Nicholas Edward Rossi sentenced to five years to life in SLCo rape case

Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced a Third District Court judge sentenced Nicholas Edward Rossi to five years to life for raping a woman in Salt Lake County in 2008.   
 
In 2008, the defendant met M.B. online, and they dated between November and December of that year. Shortly after they started dating, the defendant told M.S. that they should get married, and they got wedding rings. M.B. said that the defendant became emotionally and verbally abusive. Around December 2008, the couple went to the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City. While there, the defendant was rude to M.B., so she took off the wedding ring and walked to her car. After M.B. got inside and locked the car doors, the defendant began screaming and hitting the car. Eventually, the defendant got into the car, and M.B. drove him home. When they got to the defendant’s home, he refused to get out of the car and said he would call the cops on her and say she hit him. When the defendant calmed down, he asked M.B. to go inside his house. They went inside the defendant’s room. He shut the door and would not let her leave. They argued about breaking up and not getting married. During the argument, the defendant threw M.B. on the bed and raped her.   
 
The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office filed one count of first-degree felony rape against the defendant on July 13, 2022. On August 13, 2025, a Third District Court jury found the defendant guilty of one count of first-degree felony rape.
 
“While justice may have been slow, the defendant was convicted and now sentenced to prison, consistent with the harm he caused to our survivor. She can rest assured he did not escape punishment,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “We thank our prosecutors, Brandon Simmons and Clint Heiner, as well as our victim advocate Cami Heng, for their years of dedication to this case and helping deliver justice for the survivor in this case. We appreciate the work of both our local, national, and international partners that worked together to ensure the defendant could be held accountable for his actions."