SOHO, Manhattan (PIX11) — The person accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist is being held without bail and has been pressured to give up his passport, court docket paperwork present.
In keeping with attorneys, John Woeltz, 37, pressured the person to ship him Bitcoin by threatening to kill the sufferer’s household, then lured the person to New York to retrieve the cryptocurrency.
Upon arriving, the Italian man was robbed of his electronics and passport then subjected to torture for 3 weeks, court docket paperwork learn.
Investigators say the sufferer was certain to a chair in a Prince Avenue residence the place he was shocked with electrical wires, pistol whipped, minimize with a noticed, pressured to smoke cocaine and had a gun pointed to his head on a number of events amongst different forces of bodily abuse.
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One morning the Italian man was hung over a ledge and threatened with demise if he didn’t present his Bitcoin password, court docket paperwork additionally present.
In keeping with authorities, the sufferer was lastly in a position to escape when Woeltz left the room to get the person’s laptop computer. That’s when the Italian man ran outdoors, lined in blood, and flagged down a visitors agent who known as 911, investigators say.
Throughout a search of the residence, authorities discovered a noticed, medicine, wire, footage of the sufferer with the cocaine pipe in his mouth and a firearm pointed to his head together with varied different gadgets that appeared for use within the torturing. Legislation enforcement additionally noticed blood in varied areas within the residence the place the sufferer mentioned he was being tortured.
Woeltz, a Kentucky native, was discovered to have the means to flee together with a non-public jet and helicopter, prompting court docket officers to have his passport revoked.
He’s charged with assault, kidnapping, and illegal imprisonment and will face 15 to 25 years in jail if convicted.
Dominique Jack is a digital content material producer from Brooklyn with greater than 5 years of expertise protecting information. She joined PIX11 in 2024. Extra of her work may be discovered here.
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