Latest news with #Duplessie
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Suspect in NYC crypto kidnapping, torture case allegedly involved his assistant: DA
One of two men charged with torturing an Italian cryptocurrency holder inside a luxury New York City townhouse repeatedly messaged an assistant to keep eyes on the alleged victim, according to prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney's office. John Woeltz, along with fellow suspect William Duplessie, were granted $1 million bail this week by Judge Gregory Carro as review of the case's evidence continues. The decision was made against over the objection of the DA's office. Prosecutors said on Thursday Woeltz allegedly instructed the assistant to monitor the alleged victim whenever he used his phone. MORE: Suspects in New York City crypto torture case plead not guilty to kidnapping and assault When the assistant expressed concern the victim might have left the townhouse through an open door a second assistant replied, "Don't worry I'm watching him," prosecutors said. Prosecutors disclosed the information as attorneys for Woeltz and William Duplessie argue they did not hold the Italian man against his will. A message from Duplessie said he and Woeltz had to keep doing drugs because they were making the alleged victim do drugs, prosecutors said. Other messages described the alleged victim as broken, sobbing, with "no more life in his eyes," according to the prosecutors. In addition, they said physical evidence recovered from the scene corroborates allegations Woeltz and Duplessie subjected the alleged victim to torture, including a loaded firearm, chainsaw and cattle prod. Hacksaws, buckets, tarps and goggles were also found, with prosecutors saying the defendants threatened to use to dispose of the alleged victim's body. They are also accused of pouring tequila on the alleged victim and lighting him on fire. MORE: What we know about the NYC crypto kidnapping and torture case Prosecutors have said Woeltz and Duplessie lured the alleged victim -- an Italian man who is not identified in the indictment -- to New York by allegedly threatening to have his family killed. Woeltz and Duplessie allegedly told the Italian man that they were associated with the government and if he didn't cooperate, he would be labeled a terrorist, prosecutors said. The man told police he arrived in New York on May 6 and went to Woeltz's eight-bedroom SoHo townhouse, where he was allegedly tortured over his Bitcoin password, according to a complaint. After more than two weeks, police said the man escaped from the townhouse on May 23 and ran to a traffic enforcement officer for help. Woeltz and Duplessie were subsequently arrested. Before being granted bail on Wednesay, Woeltz and Duplessie have remained in custody since their arrest in May. They both pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges, including kidnapping, assault and coercion, during their arraignment last month. Both men must surrender passports, submit to electronic monitoring and remain on home confinement. During the arraignment, the defense pushed back against the allegations, saying there is video of the alleged victim "having the time of his life" and engaging in activity at odds with having been tortured. A prosecutor, Sarah Kahn, said in response that "victims of abuse are not always going to act in a way that we expect people to do." Kahn also said prosecutors have had conversations with other, unnamed law enforcement agencies that indicated Woeltz and Duplessie have tortured people before. Prosecutors at Wednesday's hearing brought up a law enforcement search of a property in Kentucky linked to Woeltz, who is known as the "crypto king of Kentucky," that they said turned up writings indicating that Woeltz had mused about holding people to steal their cryptocurrency. Duplessie was previously investigated in Switzerland for domestic violence and Woeltz has previously been accused of holding a different individual in Kentucky for crypto ransom.
