Crypto investor charged in New York City for kidnapping, torture of Italian tourist, police say
Two people were arrested in New York City Friday in connection with the kidnapping and torture of an Italian tourist, authorities said.
John Woeltz, 37, was barefoot and dressed in a white bathrobe as he was escorted by NYPD officers down the steps of a home at 38 Prince St. in SoHo. He was questioned at the 5th Precinct and later charged with two counts of second-degree assault, and one count each of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a firearm.
Woeltz, who was arraigned on Saturday, is considered a flight risk and was ordered to remain in custody and surrender his passport.
The NYPD on Saturday announced a second person, 24-year-old Beatrice Folchi of Manhattan, had been taken into custody in connection with the case on one count each of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree unlawful imprisonment. Police did not provide any information about her relationship to Woeltz or her possible role in the alleged crimes.
However, after Woeltz's arraignment, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office issued a statement saying it had "declined to prosecute" Folchi "pending further investigation."
Prosecutors reveal graphic details of alleged torture
According to a criminal complaint provided to CBS News New York, the victim arrived in New York City from Italy on May 6 and then went to the suspect's home in SoHo.
At Woeltz's arraignment Saturday, prosecutors said the victim was lured to the home by being told he would be able to retrieve Bitcoin, which he had allegedly been previously forced to send the suspect under threat. According to the criminal complaint, he was then tied up and tortured for several weeks.
The victim managed to escape Friday and flagged down a nearby traffic agent, who called 911, prosecutors said.
At the arraignment, prosecutors said that while the victim was being held, he told investigators he was shocked with electric wires, his leg was cut with a saw, and he was forced to smoke crack cocaine. Police later recovered a saw from the home, prosecutors said.
Evidence recovered from the scene includes chicken wire, ballistic helmets, body armor, night vision goggles, t-shirts with pictures of the victim with a crack cocaine pipe in his mouth, along with Polaroids of the victim with a firearm pointed at his head, prosecutors said in court.
Blood was also found in various areas of the apartment to indicate the victim had been tortured, prosecutors disclosed.
Prosecutors alleged in the hearing that at one point, Woeltz and an accomplice hung the victim over the ledge at the top of the stairs inside the home while threatening to kill him if he didn't hand over his Bitcoin password.
The victim told investigators the suspect and his accomplice took his electronics and passport, hid them, and threatened to kill his family, prosecutors said during the arraignment. The victim said he managed to escape after agreeing — out of fear that he was about to be killed — to give up his Bitcoin password, which was on his laptop.
When the suspect left to go get the laptop, the victim, barefoot, bloodied and traumatized, ran outside for help, prosecutors said.
Suspect is a crypto investor
Woeltz is a crypto investor originally from Kentucky who rents an apartment in the home for between $30,000 and $40,000 per month, sources told CBS News New York.
Local residents said they were perplexed by the alleged attack, with one witness saying it was a very chaotic crime scene.
"We saw police running this way and then there was just a lot of screaming," witness Molli Sramowicz said. "Police with their guns out, then the SWAT team came in, then a fire truck."
"He didn't look distressed at all, but that could've been because he was on the street," neighbor Cairan Tully said.
There were two butlers at the residence who would also be interviewed, sources told CBS News New York.
