StellarCrowandClaude Fable 5.1
499fd61f79
Until now only cases 357+ (plus a few older ones) had their linked URLs fetched; the other 252 dossiers held just the text pasted into the spreadsheet, often only the lede. This pass fetches every linked URL for those cases so the full text is on file before link rot takes it. - stage_all.py: new --include-sheet-cases flag that lifts the skip on cases holding spreadsheet articles. Resumable as before. - staging/: raw extracts and index.json for the 252 cases. - sourced-articles.json, case-files-manifest.json: 188 new UNTRIMMED blocks. 179 cases gained at least one fetched article; 73 got none (49 BLOCKED, 18 THIN, 9 DEAD, 4 video/social, 3 ERROR). - sources/*.txt: rebuilt with build_cases.py --all. Sheet pastes are kept; fetched blocks sit beside them under the NOT YET TRIMMED banner. Files previously committed with CRLF are now LF. - wayback-availability.json: Wayback snapshots exist for 73 of the 98 failed URL slots; input for an archive-fetch pass. - README-START-HERE.md: progress note and next step. verify_all.py PASSES (1836 checks). Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01GZZENdTLzNGsbNy4DyF1yt
267 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
267 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
================================================================================================
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CASE 228 | Michael V.T. Carturan | May 6, 2025 | USA
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================================================================================================
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DATABASE RECORD
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id 228
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date May 6, 2025
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original_date may 6, 2025
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year 2025
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month 5
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quarter 2025-Q2
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victim Michael V.T. Carturan
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location New York, New York
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country USA
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scenario Malicious Invitation - SocialEng
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description Crypto investor allegedly tortured captive Italian businessman with a chainsaw for weeks in luxe NYC pad in sadistic scheme to gain password.
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kidnappings 1
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violence_torture 1
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drugs_alcohol 1
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weapons 1
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theft 0
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life_taken 0
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money_wanted (null)
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coin_type (null)
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reports ABC
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notes Italian went voluntarily to their house. 17 days of torture, the victim managed to run away and found a uniformed police officer
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has_processed_date 1
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created_at 2025-11-13 05:44:45
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AI SUMMARY [revised on review, verified against the sources in this file. Live DB still holds the shorter bulk-import summary — apply this to it.]
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**Victims:** A 28-year-old Italian man (the linked report withholds his name) who arrived in New York from Italy on 6 May 2025.
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**Attackers:** John Woeltz, 37, a crypto entrepreneur dubbed the "crypto king of Kentucky", and William Duplessie, 33; a 24-year-old woman was also arrested but is not being prosecuted at this time.
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**Attack Method:** Prosecutors say the two lured the man from Italy by threatening to have his family killed; at Woeltz's eight-bedroom SoHo townhouse he was stripped of his electronics and passport, bound, and held for about 17 days.
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**Violence Used:** He was beaten, given electric shocks, forced to smoke crack cocaine, pistol-whipped, cut with a small chainsaw, doused in tequila and set alight before the fire was put out, and hung over a stairwell ledge — all to force him to reveal his Bitcoin password.
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**Crypto Demanded/Stolen:** The torture was aimed at extracting his Bitcoin password; he did not give it up and nothing was taken.
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**Status:** On 23 May he escaped — saying he would fetch the password from his laptop, then fleeing downstairs to a traffic officer — and was hospitalised in stable condition. Police recovered a saw, crack cocaine, a firearm and Polaroids of the victim with a gun to his head. Woeltz was arrested on 23 May and Duplessie surrendered on 27 May; both were indicted on about a dozen counts, denied bail, and pleaded not guilty, and the defence disputes the account.
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LINKED SOURCES
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[url] https://abcnews.go.com/US/nyc-crypto-kidnapping-torture-case/story?id=122280419
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[url_2] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-men-plead-not-guilty-violent-new-york-crypto-kidnapping-case-2025-06-11/
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NOTES ON THIS FILE
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* matched to sheet row 229: exact match on victim + year, unique on both sides
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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ARTICLE 1
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Source ABC
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URL https://abcnews.go.com/US/nyc-crypto-kidnapping-torture-case/story?id=122280419
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Origin reported_K&R sheet, row 229, column "Articles"
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Length 7,089 chars
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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What we know about the NYC crypto kidnapping and torture case
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Two men are accused of torturing a 28-year-old man over his Bitcoin password.
