Scottish judge rejects ‘dead’ American man’s mistaken identity claim

After three days of extradition proceedings this week, a Scottish judge on Friday, to no one’s surprise, declared Nicholas Alahverdian to be Nicholas Alahverdian - an American who faked his own death and who spent the past 11 months claiming he was an Irishman named Knight.

It had taken 11 months since his overseas arrest to get to Friday's ruling; 11 months during which the former Rhode Islander, who faked his death in 2020, employed skills in deception, delay and defiance to test the constraints of a legal system based solidly on etiquette and parliamentary procedure.