On Wednesday, two crypto investors, William Duplessie and John Woeltz, pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court to charges of kidnapping and torturing an Italian man for his bitcoin.
The two men are accused of luring the 28 – year – old victim to a posh townhouse in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood on May 6 by threatening to kill his family. The victim claims he was held captive for 17 days and tortured by the two investors. He said they tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe, and even dangled him from a staircase five stories high. The man eventually agreed to hand over his computer password and managed to flee when his captors went to retrieve the device.
Duplessie and Woeltz’s lawyers argued for their release on $1 million bail and home confinement with their parents. They presented video and photo evidence, saying it showed the accuser smiling and laughing during his purported captivity, and moving freely in and out of the house, even taking a trip to an eyeglass store with one of the defendants. However, Prosecutor Sania Khan countered that victims of abuse don’t always act as expected and that someone supporting the defendants might be selectively leaking videos to create a different narrative.
The two defendants face charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a weapon. If convicted, they could potentially face life in prison. Meanwhile, the New York City police are also investigating two detectives who worked security at the townhouse where the alleged kidnapping and torture took place. The officers have been placed on modified leave pending the outcome of the inquiry.
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