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DB-cleanup/merge-output/sources/228_Michael-V-T-Carturan.txt
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StellarCrowandClaude Fable 5.1 439e83a4cb feat(sources): Wayback pass, automatic trimming, detention rule, ten cases re-sourced 
Second and third rounds on the dossier pipeline, reviewed locally before commit.

Retrieval
- wayback_pass.py: retries every BLOCKED/DEAD/THIN/ERROR linked source through
  the Wayback Machine; blocks carry the snapshot date, archive URL and the live
  verdict. 143 slots retried: 93 fetched, 37 no snapshot, 12 script shells, 1 PDF.
- fetch_sources.py: fetch_wayback() helper.
- add_extra_sources.py: files staged extra_* finds (web search, not on the DB
  record) into the store with a provenance note.
- Cases re-sourced by web search: 248 (Oslo: Document.no, Avisa Oslo, NRK; the
  linked Le Parisien piece is case 242 and is marked OFF-CASE), 258 Kharkiv,
  260 Singapore, 358 Bangkok, 365 Las Vegas, 388 Verneuil-sur-Seine, 390 Zoersel,
  430 Homestead. 341 of 364 cases now hold a fetched article; 11, 66 and 399
  have no public text source (podcast, police video, direct victim report).

Trimming
- auto_trim.py: case-anchored furniture cut for UNTRIMMED blocks. Finds the body
  run that mentions the case, merges across subheadings and short furniture
  gaps, drops teasers, share bars, date/URL/caption lines and subscription
  pitches; refuses pages with no record term or almost no body. 302 blocks
  trimmed; 16 left on auto-trim-review.md (7 OFF-CASE suspects). Every cut is
  labelled AUTO-TRIMMED, UNREVIEWED in the dossier; the full extract stays in
  staging/. Decisions with anchors in trim-decisions-auto.json.
- build_cases.py / verify_all.py: banners for auto-trimmed and archived blocks,
  staged-file check extended to Wayback blocks, flag legend under the record.

Detention rule
- README "Definitions": the DB field `kidnappings` is the DETENTION violence
  type (victim, guard, staff or relative held to force submission or execute
  the theft), distinct from the Kidnapping scenario (taken away and held).
- detention-flag-review.md / detention-flag-corrections.json: 40 records
  reviewed with evidence; 30 set-to-1 proposals accepted by the owner on
  2026-09-06 (listed in corrections-approved.md), 10 still open.
- apply_detention_wording.py: "Violence Used" in the 70 reviewed summaries now
  names detention explicitly (62 of 70 labelled), supported by the summary's
  own text; idempotent; supersedes the batch scripts' wording.

Worklist and docs
- sofia-worklist.md: 248 decisions, detention rule item replacing the old
  "no abduction" item, fresh-search section for the textless cases.
- README-START-HERE.md: progress notes, run commands, next steps.
- Bug fixed in passing: Wayback blocks stored in-memory text with carriage
  returns; now stored as read back from disk.

verify_all.py PASSES (2321 checks).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01GZZENdTLzNGsbNy4DyF1yt
2026-09-06 19:36:45 +02:00

