Lynn Keller
Appearances
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Wow. I didn't even notice that, actually. I don't think he's in a coma at that moment.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
He's in dire straits, but I think he's out of the coma at that point.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Yeah. And then do you remember, too? I remember we were on a story, a completely different story, and my phone rang and it was him. And so we had we had him on speaker and we just let him talk and talk.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
I mean, they would have to prove that she knew that he was a fugitive, which we don't know that she knows that. Yeah, until she says it. I mean... Yeah, I think it would be very hard to prosecute her. Plus Scotland, I feel like is just like...
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Or maybe that's what he said. He said, I'm pretending, not that I'm a fugitive from justice, but I'm pretending to be somebody else because there are people who want to kill me.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
I've thought that many times because there was a part of him that wanted to do that. He really did want to change the law because when he was in the foster care system, He was in the system where they would put him in a different house every single night. How is a child supposed to flourish in a situation like that? And that was one of the things he was trying to change.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Yeah, it's a shame that he couldn't have taken all of his smarts and energy and just kept on that path. Yeah, absolutely. He was the victim of abuse himself. So it was a challenge. It is a challenge.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
If you're convicted, it's five to life, so that every five years you'd have a chance to get out, I guess.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Well, we know that he has very strong convictions, so he'd have to admit that he raped these two women.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Well, I think what happened is we got what we would consider a yellow light investigation. Yes, that's what you always say. And so they basically said, well, you know, just go see what more you can find. And so then once we booked the interview and you did that amazing, bizarre, crazy interview, that got our bosses hooked on like, let's see what else we can do. Yeah.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
And one of the things I wanted to say also about the victims is that it turns out usually that they want to have a voice. They want to have an opportunity to talk about it.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
The victims of Nicholas, alleged and some actual victims of Nicholas, they have a Facebook group where they communicate with each other and they keep track of what's happening with him.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
I mean, that was an extremely unusual circumstance to have somebody who was obviously faking, you know, try to do this demonstration.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Well, then we found out later that when he goes back into the hospital, a female doctor and nurse told him that they were going to release him and he hops off the gurney and goes to attack them. So that whole thing of him trying to stand up, I mean, chances are it was it was completely an act. It was not real.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Right, because he did say that he's like, oh, I do want to do an in-person interview.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
And we gave him the deadline and he never got back to us in time. He didn't get back to us in time.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
What would be your first question? Like, what would be your most burning question to him?
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
What did that mean? The prosecutor asked him, so who are these people who want to kill you? And he said, well, I don't want to give a mouse cheese. And basically he was saying that by saying their names, he was elevating the whole issue. So they closed the court. And then I guess he revealed two names of people that we don't know.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
I would be curious to know how much his wife Miranda knew if he would tell us. When did she find out about his faked death?
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Yeah. So when he did the interview with you and he was in Scotland, I believe that some of it was true and some of it was a little bit put on because he really did want to communicate his side to you. And sometimes you just couldn't understand him. And so you'd turn to Miranda and say, could you basically tell me what he just said? But that stuttering thing seemed that seemed put on to me.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
But even today, he has that, his voice has definitely been affected. And maybe that's from having oxygen going constantly, that that could also affect your vocal cords. I don't know.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Case is cracked. I actually looked up what coronation chicken is. And it's spicy with dried apricots and curry, cumin, turmeric, ginger, and other spices.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
I feel like you emailed me a link to the story. Okay. And we just kept talking about how crazy it was. And then our affiliate in Rhode Island, in Providence, interviewed him. And we're like, oh, we want to do that too. And so I reached out to that reporter. He gave us Nicholas's contact or Arthur's contact. Arthur, yeah. And then I set up a call for the three of us. It was you, me, and Arthur.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Yeah, when we were sitting in the courtroom, I saw who the prosecutor was, and they were talking to his attorney. And so I pointed him out to Mary. I said, you know, that's the prosecutor there. And within minutes, I see her get up, go over, and she introduced herself.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
And the prosecutor took her information so that if there's a sentencing, she would have a chance to talk to the judge, which is amazing. And I also remember when she was doing the interview with you this time, she said he messed with the wrong girl. And I thought, Yes, he did. So many of his alleged victims, they were too afraid of him. And they didn't pursue it. But she was not backing down.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
And in the sentencing, the judge in Scotland, he actually sort of reprimanded the prosecution saying, you know, why was this not – why did they not test his DNA? Right. It was, you know, it was a rhetorical thing. So the prosecutor didn't respond. So we don't know. We don't know what it is.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
I would imagine based on your interview with with Arthur is that he was making it so difficult, the whole DNA. And and so they figured, let's just go with fingerprints and the tattoos. Well, but they weren't able to use those until he attacked the doctor. Because for that charge, they were able to take all that information and then that's how they presented it to the court.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
He's doing that here in the U.S. too. He's doing the same thing.
Dateline NBC
Talking Dateline: The Man of Many Faces
Well, the investigator testified that they did test his DNA, and it was, in fact, Nicholas Rossi, Aliverdian.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Probably their gut feeling, too, was looking at you and saying, really? Yeah. She's the aggressor?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
I see you shaking right now. Did that take you back to that place? Yeah, very much so.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
What did you think of his tone that it seems like he knew better than you?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
This has become a game of cat and mouse between the alleged con man and federal law enforcement.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
You would think that the communication with Nicholas or, you know, his world would stop once he died, but that wasn't the case.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Did you feel like these emails might actually be coming from Nick? 100%. based on the language, the tone, what you'd experienced before?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Are you, the whole time, looking at him, her, scanning the room for clues.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Can you also tell us what happened in that room and why they told you they were there?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Would you take your mask off for one second just to show us your face?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
I'm just looking for ways, you know, that you can back up some of your, what you're saying, just to put people's minds at ease.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
The FBI is investigating you. You're being looked at for kidnapping, sexual assault, fraud in multiple states.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Yes, they're looking into you and how you might fit into all of this.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
What do you say to people who say these are crocodile tears? He's putting on a show. This is all an act.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Did you sexually assault anyone? Did you kidnap anyone? Did you defraud anyone? What?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
What would you say to anyone who says you're naive or how do you know this? Are you not concerned? What do you say to those people?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Where does this go from here for Arthur, for the both of you? What's next?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
What's the most important thing today that you want people to know, both of you?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Arthur Knight is Arthur Knight and that he is innocent of all the allegations that are being leveled against him.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Do you believe that there's any possibility that that man is Arthur, really Arthur Knight? No. And what is it when you look at it that you think, nope, That's Nicholas.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
From the moment Nicholas Rossi stepped foot here in Utah, he continued to insist he was Arthur Knight. He even asked a judge to require that all county jail staff address him by that name.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
What do you make of this argument that he had to go by Arthur Knight because his life was in danger?
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
He's a child, though, and you're an adult, and that's child abuse.
Dateline NBC
The Man of Many Faces
Oh my gosh. What is going through your mind as all of this is happening in front of you?