locked her in the bathroom for days on end and sexually assaulted her with a broomstick after tying her to the bed.
Kathryn and Nicholas divorced in 2016.
Nicholas Rossi Alahverdian’s True Identity Revealed
Beth dropped a bomb when she revealed that Nicholas lied about being an orphan and shared that he had a family of his own.
David Rossi, Nick’s stepfather, shared his distaste for Nicholas while discussing their bond.
“I’m ashamed he destroyed my name. The Rossi name,” David said of Nicholas, whom he adopted at 6 years old.
David opened up about Nicholas’ behavior patterns and shared he would spit at him and they ultimately “couldn’t get along.”
David revealed that his stepson was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder and explained that his behavior was so extreme,“The mental institutions, they kicked him out, they couldn’t handle him.”
Nicholas Rossi Alahverdian’s Suspected Rape Cases
In 2017, former Utah County Prosecutor David Leavitt submitted a backlog of sexual assault cases to a national database.
One case received a match from an alleged rape victim from 2008.
Leavitt opened up about the case and shared that the victim claimed to have known her offender, as they “had been dating.” Nicholas Rossi was identified as a “prime suspect.”
Legal analyst Beth explained that Leavitt uncovered a “disturbing pattern” of Nicholas, who spent his time between Ohio and Utah. She shared that Leavitt dug up Nicholas’ criminal history under the last name “Rossi,” who was convicted of a sex-related crime in Ohio. Upon this discovery, the federal authorities were pursuing a fraud case against Nicholas – but he was M.I.A.
Coogan stated that he received a call from the FBI. During the 20-minute call, he gave them all of the information he had on Nick, including old phone numbers and emails.
Nicholas Rossi Alahverdian Claims to Be Sick
Coogan allegedly received a phone call from Nicholas in March 2020, who claimed to have been diagnosed with lymphoma and had “two weeks to live.”
Weeks later, Coogan was told Nicholas died and his passing was featured on local media. The obituary made it to Leavitt’s desk, who shared, “When the obituary came out, it kinda served as a motivation for the people looking for him.”
The FBI located Nicholas in Scotland after they tracked his updated Wikipedia account. He was arrested at a hospital in Scotland in 2021 while being treated for COVID under the name Arthur Knight. The man said he was not Nicholas Rossi, but instead an Irish orphan. Furthermore, he accused Leavitt of hiring a tattoo artist to give tattoos during his coma and claimed his fingerprints were altered.
Nafsika, the TV producer and host, reappeared and said she recognized Nicholas’ voice, hands and facial features.
Meanwhile, Leavitt claimed Nicholas smeared his campaign as the country prosecutor re-elect.
“Nicholas Rossi partnered with my political enemies. He had two lawyers defending him from the United States,” Leavitt said. “Both were former prosecutors who worked for me. One was fired, one left on his own accord.”
Leavitt also said Nicholas posed as a journalist and accused him and his wife of “being human traffickers, cannibalism, murder, sacrificing children on alters.”
The allegations caused the sheriff’s office to open an investigation one week before the election.
Nicholas Rossi Alahverdian Today
“[Nicholas] continues to fight the charges, as well as the iron-clad proof of his identity,” Beth said.
The episode then cut back to the beginning scene, during Nicholas’ Zoom court hearing.
“Attorneys for ‘Arthur Knight’ have acknowledged to the court that their client is in fact Nicholas Rossi,” the end text read. “Trial dates have not been set for the two sexual assault and battery cases Rossi is facing. He will remain in custody until the trial.”
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