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ByAaron Katersky and Meredith Deliso
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June 11, 2025, 9:14 PM
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5:30
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Crypto crime: Suspects plead not guilty to charges of kidnapping & tortureNew brutal details of how two men allegedly set the victim on fire to steal his money and why the defense says the case is not what it seems.
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A cryptocurrency dispute led to the alleged kidnapping and torture of an Italian man in a luxury New York City townhouse for over two weeks, according to police.
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Two men -- John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33 -- have now been indicted on kidnapping, assault and coercion charges in the case.
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MORE: Crypto entrepreneur arrested for allegedly torturing a man for weeks: Police
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"From what we know now, this was a dispute over crypto money," NYPD Chief John Chell told reporters. "They all know each other, but this was a kidnapping for roughly 17 days, where they tortured this person. When I say torture, forced them to take narcotics, put his feet in water and shocked his feet and other types of torture for 17 days."
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Here's what we know about the case.
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Police tape is shown at the scene on May 23, 2025, in New York, where a cryptocurrency entrepreneur allegedly tortured a man for weeks.
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WABC
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Alleged victim lured to NYC
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The alleged 28-year-old victim, whose name has not been publicly released by authorities, told police he arrived in New York from Italy on May 6 and went to Woeltz's eight-bedroom SoHo townhouse.
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Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson said Woeltz and Duplessie allegedly lured the man to New York from Italy by threatening to have his family killed.
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Once the alleged victim arrived, he was stripped of his electronics and passport, bound by the wrists and subjected to beatings and electric shock, according to a criminal complaint.
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Woeltz allegedly carried the alleged victim to the top flight of stairs and hung him over the ledge and threatened to kill him if he did not provide his Bitcoin password, according to the complaint.
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The alleged victim told authorities the suspects forced him to smoke crack cocaine by holding him down or forcing a pipe into his mouth, prosecutors said.
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MORE: 2 NYPD detectives employed by suspect in crypto torture case under investigation: Sources
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A prosecutor, Sarah Kahn, shared graphic details of the alleged abuse during the defendant's arraignment hearing on Wednesday. She showed the judge a photo that she said depicted the alleged victim on fire and said the defendants would pour tequila on him, light him on fire and then put the fire out -- sometimes by urinating on him.
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Woeltz and Duplessie pistol-whipped the victim with a gun, cut him with a small chainsaw and used various other instruments as part of the torture, Kahn said.
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She said prosecutors have had conversations with other, unnamed law enforcement agencies that indicated Woeltz and Duplessie have tortured people before. She did not elaborate.
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New York police officers arrest John Woeltz, May 23, 2025, in New York.
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Kava Gorna via AP
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The defense pushed back during the hearing, saying there is video of the alleged victim "having the time of his life" and engaging in activity at odds with having been tortured.
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The defense attorneys said they obtained a different video from an eyeglass store taken 36 hours before the alleged victim left the townhouse that purportedly shows him smoking a cigarette by himself on the street.
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"The story that he is selling just doesn't make sense," defense attorney Sam Talkin, who represents Duplessie, told the judge.
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In response, Kahn said, "Victims of abuse are not always going to act in a way that we expect people to do."
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Alleged victim's escape
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On the morning of May 23, the man escaped from the home, running to a traffic enforcement officer for help, police said. The alleged victim was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, police said.
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The alleged victim was finally able to escape after believing he was going to be shot by telling his captors he would provide the defendants with his Bitcoin password contained on his laptop, according to prosecutors.
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When Woeltz left the alleged victim to retrieve the laptop, the man was able to escape down the stairs, according to prosecutors.
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Inside the townhouse, prosecutors said detectives recovered a saw, crack cocaine, chicken wire, T-shirts with pictures of the alleged victim with the crack cocaine pipe in his mouth, body armor, night vision goggles, ballistic helmets, Polaroid pictures of the alleged victim with a firearm pointed to his head and firearm ammunition.
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A gun was also recovered in the home, police said.
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Law enforcement said they observed blood in various areas in the apartment where the man indicated he was allegedly tortured.
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Suspects denied bail
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Crypto entrepreneur John Woeltz is shown during a perp walk after being arrested on May 23, 2025, in New York.
