A man was arrested on Friday after being accused of kidnapping an Italian tourist and torturing him for weeks inside a Manhattan house in an attempt to steal the bitcoin of the alleged victim, according to officials, sources of application of the law with direct knowledge of the investigation and a criminal complaint.
The victim was able to escape from the house and run to receive help on Friday morning, said the sources of application of the law. John Woeltz, 37, was arrested that same day and was prosecuted on Saturday by a second degree aggression position, kidnapping, illegal imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm, as shown by the judicial records.
Sources of application of the law near the investigation said that Woeltz and the tourist, along with a third person, had been in business together for years. Police are still looking for the third commercial partner, which has not been publicly identified.
The sources said that Woeltz and the other person have supposedly violent with the victim in the past, but never at this point. They described the relationship between the three as very complex, and said that it seems that the victim was often chosen by the two men.
A Woeltz lawyer declined to comment on Saturday. A judge granted a request to keep Woeltz in custody during the reading of positions on Saturday. His next appointment in the Court is Wednesday.
The Italian man was supposedly retained and tortured for 17 days
The tourist, a 28 -year -old man who visits from Italy, met his alleged kidnapper on May 6, said sources of application of the law. It was then that, they said, Woeltz took the youngest man to a house he was renting in Nolita, a neighborhood in Manhattan.
According to a criminal complaint, Woeltz and an “unidentified man” kidnapped the victim, took their electronics and passport, and tortured him until he managed to escape weeks later.
The couple tried to make the tourist give the password to their Bitcoin account to be able to steal the electronic currency, and when they refused, they hit him, they surprised him with electrical cables and hit him in the head with a weapon during the weeks, according to the complaint.
Woeltz and the other man supposedly pointed with a gun at the victim’s head several times, hung him on the shelf of the highest category of stairs at home and threatened to kill him if he did not reveal his password, according to the complaint, which also claimed that the couple threatened to kill their family.
The tourist also told officials that men tied their wrists and tied it to prevent it from moving, according to the complaint.
Sources of application of the law added that the men urinated in the victim and put an apple airsg around his neck to make sure he did not escape.
After his escape, the 28 -year -old ran into a traffic agent who called the police for the house in Prince Street. He told the agent that he had been taken and retained against his will and was repeatedly attacked during his captivity, police said.
The alleged victim was taken to a stable hospital, police said. When he approached the officers on Friday, he was covered with cuts and bruises with marks on the wrists where he was tied, sources of application of the law said.
Evidence found in Manhattan’s house of the suspect
Sources of application of the law said that Woeltz is a prominent merchant of Kentucky cryptocurrencies, which is estimated to be worth around $ 100 million. The victim has an estimated value of $ 30 million, they said.
According to the reports, Woeltz had been renting Prince Street residence to a monthly rate of between $ 30,000 and $ 40,000, the sources said. An online list for the house says it was last rented in March for $ 75,000.
Sources of application of the law said there were alcohol cases throughout the six -story residence, as well as Stripper posts in the basement.
Those sources said the officers presented multiple images of polaroid of the victim who was tied and tortured in the house. According to reports, the researchers also recovered several torture items.
Within the residence, the researchers found a weapon on Saturday, which is believed to be the same used to torture the victim, sources of application of the law said.
Neighbor surprised by arrest details
Jennifer Crawford lives on the other side of the street from where the events took place on Friday morning and saw Woeltz be arrested.
“I watched, like Swat’s boys left the truck with their shields and everything and entered the building, and just started leaving the area and everyone shouted. It seemed that they were a little panic,” he told NBC News.
She said she was surprised when she began to learn more about the accusations.
“I simply stood up and frozen,” he said. “A lot goes here in New York. You imagine, I have seen a lot, but this is the most unusual I have seen in 30 years in this neighborhood. I mean, that is beyond what you can describe or imagine.”
Crawford said he could not imagine someone’s reason with such wealth committing this type of crime.
“All that money in the world did nothing, it won’t help it,” he said. “It simply makes no sense, you know?”
On Saturday, hundreds of people passed through the house attached in Manhattan, some whispering about the details of the case. Some even took selfies in front of the house by the fence of iron wrapped in police tape.
Police officers and investigators entered and left the house on Saturday, several permanent guards on the front and recommended to those who passed Google the address of the house to obtain more information.