346 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
Raw Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters
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================================================================================================
CASE 228 | Michael V.T. Carturan | May 6, 2025 | USA
================================================================================================
DATABASE RECORD
id 228
date May 6, 2025
original_date may 6, 2025
year 2025
month 5
quarter 2025-Q2
victim Michael V.T. Carturan
location New York, New York
country USA
scenario Malicious Invitation - SocialEng
description Crypto investor allegedly tortured captive Italian businessman with a chainsaw for weeks in luxe NYC pad in sadistic scheme to gain password.
kidnappings 1
violence_torture 1
drugs_alcohol 1
weapons 1
theft 0
life_taken 0
money_wanted (null)
coin_type (null)
reports ABC
notes Italian went voluntarily to their house. 17 days of torture, the victim managed to run away and found a uniformed police officer
has_processed_date 1
created_at 2025-11-13 05:44:45
(flag legend: 'kidnappings' is the DETENTION flag — 1 when the victim was held against
their will at any point, tied, locked in, held at gunpoint or taken away; it is NOT the
same as the 'Kidnapping' scenario, which means taken away and held. See README, Definitions.)
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.]
**Victims:** A 28-year-old Italian man (the linked report withholds his name) who arrived in New York from Italy on 6 May 2025.
**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.
**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.
**Violence Used:** Detention — bound and held for about 17 days at the townhouse; 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.
**Crypto Demanded/Stolen:** The torture was aimed at extracting his Bitcoin password; he did not give it up and nothing was taken.
**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.
LINKED SOURCES
[url] https://abcnews.go.com/US/nyc-crypto-kidnapping-torture-case/story?id=122280419
[url_2] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-men-plead-not-guilty-violent-new-york-crypto-kidnapping-case-2025-06-11/
NOTES ON THIS FILE
* matched to sheet row 229: exact match on victim + year, unique on both sides
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE 1
Source ABC
URL https://abcnews.go.com/US/nyc-crypto-kidnapping-torture-case/story?id=122280419
Origin reported_K&R sheet, row 229, column "Articles"
Length 7,089 chars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What we know about the NYC crypto kidnapping and torture case
Two men are accused of torturing a 28-year-old man over his Bitcoin password.
ByAaron Katersky and Meredith Deliso
June 11, 2025, 9:14 PM
5:30
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.
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.
Two men -- John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33 -- have now been indicted on kidnapping, assault and coercion charges in the case.
MORE: Crypto entrepreneur arrested for allegedly torturing a man for weeks: Police
"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."
Here's what we know about the case.
Police tape is shown at the scene on May 23, 2025, in New York, where a cryptocurrency entrepreneur allegedly tortured a man for weeks.
WABC
Alleged victim lured to NYC
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
MORE: 2 NYPD detectives employed by suspect in crypto torture case under investigation: Sources
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.
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.
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.
New York police officers arrest John Woeltz, May 23, 2025, in New York.
Kava Gorna via AP
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.
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.
"The story that he is selling just doesn't make sense," defense attorney Sam Talkin, who represents Duplessie, told the judge.
In response, Kahn said, "Victims of abuse are not always going to act in a way that we expect people to do."
Alleged victim's escape
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.
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.
When Woeltz left the alleged victim to retrieve the laptop, the man was able to escape down the stairs, according to prosecutors.
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.
A gun was also recovered in the home, police said.
Law enforcement said they observed blood in various areas in the apartment where the man indicated he was allegedly tortured.
Suspects denied bail
Crypto entrepreneur John Woeltz is shown during a perp walk after being arrested on May 23, 2025, in New York.
WABC
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.
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.
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.
MORE: 2nd suspect arrested in SoHo torture case, officials say beatings, drugs and gun used
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.
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.
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.
Judge Gregory Carro ordered them to remain held without bail through their next court appearance on July 15.
Attorneys for both suspects had no comment when previously contacted by ABC News.
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.
Yuki Iwamura/AP
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.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a local station on May 27 that the two men are currently the only suspects in the case.
"So far, it's those two we're looking at," she said. "There may be others."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FETCHED ARTICLE 1 [AUTO-TRIMMED — UNREVIEWED]
!! Furniture was cut by a script keyed on this case's record, not by a person.
!! It may still carry passages about OTHER cases from a round-up article.
!! The full page extract is kept in staging/ if a cut needs revisiting.
Source abcnews.go.com
URL https://abcnews.go.com/US/nyc-crypto-kidnapping-torture-case/story?id=122280419
Field url
Retrieved 2026-09-05T12:47:27+00:00 via raw HTTP retrieval, deterministic extraction (HTTP 200)
Language unknown
Kept paragraphs headline [0] + 2-41 of 43
Length 6,440 chars
Integrity sha256 5ee2b5906b09e5758195b6b3836f9e1224f017fb96383a36c96c282912559aa2
Trimmed AUTO-TRIMMED, unreviewed: kept paragraphs 2-41 plus headline [0]; dropped 1 leading and 1 trailing paragraphs. Case-term hits on page: 16.
Caveat retrieved from a live page on the date above. Unlike text copied
from the spreadsheet, there is no second copy to hash it against.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORIGINAL (unknown, verbatim as retrieved)
What we know about the NYC crypto kidnapping and torture case - ABC News
Two men are accused of torturing a 28-year-old man over his Bitcoin password.
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.
Two men -- John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33 -- have now been indicted on kidnapping, assault and coercion charges in the case.
MORE: Crypto entrepreneur arrested for allegedly torturing a man for weeks: Police
"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."
Here's what we know about the case.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
MORE: 2 NYPD detectives employed by suspect in crypto torture case under investigation: Sources
