NEW YORK (AP) — A man who says he was kidnapped by two crypto investors for his Bitcoin was seen in photos and videos “laughing and smiling” and moving about Manhattan freely during the days he claimed he was held captive and tortured, lawyers for the two suspects said in court Wednesday.
William Duplessie, 32, and John Woeltz, 37, pleaded not guilty and were ordered held in custody until their next court date on July 15. Prosecutors argue the man was clearly in distress because he ran barefoot and bloodied to the nearest police officer after escaping 17 days in captivity.
However, Duplessie’s lawyer said Wednesday that videos show the accuser participating in group sex and smoking crack cocaine while “laughing and smiling the whole time.” In other photos, Sam Talkin said, the accuser is seen visiting an eyeglass store with one of the defendants and could have fled or sought help at any time.
“The story that he is selling doesn’t make sense,” Talkin said in Manhattan criminal court as the defendants were formally arraigned.
Woeltz’s lawyer Wayne Gosnell added that witnesses told him the accuser came and went as he pleased from the upscale town house where he says he was held — going to church, clubs and dinners.
The accuser, a 28-year-old Italian national, has not been named by officials. Prosecutors say the defendants have known him personally for years.
In court Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Sarah Khan argued that someone who supports the defendants was selectively leaking videos to present a counternarrative of the events.
In reality, she said, the accuser was constantly watched, was not permitted to leave the house without being guarded and was subjected to violence, including being pistol whipped and cut with a small chain saw.
The defendants also took photos of the man various poses and acts to create the impression that he was not being held against his will, Khan said.
Police searching the town house found evidence corroborating his story, including a loaded pistol, chain saw and other instruments purportedly used to torture him.
They also located photographs, including one where the defendants point a gun to the accuser’s head, another where the accuser is tied to wheelchair, and still another showing the accuser being set on fire.
When prodded by the judge, Khan explained that the man didn’t actually sustain any burn injuries because the defendants would quickly douse the flames, sometimes by urinating on him.
What’s more, she said, prosecutors believe this is not the first time the defendants have held a person against their will. They are aware of two other potential victims in two other locations, according to Khan.
Lawyers for the two men, meanwhile, sought their release on $1 million bail and home confinement with their parents. They rejected suggestions from prosecutors that their clients could flee the country.
“He’s so far from a flight risk here. He’s ready to fight this case. He’s not going anywhere,” Talkin said of Duplessie.
The two appeared handcuffed in prison uniforms and didn’t speak in court other than to formally enter their pleas.
They are charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon and face up to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors say on May 6, the two men lured the victim to a town house in Manhattan’s posh SoHo neighborhood by threatening to kill his family.
The man said 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.
The man said he eventually agreed to hand over his computer password, then managed to flee as his captors went to retrieve the device.
Khan said Wednesday that last month’s kidnapping was at least the third instance in which the two had convinced the man to meet them in person, only to threaten him and take his electronic devices in order to obtain his cryptocurrency.
To date, she said, he hasn’t received his money or electronic devices back.
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Follow Philip Marcelo on X: @philmarcelo.
