Crypto Ransom Plot in SoHo Leads to Arrests of Two Suspects

An Italian tourist's desperate escape from a luxury townhouse in SoHo, New York, has revealed a shocking crypto-ransom plot that involved two weeks of torture to extract Bitcoin keys. The victim, a 28-year-old tourist, was held captive in an eight-bedroom home on Prince Street, which was rented for up to $40,000 a month. During his 17-day ordeal, the victim was subjected to severe violence, including being hung over a roof ledge, shocked with electrical wires, and threatened with a chainsaw. Police recovered Polaroid photos of the assaults, along with firearms and narcotics from the scene.

The timeline of the terror began on May 6, 2025, when the victim arrived from Italy and had his passport seized. The captivity lasted until May 23, 2025, during which the victim faced escalating violence and threats to his family. The victim managed to escape while the suspects were searching for his laptop. The first suspect, John Woeltz, 37, was arrested and arraigned on May 24, 2025. The second suspect, William Duplessie, 32, surrendered to an NYPD precinct on May 27, 2025, and was subsequently charged.

Woeltz, a self-styled “crypto king” from Kentucky, and Duplessie, his long-time business partner, are believed to have targeted high-net-worth investors through a series of blockchain start-ups. Prosecutors argue that both men pose a significant flight risk due to their offshore assets and Swiss business ties, leading to the denial of bail for both suspects.

Security analysts warn that this case highlights a shift from digital theft to what is known as “wrench attacks”—brute-force, real-world coercion for private keys. The FBI estimates that there were $9.3 billion in crypto-linked losses in the US last year, with an increasing number of these losses tied to kidnappings and home invasions. Just days before the SoHo incident, French police arrested over 20 suspects in separate plots targeting crypto entrepreneurs in Nantes and Paris, using a similar playbook of kidnapping, terrorizing, and demanding wallet credentials.

The Manhattan District Attorney is expected to present the case to a grand jury. Civil attorneys anticipate a wave of litigation against short-term rental platforms and a renewed push for insurance products that combine cyber policies with personal-security coverage. For crypto investors, the message is clear: while hardware wallets and multi-signature protocols offer protection against online hackers, real-world privacy—from travel plans to rental addresses—may now be the key to avoiding physical danger from such “wrench attacks.”