Alleged Bitcoin Torture Suspect Freed on $1M Bail After 2 Months in Custody

Crimes involving cryptocurrency are worryingly on the rise, becoming ever more aggressive and, as in this case, quite shocking.

Regardless of whether alleged or not, this is the harsh reality we are currently facing in this day and age.

Pleading Not Guilty

According to a story from Fox News, two culprits are accused of torturing an Italian millionaire in his apartment in New York, reportedly over a stash of $100 million in Bitcoin, and one of them was released after spending two months in the Rikers Island prison.

The discharged is John Woeltz, 37, on the condition of a $1 million parole, with the release coming a week after a Manhattan judge granted bond for him and an alleged accomplice, William Duplessie, aged 33. Both have pleaded not guilty, and the latter has remained in custody.

The duo is accused of kidnapping and tormenting Italian crypto trader Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan. The defense attorneys on the case stated that the alleged torture very closely resembled a “fraternity-like rite of passage.” Woeltz’s attorney, Wayne Gosnell, noted the following in a previous hearing:

“Mr. Carturan was there in the role of a pledge, he was essentially being hazed.”

The alleged torturer, who was released and is also involved in cryptocurrency trading, evaded questions about whether he actually carried out the claims against him, and how he felt to be freed from custody as he was walking out of the Supreme Court building in Manhattan.

As a condition to his release, the sum of which, reportedly, was a combination of cash and property put up by his father, he is subject to home arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet. He will only be allowed to leave the premises of his home for doctor’s appointments, meetings with lawyers, or in the event of an emergency.

Violent and Graphic

Prosecutors stated in court that the duo kidnapped Carturan and tortured him for over three weeks, supposedly relieving him of his phone and passport. The attorneys further note that both Duplessie and Woeltz reportedly had a manifesto prepared with how they plan to steal the prisoners’ cryptocurrency.

“Informant further states that the defendant and unapprehended male demanded that Informant provide the defendant with Informant’s wallet password so that the defendant and unapprehended male could take Informant’s Bitcoin,” a criminal complaint states.

When the victim refused to provide the password to his crypto holdings, the two detainees allegedly subjected him to “physical beatings, in addition to, but not excluding, using electric shock, lacerating his head with blunt force from a firearm, and pointing said firearm at the Informant’s head several times. Further, the captive was dragged to the top of a flight of stairs, hanged over the ledge, and threatened with losing his life.”

The authorities further added that there were threats against the 28-year-old hostage’s family in Italy, while he was, supposedly, humiliated by having people urinate on him and by Woeltz forcing him to take drugs.

Both defendants are due to appear in court on October 15th.