Man Held Captive and Tortured For Bitcoin

[kangarunner]

Here's an old video of the suspect, William Duplessie, with Tai Lopez:



In court now, even with all his money, he doesn't look too happy: https://nypost.com/2025/05/30/us-news/h ... ture-case/

He Was Urinated On, Cut with a Saw and Forced to Smoke Crack: What Police Say Happened to Tourist Lured to N.Y.C. — and Why

https://people.com/john-woeltz-william- ... t-11744534

A second cryptocurrency investor has been arrested and charged in connection with the alleged weeks-long torture of an Italian tourist in an upscale Manhattan apartment, according to reports.

William Duplessie was taken into custody on Tuesday in New York City and charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon, according to The Associated Press, The New York Times, and NBC 4.

The 32-year-old cryptocurrency investor surrendered to police after his alleged co-conspirator and fellow cryptocurrency investor John Woeltz was taken into custody last Friday —after their alleged victim, a 28-year-old Italian tourist, reportedly escaped from the Manhattan apartment and ran to the nearest police officer he could find outside.

PEOPLE previously reported that Woeltz, 37, was charged with two counts of second-degree assault and one charge each of kidnapping, imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm.

The New York Police Department said in a statement to PEOPLE that the two cryptocurrency investors are alleged to have been holding the Italian man captive in a Manhattan apartment while torturing him over the course of two weeks in an effort to get him to give up the password to his Bitcoin account. The AP and NBC 4 reported that the victim was known to the two suspects, and described their relationship as a business partnership gone sour.

Over the course of two weeks, Woeltz and Duplessie allegedly tortured their victim in a number of ways, according to the AP and NBC 4, including bounding him by the wrists, shocking him with electrical wires, cutting his leg with a saw, urinating on him, and pistol-whipping him. On one occasion, the man reportedly told police his kidnappers dangled him by the feet from the eight-bedroom, six-story apartment’s top flight of stairs. On another occasion, the victim reportedly told police he was forced to smoke out of a crack pipe.

The moral of the story: Never go into someone's house who you don't know very well by yourself.

[hb2345]

He Was Urinated On, Cut with a Saw and Forced to Smoke Crack

Geez, don't be so jealous, kangarunner!

If those poor Filipinos knew what stupid broke loser you are kangarunner, they would never let you in their house either. Maybe you should get some bitcoins for yourself after all, just so they will piss on you and treat you to some crack like you secretly hope.

[kangarunner]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2- ... rcna212391

This is just evil. If they're proven guilty, then they are evil and deserve the maximum prison sentence. A lot of good their Bitcoin will do when they're in prison getting beat up.

Two crypto investors pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges they kidnapped and tortured an Italian man for his Bitcoin in an upscale Manhattan townhouse.

William Duplessie and John Woeltz were ordered held in custody until their next court date on July 15 during their arraignment in Manhattan criminal court.

Their lawyers had sought their release on $1 million bail and home confinement with their parents.

They argued the victim wasn’t in distress during his time in New York, saying they had obtained video and photo evidence showing the accuser smiling and laughing during the time of his purported captivity.

Among the evidence the lawyers said they have obtained are photos of the accuser moving freely in and out of the house, even taking a trip to an eyeglass store with one of the defendants.

“This narrative is entirely false,” said Sam Talkin, Duplessie’s lawyer. “The story that he is selling doesn’t make sense.”

Prosecutor Sania Khan argued that someone supporting the defendants was selectively leaking videos to present a counternarrative of the events

“Victims of abuse are not always going to act the way that we expect them to,” she added.

Duplessie and Woeltz, who appeared in handcuffs and prison uniforms, didn’t speak in court other than to formally enter their pleas.

They face charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon.

Prosecutors say on May 6, the two men lured the victim, who they knew personally, to a posh townhouse in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood by threatening to kill his family.

The man, a 28-year-old Italian national who has not been named by officials, said he was held captive for 17 days.

He said the two investors tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high.

The man said he eventually agreed to hand over his computer password, then managed to flee as his captors went to retrieve the device.

Woeltz, 37, has described himself in interviews as a blockchain investor who spent time in Silicon Valley before returning to Kentucky’s burgeoning crypto-mining industry.

Duplessie, 32, is listed as a founder or investor at various blockchain-based companies.

New York City police are also investigating two detectives who worked security at the townhouse where the man says he was tortured.

The officers have been placed on modified leave pending the outcome of the inquiry, although their lawyer has said there’s no indication either officer witnessed any of the alleged criminal activity.