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WABC
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Woeltz, reportedly dubbed the "crypto king of Kentucky," was taken into custody on May 23. The crypto entrepreneur did not make any comments to reporters as he was escorted out of his apartment by police in handcuffs.
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Duplessie turned himself in at the NYPD's 13th Precinct on May 27. He did not respond to reporters' shouted questions while being escorted out of the precinct.
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Both men were initially charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm and were denied bail at their initial court appearances.
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MORE: 2nd suspect arrested in SoHo torture case, officials say beatings, drugs and gun used
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Prosecutors convinced the judge to hold Woeltz without bail by pointing out that he is from Kentucky and has the means to flee, including a private jet and helicopter.
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A judge denied Duplessie's attorney's request for him to be held under home detention with his father in Florida on $1 million bail, ABC New York station WABC reported. His attorney called the facts of the case and Duplessie's involvement "hotly disputed," according to WABC.
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Both men have since been indicted by a grand jury on a dozen counts, including kidnapping, assault and coercion. They pleaded not guilty during their arraignment on Wednesday.
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Judge Gregory Carro ordered them to remain held without bail through their next court appearance on July 15.
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Attorneys for both suspects had no comment when previously contacted by ABC News.
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William Duplessie is escorted out of the New York Police 13th Precinct after turning himself in on charges of kidnapping and false imprisonment, May 27, 2025, in New York.
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Yuki Iwamura/AP
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A 24-year-old woman was also arrested on May 23 for kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment in connection with the case, police said. Though the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is not prosecuting her at this time and she is not in police custody.
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NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a local station on May 27 that the two men are currently the only suspects in the case.
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"So far, it's those two we're looking at," she said. "There may be others."
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OTHER LINKED SOURCES
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[BLOCKED] url_2 None — raw request refused; try the WebFetch path, which is a model transcription and must be labelled as such
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https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-men-plead-not-guilty-violent-new-york-crypto-kidnapping-case-2025-06-11/
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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FETCHED ARTICLE 1 [RAW EXTRACT — NOT YET TRIMMED]
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!! This is the whole page as extracted. It still contains site furniture,
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!! and may contain teaser headlines for UNRELATED cases. Trim on read-through.
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!! Do not quote from it without checking the passage belongs to this case.
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Source abcnews.go.com
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URL https://abcnews.go.com/US/nyc-crypto-kidnapping-torture-case/story?id=122280419
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Field url
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Retrieved 2026-09-05T12:47:27+00:00 via raw HTTP retrieval, deterministic extraction (HTTP 200)
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Language unknown
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Kept paragraphs ALL 43 paragraphs, untrimmed
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Length 6,551 chars
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Integrity sha256 6ee35894192cad7c13027c021acf2705e35d9db270c5e2c51817e5e08a274055
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Trimmed NOT TRIMMED. Full page extract; trim on read-through.
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Caveat retrieved from a live page on the date above. Unlike text copied
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from the spreadsheet, there is no second copy to hash it against.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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ORIGINAL (unknown, verbatim as retrieved)
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What we know about the NYC crypto kidnapping and torture case - ABC News
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What we know about the NYC crypto kidnapping and torture case
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Two men are accused of torturing a 28-year-old man over his Bitcoin password.
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A cryptocurrency dispute led to the alleged kidnapping and torture of an Italian man in a luxury New York City townhouse for over two weeks, according to police.
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Two men -- John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33 -- have now been indicted on kidnapping, assault and coercion charges in the case.
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MORE: Crypto entrepreneur arrested for allegedly torturing a man for weeks: Police
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"From what we know now, this was a dispute over crypto money," NYPD Chief John Chell told reporters. "They all know each other, but this was a kidnapping for roughly 17 days, where they tortured this person. When I say torture, forced them to take narcotics, put his feet in water and shocked his feet and other types of torture for 17 days."
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Here's what we know about the case.
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The alleged 28-year-old victim, whose name has not been publicly released by authorities, told police he arrived in New York from Italy on May 6 and went to Woeltz's eight-bedroom SoHo townhouse.
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Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson said Woeltz and Duplessie allegedly lured the man to New York from Italy by threatening to have his family killed.
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Once the alleged victim arrived, he was stripped of his electronics and passport, bound by the wrists and subjected to beatings and electric shock, according to a criminal complaint.
