2nd suspect in Manhattan crypto kidnapping and torture case indicted

Key Points

• William Duplessie, 32, was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on charges including kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon in connection to the abduction over Bitcoin.
• The unnamed 28-year-old Italian victim was held captive for 17 days in a Soho townhouse, tortured with electrical wires, forced to smoke crack and threatened with death until he surrendered his computer password.
• Duplessie and co-defendant John Woeltz, 37, remain in custody ahead of Duplessie’s sealed arraignment on June 11.
• NYC police are also investigating two detectives who worked security at the townhouse, placing them on modified leave despite no evidence they witnessed the alleged crimes.

NEW YORK (AP) — A second man charged in the kidnapping and torture of an Italian man for his Bitcoin has been indicted.

A Manhattan grand jury handed up the indictment Friday against William Duplessie, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office. The indictment will remain sealed until his arraignment June 11.

Duplessie, 32, faces charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon, police have said. His lawyer, in an email, declined to comment on the indictment.

Prosecutors say Duplessie and fellow crypto investor John Woeltz, 37, lured the victim to a posh townhouse in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood on May 6 by threatening to kill his family.

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

He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device.

The grand jury decision followed Duplessie's brief appearance Friday morning in Manhattan court.

A judge reminded him a protective order was still in effect, though he didn’t name who it was concerning.

Duplessie, who is listed as a founder or investor at various blockchain-based companies, was escorted in handcuffs and wore a prison jumpsuit. He didn’t address the court.

Both Duplessie and Woeltz remain in custody.

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

The detectives have been placed on modified leave pending the outcome of the inquiry. A lawyer for the labor union representing NYPD detectives said there’s “absolutely no indication” either officer witnessed any of the alleged illegal activity.