A Rhode Island man accused of faking his death and fleeing the United States to evade rape charges has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a former girlfriend.

A man who allegedly faked his own death to avoid rape charges has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a former girlfriend. Nicholas Rossi, of Rhode Island, was convicted Wednesday in the first of two trials in Utah. A Salt Lake County jury found him guilty of a 2008 rape after a three-day trial.

The relationship quickly soured after their engagement, with Rossi “becoming controlling and saying mean things to me,” the victim testified.