A 37-year-old cryptocurrency investor appeared in court docket on Saturday after being arrested for allegedly kidnapping and torturing an Italian vacationer in a Manhattan dwelling, in keeping with media studies.
John Woeltz was arraigned in New York Prison Courtroom at 9:00 EST (14:00 BST) on costs of kidnapping with intent to gather ransom, assault, illegal imprisonment and different counts, court docket information present.
A second individual, 24-year-old Beatrice Folchi, was arrested on Saturday in connection to the case, in keeping with the BBC’s US companion CBS Information.
The pair had been taken into custody after the sufferer managed to flee a house in SoHo, the place he was allegedly tortured and sure for weeks, police stated.
The BBC has contacted the New York Police Division, the Manhattan District Legal professional’s Workplace and Mr Woeltz’s legal professional for remark.
The 28-year-old sufferer, who has not been named, was taken to the hospital and is in secure situation, police have stated. Officers discovered a number of Polaroid images of the sufferer being tied up and tortured, in addition to firearms, within the luxurious townhome, in keeping with studies.
The sufferer instructed police he got here to New York from Italy on 6 Could, and that upon arriving on the suspect’s home, Mr Woeltz took his passport and allegedly held him captive till he escaped on Friday morning.
In line with a prison grievance obtained by ABC Information, the sufferer instructed police that Mr Woeltz and one other individual beat him and hanged him off a ledge when he refused to offer his bitcoin password.
Mr Woeltz is a crypto investor from Kentucky and has been renting the SoHo dwelling for between $30,000 (£22,000) and $40,000 per thirty days, in keeping with CBS Information.