CNN
6 days ago
- CNN
Suspects in New York crypto kidnapping case granted bail
Two men accused of torturing and holding a man hostage in a Manhattan townhouse for several weeks as they tried to access his cryptocurrency were granted bail Wednesday, according to updated case information. New York Supreme Criminal Court Judge Gregory Carro set bail at $1 million each for John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33, who have been in custody since their arrest in May. Woeltz and Duplessie pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including kidnapping, assault and coercion. The 28-year-old victim, reportedly an Italian cryptocurrency trader, arrived in New York City from Italy in early May. He was abducted on May 6, police told CNN. It's not clear whether the victim knew the men who kidnapped him. Prosecutors said the unnamed victim was tortured for days, threatened with death and at one point dangled over a railing unless he revealed his Bitcoin password. When he refused, he was beaten, shocked with electric wires, and struck in the head with a firearm, they said. The accused also allegedly bound the man's wrists and threatened to kill his family, according to the Manhattan District Attorney. In late May, the victim escaped the apartment where he was allegedly being held after agreeing to provide his password, which was stored on his laptop in another room, prosecutors said. When one of the suspects turned his back, the victim fled the apartment and sought help from a traffic officer, police said. He was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries that prosecutor Michael Mattson said were consistent with his descriptions of being bound and assaulted, the Associated Press reported. Woeltz, a Kentucky native and cryptocurrency investor, was arrested after the victim's escape. Duplessie, a Miami resident, turned himself in the following week. A search of the townhouse turned up a trove of evidence, Mattson said, including cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, body armor and night vision goggles, ammunition, and polaroid photos of the victim with a gun pointed to his head, the AP reported. Inmate records show that, as of Wednesday evening, both men are still in custody. Their next court appearance will be scheduled for October 15. CNN has reached out to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for further comment. CNN's John Miller, Gloria Pazmino and Mark Morales contributed to this report.
6 days ago
Suspects in New York City crypto kidnapping, torture case granted bail
A Manhattan judge agreed Wednesday to release on bail two men charged with torturing a man in a luxury SoHo townhouse to obtain his cryptocurrency. Over the objection of the Manhattan district attorney's office, Judge Gregory Carro set bail at $1 million each for John Woeltz and William Duplessie, who have both pleaded not guilty to multiple charges. The judge said there were enough discrepancies between the prosecution and defense accounts to merit bail while he continues to review evidence. Both men must surrender passports, submit to electronic monitoring and remain on home confinement. Woeltz and Duplessie have remained in custody since their arrest in May. They both pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges, including kidnapping, assault and coercion, during their arraignment last month. The indictment alleges they held the man against his will "with intent to terrorize him" and assaulted him with a chainsaw, pistol and cattle prod as part of the torture. They are also accused of pouring tequila on the alleged victim and lighting him on fire. Prosecutors have said Woeltz and Duplessie lured the alleged victim -- an Italian man who is not identified in the indictment -- to New York by allegedly threatening to have his family killed. The man told police he arrived in New York on May 6 and went to Woeltz's eight-bedroom SoHo townhouse, where he was allegedly tortured over his Bitcoin password, according to a complaint. After more than two weeks, police said the man escaped from the townhouse on May 23 and ran to a traffic enforcement officer for help. Woeltz and Duplessie were subsequently arrested. During the arraignment, the defense pushed back against the allegations, saying there is video of the alleged victim "having the time of his life" and engaging in activity at odds with having been tortured. A prosecutor, Sarah Kahn, said in response that "victims of abuse are not always going to act in a way that we expect people to do." Kahn also said prosecutors have had conversations with other, unnamed law enforcement agencies that indicated Woeltz and Duplessie have tortured people before. Prosecutors at Wednesday's hearing brought up a law enforcement search of a property in Kentucky linked to Woeltz, who is known as the 'crypto king of Kentucky,' that they said turned up writings indicating that Woeltz had mused about holding people to steal their cryptocurrency.
