Before leaving the active practice of law in January, 2023 I served as an elected district attorney in the United States. One of my big pushes as district attorney was improve how law enforcement investigates and prosecutes sexual assault. I signed on to an effort test sexual assault forensic exams that had been sitting on police shelves without being tested for years. The DNA from one forensic exam matched with a registered sex offender named Nicholas Rossi, a man from Rhode Island. I charged Rossi with one count of rape. That charge set off an international search for Rossi, the Rhode Island Rapist.
We learned that Rossi had faked his own death and fled to Scotland. Through the amazing efforts of both American and Scottish law enforcement authorities, we found Nicholas Rossi lying in a Glasgow, Scotland hospital suffering from COVID. We arrested him. That set off an entirely new saga that has fascinated media readers and viewers around the world.
It also played a hand in Chelom and purchasing Knockderry as Nicholas Rossi partnered with the local sheriff in my jurisdiction to defeat me in the election, and it worked.
My defeat made it easier to purchase Knockderry. Ironically, Knockderry Castle is less than two hours away from the prison in which Nicholas Rossi is contesting his extradition to Utah in the United States for the rape charge with which I charged him prior to my election loss.
In early March, 2023 I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dateline NBC journalist Andrea Canning in the Music Room at Knockderry Castle. We discussed the Rossi case, the effect that it had on our lives, and our dreams and plans for the castle.
Dateline NBC will air Deadman Talking Friday night in the United States. The two hour episode will also be available on the internet.
Andrea Canning, Producer Lynn Keller, and the rest of their crew enjoyed walking the grounds and hallways of Knockderry taking in the amazing place that Knockderry has been and will be. A big thanks to Dateline NBC for covering this important story about sexual assault, and for including Knockderry Castle in their story.