A cryptocurrency investor has been taken into custody for allegedly kidnapping his ex-business associate and subjecting him to chainsaw torture in a luxury New York City apartment.
John Woeltz, aged 37, faces charges of assault and unlawful imprisonment after detaining the victim for several days in an attempt to obtain access to the victim’s cryptocurrency account.
Cops arrested Woeltz and one other woman after the victim was able to escape the posh $40,000-a-month apartment on Prince Street in New York’s SoHo.
The victim told investigators he was Woeltz’s former partner and had done business with him in the past.
But a dispute between the two had soured their relationship, and the victim went back to Italy.
He added that he arrived in the US from Italy on May 6 after Woeltz allegedly convinced the victim to return.
And when he visited Woeltz’s flat, Woeltz allegedly took the victim’s passport and began torturing him in sadistic ways.
Investigators said that Woeltz tied up the victim with electrical cords and tortured him with electrocutions and other types of shock treatment.
He allegedly tased him with his feet in water, pistol-whipped him, and threatened to cut his limbs off with an electric chainsaw.
Cops said he even took Polaroids of themselves torturing the victim.
One of the pictures reported shows the victim bound to a chair with a gun to his head.
It is understood that the Polaroids were likely to extort money from the victim’s family back in Italy.
Woeltz also allegedly forced the victim to take cocaine and subjected him to various forms of psychological torture.
He even tied an Apple AirTag around the victim’s neck to keep a check on his movements.
Police said the victim was able to escape from the apartment yesterday after Woeltz allegedly suggested it would be his death day.
Cops have charged Woeltz with 2 counts of assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm.
The victim is understood to have sustained numerous cuts on his body from the torture, including one believed to have been from the chainsaw.
He is currently being treated at Bellevue Hospital, police said.
Upon searching the flat, cops found a gun and requested a search warrant for a more detailed search.
The investigation is ongoing.