Business Insider
6 days ago
- Business Insider
Men accused of waterboarding a bitcoin millionaire for his password to be freed on $1M bail
"If you think the bondsman is going to take cryptocurrency, that would be a problem," New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro told lawyers for the two men."You are certainly going to have to show where it is coming from," the judge said of the money to be posted by William Duplessie, 33, of Miami, and John Woeltz, 37, of Kentucky. Under the bail agreement, both will wear ankle monitors. Duplessie will serve home confinement with family in Miami, and Woeltz will serve from a yet-determined address in New York. The men are accused of kidnapping and torturing a bitcoin millionaire from Italy for nearly three weeks in May inside a $24 million luxury Manhattan townhouse. The victim was not only pistol-whipped, set on fire, and attacked with a small chainsaw — he was also waterboarded, head butted, and hoisted up by his throat, all to get him to turn over his bitcoin password, prosecutors say in court papers. At their last court appearance, in June, the defendants' lawyers told Carro that the kidnapping-torture allegations are completely fabricated. (Carro is the same judge assigned to the state-level murder case of Luigi Mangione, accused in the December 2024 assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.) The crypto-kidnapping victim, Michael Carturan, 28, was a business partner and friend to Duplessie and Woeltz, the lawyers said. They said Carturan was at the townhouse willingly, for what they described as a 17-day party. There are videos of Carturan "smoking crack, having the time of his life, being involved in a sex orgy, being dragged around by a woman while he's naked inside the location" while wearing a BDSM collar, defense lawyer Sanford Talkin told the judge. Talkin told the judge that Carturan is also seen on sidewalk surveillance video walking the neighborhood freely, including shopping for eyeglasses and taking a stroll with the dogwalker who cared for a dog living at the townhouse. At any time, Carturan could have stopped a passerby and said, "I'm in trouble," but did not do so, said Wayne Gosnell, attorney for Duplessie. "He was at church, he was at clubs, he was at dinners," Gosnell said. Prosecutor Sarah Khan told a different story — with images. "I would like to show the court a photograph that shows that the victim is lit on fire," she told the judge. "So what are his injuries?" the judge asked. The flames would be extinguished before he suffered burns, Khan answered. "Our information is that the defendants would pour tequila in him, light him on fire, then put the fire out, sometimes by urinating on him," she said. Caturan was bleeding from his head and face on May 23, when he ran barefoot from the house, desperate to find a police officer, prosecutors and police have said. Khan said in court last month that Caturan was coerced into assuming "various poses" to make it look in photographs as if he were not being forcibly held. "Victims of abuse are not always going to act in a way that we expect people to do," she told the judge. She suggested that Caturan's grand jury testimony — which resulted in a ten-count indictment charging kidnapping, assault, and weapons possession — was harrowing. "This is not, in fact, the first time that these defendants have engaged in conduct that constitutes similar crimes, meaning people being held against their will," Khan also told the judge last month. "There are two other victims from two different occasions," she said, previewing arguments that may become more detailed at Wednesday's bail hearing. Court documents also reveal new details of what police say they seized from the eight-bedroom, six-floor property, which was being rented for more than $30,000 a month. The seized items include a loaded gun, two knives, two hacksaws, a chainsaw, zip ties, plastic buckets, and a cattle prod. The list also includes items described as "pants with burn" and "wooden paddle with signatures." "I don't think there's anything crazy in here," Woeltz told the NYPD officers who arrested him at the townhouse shortly after Caturan fled. Prosecutors said last month that they were still going through 30 cellphones and laptops seized from the home, along with 30 crypto "storage devices." Khan said at last month's arraignment that so far, three recovered cellphones have revealed "additional evidence, including photos and messages that corroborate the intent here: Torture, humiliation, and control."
New York Post
6 days ago
- New York Post
Accused NYC crypto bro kidnappers granted $1M bail — but judge warns they can't pay in Bitcoin
The crypto bros accused of torturing an Italian millionaire for his Bitcoin password were granted $1 million bail each Wednesday — but won't be allowed to pay it using e-currency. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro set the seven-figure bail for John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33, and forbade them from paying it in cryptocurrency. Both Woeltz and Duplessie will be released from jail to home confinement if they can shell out the cold hard non-digital cash, said Carro. Advertisement William Duplessie arraigned in Manhattan Supreme court for torturing an Italian millionaire for his Bitcoin password. Steven Hirsch John Woeltz (pictured), 37, and William Duplessie, 33, pleaded not guilty to kidnapping. Steven Hirsch Woelz, who rented the SoHo townhouse that prosecutors allege turned into a house of horrors, is looking for a place in New York, his lawyer said. Duplessie will seek a place in Florida. Advertisement The pair has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping charges after prosecutors said they held fellow cryptocurrency trader Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, who hails from Italy, captive for nearly three weeks in the rented Prince Street townhouse.
