Judge denies bail to crypto investor charged with kidnapping and torturing man in posh NYC townhouse
NEW YORK (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a cryptocurrency investor who was charged with kidnapping and torturing a man for weeks in an upscale Manhattan townhouse in order to gain access to his Bitcoin.
John Woeltz, 37, has been jailed since his arrest Friday outside the luxury rental, where an Italian national told police he was severely beaten, drugged, shocked with electrical wires and dangled over a ledge by captors seeking the password to his digital assets.
Woeltz's alleged accomplice, William Duplessie, surrendered to police Tuesday and is awaiting his own indictment.
At the hearing Thursday, an attorney for Woeltz requested his client be released on a $2 million bond, citing his lack of criminal record, philosophy degree and professional accomplishments.
'He's been very successful in the technology world,' the attorney, Wayne Gosnell, told a Manhattan judge, adding that his client 'has every intention to fight this case.'
The judge denied bail for Woeltz, who did not appear in court.
Gosnell also requested that Woeltz not be required to turn over firearms that he legally owns in Kentucky. And he disputed the prosecutor's earlier claims that his client owned a private jet and helicopter.
'He has no means to flee,' Gosnell said.
Woeltz has described himself in interviews as a blockchain investor who spent time in Silicon Valley before returning to Kentucky's burgeoning crypto-mining industry.
Authorities have said Woeltz and Duplessie, another cryptocurrency investor, knew the victim personally.
On May 6, they lured the man — whose name has not been released by officials — to a posh townhouse in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood, one of the city's most expensive, by threatening to kill his family.
The man 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 victim made it onto the street, bloodied and shoeless, according to police.
A search of the townhouse turned up cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, body armor, night vision goggles, ammunition and polaroid photos of the victim with a gun pointed to his head, according to prosecutors.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Coinbase adds former top Obama and Harris adviser Plouffe as it broadens its political reach
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior adviser to Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign is joining Coinbase's global advisory council, which already includes several former U.S. senators and Donald Trump's ex-campaign manager, as the cryptocurrency exchange broadens its political reach. David Plouffe, a top Democratic strategist best known as an architect of Barack Obama's successful 2008 presidential campaign, is the latest addition to the council, joining as the cryptocurrency industry plays an increasingly prominent role in shaping fast-moving legislation in Congress. The legislation aims to create a comprehensive framework for the regulation of digital assets and comes amid a shift in Washington. President Trump, a Republican, has pledged to make the U.S. the global capital of cryptocurrency, contrasting with what industry leaders viewed as a stifling regulatory approach under the previous Democratic administration. Trump and his family have also been aggressively expanding their personal business into almost every part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including raising billions of dollars to buy bitcoin, creating a new stablecoin and launching and promoting a Trump-themed meme coin. Chris LaCivita, the former co-campaign manager of Trump's successful 2024 presidential bid, joined Coinbase's advisory council in January. Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat-turned-independent from Arizona, also joined the council, which consists of a number of other high-profile figures from both major political parties. Plouffe previously served on the global advisory board for Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, before joining Harris' presidential campaign as a senior adviser in August. Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase's chief policy officer, described the role of the advisers as being a 'sound board' to discuss policy efforts and business strategy. In Congress, legislation is advancing far more quickly than usual for a new industry — a pace that some involved in shaping the bills say comes amid an all-out pressure campaign from the cryptocurrency sector. On Wednesday, a group of Democrats joined the Republican majority to advance legislation regulating stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency typically pegged to the U.S. dollar. Final passage through the Senate could come next week. Meanwhile, a more sweeping bill to implement cryptocurrency market structure has begun moving through House committees.
Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Austrian school shooter planned attack in detail but his motive remains unclear, investigators say
GRAZ, Austria (AP) — The former student who killed nine students and a teacher at a school in Austria and then took his own life planned the attack in detail, but he appears to have shot his victims at random and investigators still haven't been able to ascertain his motive, officials said Thursday. The 21-year-old had left the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz three years ago, breaking off his studies after attending for three years, police said. They said they knew of no personal connection between the gunman and the students he shot, but that one of the two teachers he shot had once taught him. They were still investigating whether that was a factor. The attack prompted Austria to declare three days of national mourning, and large numbers of candles have been laid in Graz's main square and outside the school. The assailant, an Austrian who lived with his mother near Graz and whom officials have declined to identify, used a Mercury double-barreled shotgun and a Glock 19 handgun in the shooting. Michael Lohnegger, the head of Styria province's criminal police office, said that he arrived at the school Tuesday morning with a backpack containing the weapons, and put on equipment including shooting glasses and a headset in a bathroom before starting a roughly seven-minute shooting spree. He opened fire indiscriminately on the building's third floor before shooting open the locked door of a fourth-floor classroom and again firing indiscriminately, Lohnegger told a news conference. Lohnegger said that he had enough ammunition to continue shooting and it was unclear why he hadn't; the assailant then returned to the bathroom and shot himself fatally in the head. A search of his home uncovered a farewell letter and video, which Lohnegger said added up to 'an apology directed to his family for the crime and a general thank-you,' but offered no 'indication for a motive.' They also found a handwritten note that showed he had planned the attack 'down to the smallest detail' — setting out how he would proceed, but giving no date for the crime. It suggested that he had lacked enough time to build a fully functional pipe bomb, and investigators found one that wouldn't have worked. Lohnegger said a picture had emerged of 'a very introverted person' who largely didn't take part in real-world activities, and that his great passion was taking part in online first-person shooter games. 'But even here, there is no information from his personal surroundings that he ever expressed any anger or resentment toward the school, students or teachers,' he added. The man had no previous police record and 'there were definitely no particular problems with him at this school.' The shooter was in unspecified vocational training at the time of the attack, investigators said. He had bought the shotgun legally in Graz in early April, and the handgun from another shop in the city in late May. He had a license to own weapons that required a report from a psychological expert, which apparently was produced in March. Starting in March, he took part in shooting practice five times at a shooting club in Graz, using a hired firearm, Lohnegger said. The slain students were six girls and three boys aged between 14 and 17. Eleven people were wounded in the attack, and authorities said on Wednesday that their lives weren't in danger. ___ Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Coinbase adds former top Obama and Harris adviser Plouffe as it broadens its political reach
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior adviser to Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign is joining Coinbase's global advisory council, which already includes several former U.S. senators and Donald Trump's ex-campaign manager, as the cryptocurrency exchange broadens its political reach. David Plouffe, a top Democratic strategist best known as an architect of Barack Obama's successful 2008 presidential campaign, is the latest addition to the council, joining as the cryptocurrency industry plays an increasingly prominent role in shaping fast-moving legislation in Congress. The legislation aims to create a comprehensive framework for the regulation of digital assets and comes amid a shift in Washington. President Trump, a Republican, has pledged to make the U.S. the global capital of cryptocurrency, contrasting with what industry leaders viewed as a stifling regulatory approach under the previous Democratic administration. Trump and his family have also been aggressively expanding their personal business into almost every part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including raising billions of dollars to buy bitcoin, creating a new stablecoin and launching and promoting a Trump-themed meme coin. Chris LaCivita, the former co-campaign manager of Trump's successful 2024 presidential bid, joined Coinbase's advisory council in January. Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat-turned-independent from Arizona, also joined the council, which consists of a number of other high-profile figures from both major political parties. Plouffe previously served on the global advisory board for Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, before joining Harris' presidential campaign as a senior adviser in August. Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase's chief policy officer, described the role of the advisers as being a 'sound board' to discuss policy efforts and business strategy. In Congress, legislation is advancing far more quickly than usual for a new industry — a pace that some involved in shaping the bills say comes amid an all-out pressure campaign from the cryptocurrency sector. On Wednesday, a group of Democrats joined the Republican majority to advance legislation regulating stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency typically pegged to the U.S. dollar. Final passage through the Senate could come next week. Meanwhile, a more sweeping bill to implement cryptocurrency market structure has begun moving through House committees.