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Woeltz allegedly carried the alleged victim to the top flight of stairs and hung him over the ledge and threatened to kill him if he did not provide his Bitcoin password, according to the complaint.
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The alleged victim told authorities the suspects forced him to smoke crack cocaine by holding him down or forcing a pipe into his mouth, prosecutors said.
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MORE: 2 NYPD detectives employed by suspect in crypto torture case under investigation: Sources
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A prosecutor, Sarah Kahn, shared graphic details of the alleged abuse during the defendant's arraignment hearing on Wednesday. She showed the judge a photo that she said depicted the alleged victim on fire and said the defendants would pour tequila on him, light him on fire and then put the fire out -- sometimes by urinating on him.
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Woeltz and Duplessie pistol-whipped the victim with a gun, cut him with a small chainsaw and used various other instruments as part of the torture, Kahn said.
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She said prosecutors have had conversations with other, unnamed law enforcement agencies that indicated Woeltz and Duplessie have tortured people before. She did not elaborate.
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The defense pushed back during the hearing, saying there is video of the alleged victim "having the time of his life" and engaging in activity at odds with having been tortured.
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The defense attorneys said they obtained a different video from an eyeglass store taken 36 hours before the alleged victim left the townhouse that purportedly shows him smoking a cigarette by himself on the street.
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"The story that he is selling just doesn't make sense," defense attorney Sam Talkin, who represents Duplessie, told the judge.
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In response, Kahn said, "Victims of abuse are not always going to act in a way that we expect people to do."
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On the morning of May 23, the man escaped from the home, running to a traffic enforcement officer for help, police said. The alleged victim was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, police said.
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Woman who fatally shot man during confrontation over parking space won't be charged
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Suspect in Minneapolis apartment shooting opened fire after custody exchange
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‘Dancing With the Stars’ reveals new celeb cast and their pro partners
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The alleged victim was finally able to escape after believing he was going to be shot by telling his captors he would provide the defendants with his Bitcoin password contained on his laptop, according to prosecutors.
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When Woeltz left the alleged victim to retrieve the laptop, the man was able to escape down the stairs, according to prosecutors.
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Inside the townhouse, prosecutors said detectives recovered a saw, crack cocaine, chicken wire, T-shirts with pictures of the alleged victim with the crack cocaine pipe in his mouth, body armor, night vision goggles, ballistic helmets, Polaroid pictures of the alleged victim with a firearm pointed to his head and firearm ammunition.
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A gun was also recovered in the home, police said.
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Law enforcement said they observed blood in various areas in the apartment where the man indicated he was allegedly tortured.
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Woeltz, reportedly dubbed the "crypto king of Kentucky," was taken into custody on May 23. The crypto entrepreneur did not make any comments to reporters as he was escorted out of his apartment by police in handcuffs.
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Duplessie turned himself in at the NYPD's 13th Precinct on May 27. He did not respond to reporters' shouted questions while being escorted out of the precinct.
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Both men were initially charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm and were denied bail at their initial court appearances.
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MORE: 2nd suspect arrested in SoHo torture case, officials say beatings, drugs and gun used
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Prosecutors convinced the judge to hold Woeltz without bail by pointing out that he is from Kentucky and has the means to flee, including a private jet and helicopter.
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A judge denied Duplessie's attorney's request for him to be held under home detention with his father in Florida on $1 million bail, ABC New York station WABC reported. His attorney called the facts of the case and Duplessie's involvement "hotly disputed," according to WABC.
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Both men have since been indicted by a grand jury on a dozen counts, including kidnapping, assault and coercion. They pleaded not guilty during their arraignment on Wednesday.
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Judge Gregory Carro ordered them to remain held without bail through their next court appearance on July 15.
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Attorneys for both suspects had no comment when previously contacted by ABC News.
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A 24-year-old woman was also arrested on May 23 for kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment in connection with the case, police said. Though the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is not prosecuting her at this time and she is not in police custody.
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NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a local station on May 27 that the two men are currently the only suspects in the case.
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"So far, it's those two we're looking at," she said. "There may be others."
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24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events
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================================================================================================
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generated from attacks-export-Gart-website.json + reported_K&R | case 228
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================================================================================================
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