A documentary series is to be made by a Bristol production company about the bizarre and dark story of a man wanted in the US for sex offences who claims he’s the victim of a case of mistaken identity, and the Bristol wife who is backing him.
Channel 4 has commissioned a three-part documentary series about the case of the man who claims he’s an Irishman called Arthur Knight, his wife Miranda from South Bristol, and the FBI who say he’s really a man called Nicholas Rossi who faked his own death.
The documentary is being made by Bristol-based Five Mile Films and will follow the story right up to next month’s hearing in a Scottish court which will decide if he should be extradited to the US to face charges there.
Read next: Arrested man identified as Nicholas Rossi, rape suspect wanted in US
The case has already hit the headlines on both sides of the Atlantic, and began in Glasgow in 2021, when a man called Arthur Knight woke up from a coma in hospital after catching Covid, and found the police wanted to talk to him.
American authorities said they had tracked down a wanted man called Nicholas Rossi, who they accuse of faking his own death and going on the run in Europe to escape allegations of rape and sexual assault in the US. But the man in hospital, and his wife Miranda, from Whitchurch in Bristol, said the US authorities were wrong, and he was in fact an Irishman called Arthur Knight.
The couple’s case became even more bizarre when they claimed the tattoos Arthur Knight had that matched those the authorities in the US said Nicholas Rossi had, were actually tattooed on to him in hospital in Scotland while he was in a coma. The case has been proceeding through the Scottish courts over the past couple of years, with the couple failing in their bid to convince a judge of their story - which ended with a court ruling that Arthur Knight and Nicholas Rossi are the same person.
They disagree, and continued with that claim through bizarre interview on NBC Dateline in which Rossi, with an oxygen mask on, had to be calmed down by his wife. The next step in the case will be the extradition hearing itself, scheduled for June, at which the Five Mile Films’ cameras will follow.
“The suspect insists he is the victim of a 'monstrous case of mistaken identity'. He claims to be Arthur Knight, an Irish-born 'bookish Del-Boy' and not an international fugitive,” said a spokesperson for Five Mile Films. “His wife, Miranda Knight, backs up his story. Arthur and Miranda Knight insist they are a normal couple and that the publicity from this case has ruined their lives."
The executive producer of the documentary is Nick Mirsky, from Five Mile Films. “I am really pleased that Owen Phillips – producer of Leaving Neverland, The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty, Barrymore: The Body in the Pool, and Murder in the Valleys - is working with Five Mile Films to tell this story," he said.
"He’s an exceptional programme maker and has an unrivalled ability to get to the heart of a story. Series Producer Molly Elmes is one of the rising stars at Five Mile Films who has the rare combination of a light human touch with the ability to meticulously dig into the backstory uncovering shocking truths and a few journalistic scoops," he added.
Anna Miralis, a senior commissioner at Channel 4 said: “With such an incredibly high calibre of documentary film makers this series is likely to be both compelling and insightful. I will look forward to them delving into the unbelievable Arthur Knight story with the aim of discovering whether there is any truth in any of his multitude of claims.”
Read more on the Nicholas Rossi case
- Sex offender Nicholas Rossi who 'faked death' lived in Bristol until last year
- US fugitive kept 'manipulated' wife 'under spell' claims her brother
- Bristol wife of US fugitive Nicholas Rossi says police have the wrong man as she speaks out
- Man wanted for extradition has ‘similar’ fingerprints to fugitive, court hears
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