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"The story that he is selling just doesn't make sense," defense attorney Sam Talkin, who represents Duplessie, told the judge.
In response, Kahn said, "Victims of abuse are not always going to act in a way that we expect people to do."
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.
When Woeltz left the alleged victim to retrieve the laptop, the man was able to escape down the stairs, according to prosecutors.
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.
A gun was also recovered in the home, police said.
Law enforcement said they observed blood in various areas in the apartment where the man indicated he was allegedly tortured.
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.
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.
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.
MORE: 2nd suspect arrested in SoHo torture case, officials say beatings, drugs and gun used
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.
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.
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.
Judge Gregory Carro ordered them to remain held without bail through their next court appearance on July 15.
Attorneys for both suspects had no comment when previously contacted by ABC News.
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.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a local station on May 27 that the two men are currently the only suspects in the case.
"So far, it's those two we're looking at," she said. "There may be others."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FETCHED ARTICLE 2 [AUTO-TRIMMED — UNREVIEWED]
!! Furniture was cut by a script keyed on this case's record, not by a person.
!! It may still carry passages about OTHER cases from a round-up article.
!! The full page extract is kept in staging/ if a cut needs revisiting.
Source reuters.com
URL https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-men-plead-not-guilty-violent-new-york-crypto-kidnapping-case-2025-06-11/
Field url_2
Retrieved 2026-09-05T13:27:41+00:00 via Wayback Machine snapshot 20250611175722, deterministic extraction (HTTP None)
Language unknown
Kept paragraphs headline [0] + 2-32 excl [9] of 35
Length 4,500 chars
Integrity sha256 f5ad1beb36300e5f3d44b291a9d942c4fc391989684e194f7cdc8195df79ace1
Trimmed AUTO-TRIMMED, unreviewed: kept paragraphs 2-32 plus headline [0]; dropped 1 leading and 2 trailing paragraphs and 1 interior furniture line(s). Case-term hits on page: 9.
Note live URL was BLOCKED on the first pass; text comes from an archived copy dated 2025-06-11
Archive http://web.archive.org/web/20250611175722/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-men-plead-not-guilty-violent-new-york-crypto-kidnapping-case-2025-06-11/
Caveat retrieved from a Wayback Machine snapshot, not the live page. The
snapshot date is in the method line; the live URL was unreadable.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORIGINAL (unknown, verbatim as retrieved)
Men plead not guilty in NY to kidnapping, setting friend on fire with tequila for crypto | Reuters
Item 1 of 7 William Duplessie appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on cryptocurrency-related kidnapping charges, in New York City, U.S., June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
[1/7]William Duplessie appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on cryptocurrency-related kidnapping charges, in New York City, U.S., June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Defense disputes prosecution's allegations of torture
Defendants face possible life in prison if convicted
Cryptocurrency kidnappings rise as bitcoin price surges
NEW YORK, June 11 (Reuters) - Two men pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges they kidnapped a friend for three weeks at a townhouse in Manhattan's upscale SoHo neighborhood, cut him with a chainsaw and set him on fire after dousing him with tequila to try to get him to reveal his bitcoin password.
Defendants John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33, appeared in a Manhattan court before Justice Gregory Carro, who denied their request to be released on bail pending trial on charges that carry up to a life sentence if convicted.
Their lawyers during the hearing disputed the prosecution account that the men had tortured the alleged victim, who was not identified by name in court. Duplessie's lawyer Sam Talkin said the alleged victim was "having the time of his life" and took part in a "sex orgy" while at the townhouse.
The surge in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent years has created a new group of wealthy investors who present tempting targets for criminals, according to security experts.
Prosecutor Sarah Khan told the hearing that the defendants and the alleged victim were involved in cryptocurrency investing and had communicated with each other electronically for years.
During an in-person meeting that began on May 6 in Manhattan, Duplessie and Woeltz took the alleged victim's devices and began a series of brutal beatings, Khan said.
"They pistol whipped him with a gun, they cut him with a small chainsaw and they used various other instruments," Khan said.
The defendants also urinated on the alleged victim to put out fires on his body that they set after dousing him with tequila, Khan said.
After three weeks, the alleged victim and Woeltz left the SoHo townhouse to retrieve the man's phone so he could transfer his cryptocurrency, Khan said. The alleged victim managed to run away and found a uniformed police officer, Khan added. He was barefoot and bleeding when he escaped, Khan said.
"He was in severe distress," Khan added.
Khan said authorities found a chainsaw, a loaded pistol and a photograph of Duplessie pointing a gun at the alleged victim when they searched the townhouse.
The alleged incident follows three cryptocurrency-linked kidnappings or kidnapping attempts in France this year.
Woeltz and Duplessie have been detained since being arrested last month on kidnapping and other charges. Carro ordered them to be detained without bail at least until their next hearing on July 15.
In urging Carro to release Duplessie on bail, Talkin said the alleged victim was free to leave the townhouse as he pleased. The man went out to church, clubs and dinners during the three weeks, according Wayne Gosnell, a lawyer for Woeltz.
"He could have talked to any passerby and told them, 'I'm in trouble, I need help,'" Gosnell told the judge.
Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham and Noeleen Walder
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Reports on the New York federal courts. Previously worked as a correspondent in Venezuela and Argentina.
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Men plead not guilty in NY to kidnapping, setting friend on fire with tequila for crypto
United Statescategory · June 11, 2025 · 5:45 PM UTC · ago
Two men pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges they kidnapped a friend for three weeks at a townhouse in Manhattan's upscale SoHo neighborhood, cut him with a chainsaw and set him on fire after dousing him with tequila to try to get him to reveal his bitcoin password.
================================================================================================
generated from attacks-export-Gart-website.json + reported_K&R | case 228
================================================================================================
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