He presented himself spontaneously to the 13th Police District of Manhattan, with his hands raised and a lawyer already alongside. William Duplessie, 33 years old, originally from Florida, was wanted as a second man involved in the kidnapping For the purpose of extortion in cryptocurrency by Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturran, an Italian kidnapped and tortured for 17 days in New York.
Duplessie was immediately taken in custody and Formally accused of kidnapping, aggravated aggression, illegal possession and possession of weapons. Is the alleged accomplice of John Woeltz37 years old, investor in the Crypto sector, already arrested with the same accusations. The two would have held Carturran hostage, torturing him in an attempt to be delivered the password of his Bitcoin portfolio, with an estimated value of millions of dollars.
On Tuesday evening, a few hours after setting up, Duplexies appeared before the judge for the validation hearing. His lawyer tried to play the “good faith” card, underlining how his client has gone spontaneously As soon as I learned of Woeltz’s arrest. The defense asked a million dollars and house arrest in Florida, at the father’s home. But the judge rejected both requests. Duplexies will remain in prison.
In the courtroom there was also the silent father who followed the short hearing without making statements. The private lawyer preferred not to comment. Duplexies now risks a sentence ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment for aggression, and for 25 years to life for the kidnapping. He is expected again in court on Friday.
The details contained in the accusation documents speak clearly and leave no room for interpretations. The victim would have been held prisoner in a luxury apartment on Prince Street, in Sohorented by Woeltz for a figure between $ 30 and 40,000 a month.
Inside, the horror. The man would have been Struck with electric shocks while he had his feet immersed in the water, wounded in one leg with a hacksaw, forced to smoke crack. The kidnappers would also have seized his documents, passports and personal effects, threatening him with death together with his family members if he had not sold the credentials of his Bitcoin wallet.
During the investigation, The police seized military material in the refuge: bulletproof vests, night views, ammunition And even T -shirts with the image of a gun aimed at the victim’s head. Carduran’s nightmare ended only last Friday, when the victim managed to escape and stopped a policeman To ask for help. Woeltz was taken immediately, Duplexies delivered himself four days later.
The case has rekindled the alarm on crimes related to cryptocurrencies. More and more often, law enforcement agencies are faced with episodes of extreme violence whose purpose is no longer a safe or a caveau, but a series of digital codes. It is becoming a new crime mode: instead of robbing banks, they kidnap people and aim for theirs Wallet Crypto.
The exact responsibilities of each protagonist are still the subject of investigation. At the start A 24 -year -old woman had also been stopped, Beatrice Folchibut the prosecutor has chosen not to proceed for the moment, waiting for further elements.
Meanwhile, Woeltz, originally from Kentucky, remains in custody, without the possibility of bail. He had to deliver the passport. He too risks life imprisonment.
Source: Vanity Fair
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