Bitcoin torture suspect launched from jail on $1 million bond after arrest

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Considered one of two suspects accused of torturing an Italian millionaire in a New York City house over his refusal to reveal his bitcoin password, reportedly price $100 million, was sprung from jail after spending two months in custody.

John Woeltz, 37, was launched from Rikers Island on $1 million bond, the New York Post reported. The discharge got here per week after a Manhattan choose granted bond for Woeltz and his alleged confederate, 33-year-old William Duplessie.

Each males are accused of kidnapping and torturing Italian crypto dealer Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan. Protection attorneys argued the alleged torture was akin to "fraternity-like hazing."

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John Woeltz walks free from Manhattan Supreme Courtroom after being launched on $1 million bail, Thursday, July 31, 2025. Woeltz, a Kentucky cryptocurrency investor, is accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian vacationer in New York Metropolis in Might 2025. (Kevin Downs for Fox Information Digital)

"Mr. Carturan was there within the function of a pledge," Woeltz’s lawyer, Wayne Gosnell, stated in a earlier listening to, based on the Put up. "He was basically pledging and being hazed."

Duplessie, a Miami resident, was not launched Thursday. Each males have pleaded not responsible.

Woeltz, a Kentucky-based cryptocurrency investor, dodged questions on whether or not he tortured Carturan and the way it felt to be free of jail as he walked out of Manhattan Supreme Courtroom, the Put up reported. Sources instructed the newspaper the bond was a mix of money and property put up by Woeltz’s father.

John Woeltz walks free from Manhattan Supreme Courtroom after being launched on $1 million bail, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Kevin Downs for Fox Information Digital)

As a situation of his bail, Woeltz will probably be topic to residence confinement and digital monitoring. He can solely depart his residence for physician's appointments, to satisfy together with his attorneys or for emergencies.

NYPD OFFICERS ENTANGLED IN CRYPTO TORTURE CASE AFTER BITCOIN INVESTOR ESCAPED FROM TOWNHOUSE OF HORRORS

William Duplessie in police custody leaving the NYPD's thirteenth Precinct stationhouse in Manhattan, N.Y., Might 27, 2025. (Barry Williams/New York Every day Information by way of Getty Pictures)

Prosecutors stated the pair kidnapped Carturan and tortured him over three weeks in a townhouse the place they allegedly took his digital units and passport so he was unable to entry them.

"Informant additional states that the defendant and unapprehended male demanded that Informant present the defendant with Informant's bitcoin password in order that the defendant and unapprehended male may take Informant's Bitcoin," a felony grievance states.

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When Carturan refused to reveal his Bitcoin password, the pair allegedly subjected him to "beatings, together with however not restricted to utilizing electrical wires to shock Informant, utilizing a firearm to hit Informant on the pinnacle inflicting a laceration, pointing the firearm at Informant's head on a number of events, and carrying Informant to the highest flight of stairs throughout the above-mentioned location and hanging Informant over the ledge because the defendant threatened to kill Informant if Informant didn't present the defendant the Informant's Bitcoin password," the grievance added.

John Woeltz walks free from Manhattan Supreme Courtroom on Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Kevin Downs for Fox Information Digital)

Woeltz allegedly threatened the 28-year-old sufferer’s household in Italy whereas subjecting him to humiliation by having folks urinate on him and forcing him to take drugs throughout captivity, authorities have stated.

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The pair allegedly wrote a manifesto about their plan to steal Carturan's cryptocurrency, prosecutors stated. The alleged sufferer ultimately managed to flee and known as a close-by visitors officer.