A second suspect in the kidnapping and torture of an Italian man inside a luxurious SoHo apartment in a failed bid to get him to give up his cryptocurrency password was criminally charged Tuesday after turning himself in to authorities, police said.
William Duplessie, 33, surrendered at 7:45 a.m. to cops at the 13th Precinct stationhouse and was charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and possession of a firearm.
Sporting a white long-sleeved Ralph Lauren polo shirt and a blank expression on his face, the cryptocurrency investor said nothing as he was taken out of the stationhouse and marched to an awaiting squad car.
His arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was pending Tuesday.
Police believe Duplessie helped cryptocurrency trader John Woeltz, 37, allegedly imprison and torture the 28-year-old victim for 17 days. Duplessie has a primary residence in Miami, according to cops.
The victim came to the U.S. to visit Woeltz’s chic townhouse on Prince and Mulberry Sts.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed the arrest during an appearance on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.”
“We do have someone we were looking for in custody as of this morning,” Tisch said.
Curtis Means/POOL
John Woeltz is arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 24, 2025. (Curtis Means/POOL)
Tisch refuted reports that Duplessie surrendered after partying in the Hamptons over Memorial Day Weekend.
“We have no indication that the man who turned himself in was in the Hamptons,” she said.
Woeltz’s mother claimed to the Daily News that Duplessie was the ringleader of the kidnapping plot and had “infiltrated” her son’s life.
Once the two men met, “we could never speak to John anymore without (him) being there,” Joan Woeltz said after her son’s arrest. “And John started being kind of isolated from us.”
“We’ve been concerned about this person entering his life and kind of controlling it,” she added. “Me and my family have been concerned for some time for John’s well being and what influence he was under with these people.”
Woeltz was arrested Friday shortly after the victim managed to escape and flag down a traffic enforcement agent, who contacted police. Dressed in a plush robe, Woeltz was hauled down to the 13th Precinct stationhouse barefoot, where he was charged with assault and kidnapping. He was ordered held without bail following his arraignment Saturday.
As soon as their victim arrived at the townhouse, Woeltz and Duplessie allegedly took his passport and electronics and told him he couldn’t leave, police said.
The two bound their victim’s wrists and over the next three weeks subjected him to “beatings including but not limited to the use of electric wires to shock him, using a firearm to hit him on the head, and pointing the firearm at his head on several occasions,” prosecutors said at Woeltz’s arraignment Saturday. “[They] used a saw to cut his leg, urinated on the victim, forced him to smoke crack cocaine by holding him down and forcing it into his mouth.”
The duo also “tied an airtag around his neck with a chain or wire,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson said. “They [said they] would kill his family and they would find the victim if he left.”
After apprehending Woeltz, cops found disturbing Polaroid photos of him and his accomplice torturing their victim and holding a gun to his head.
Some time during the victim’s capture, Woeltz and his accomplice managed to get printed T-shirts of the victim smoking crack. The shirts were found in the home, along with body armor, night vision goggles, ammunition and ballistic helmets, officials said.
On Friday morning, Woeltz “carried the victim to the top flight of stairs in the townhouse and hung the victim over the ledge as the defendant threatened to kill the victim if the victim would not provide the defendant with the victim’s bitcoin password,” Mattson said.
After being pistol-whipped once again, the victim finally consented but said he needed a laptop to retrieve the password, the prosecutor said.
“When the defendant left the victim to retrieve the victim’s laptop, the victim was able to escape down the stairs,” Mattson said. “The victim was bloodied and had no shoes on.”
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was treated and released. There is no indication that Duplessie was in the townhouse Friday.
Woeltz is facing 15 years to life if convicted. He has been featured as a speaker at several cryptocurrency conferences and has “nearly a decade of experience with technology startups in Silicon Valley,” according to online profiles.
Joan Woeltz said her son was an early believer of cryptocurrency and “had been mining Bitcoin from the age of 12.”
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