Fugitive sex offender Nicholas Rossi had tried to remove his distinctive tattoos before he fled the US and faked his own death to avoid rape charges.
Ex-wife Kathryn Heckendorn revealed Rossi – who was also addicted to pain pills – was in the process of getting rid of the inkings during their abusive marriage.
Rossi – also known as Nicholas Alahverdian – had his identity confirmed during a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court this month when expert witnesses confirmed his fingerprints, tattoos and identity from an Interpol international arrest warrant.
Kathryn, from Ohio, US, said: “There was one picture I remember seeing of the police arresting him from his flat and he’s wearing red silk pyjamas which are the same red pyjamas he wore when we were together as well.
“I also recognised the hair, the facial hair and that scar above his eyebrow. When we were married, he was already in the
process of removing his tattoos.
“I couldn’t even really decipher what some of them were.”
The 33-year-old had married Rossi in 2015 and spent seven months in a mentally and physically abusive relationship when they lived in Utah.
Rossi 35, is facing extradition back to the US on two charges of rape and one of sexual assault after a nine- month court battle during which he falsely claimed that he is an Irish orphan called Arthur Knight.
He had claimed to be so ill that he needed a wheelchair and oxygen – but was without the latter during his Edinburgh Sheriff Court hearing.
Kathryn said: “He was always facing some sort of illness like having back pain or this or that. He was addicted to (opioid painkiller) Fentanyl and over here he would take a lot of pills. He would take Oxycontin painkillers as well but he always had Fentanyl.”
Second wife Miranda, whom he married in Bristol in 2020 after getting into a relationship with her in 2017 when he fled the US to avoid detection, is believed to be standing by him.
Seven days after he wed Miranda, 41, Rossi faked his own death in an elaborate Facebook announcement to media in his home town of Rhode Island. But by that time, police were tracking his movements and were looking for him in Ireland and England – prompting his move to Glasgow with Miranda in the summer of 2021.
Police eventually tracked him to the city and he was arrested at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in December where he had been seriously ill with Covid.
Rossi had been remanded in custody at HMP Edinburgh since after abusing two female medics at the same hospital in July.
Kathryn previously told how Rossi had kept journals full of names of women he wanted to target at universities across the US.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
