2nd suspect indicted by grand jury in SoHo crypto torture case
SOHO, Manhattan (WABC) -- One of the suspects in the SoHo crypto torture case has been indicted by a grand jury on Friday as we learn more details about two NYPD detectives now under investigation in connection to the case.
William Duplessie appeared in court briefly Friday after he was arraigned earlier this week after turning himself in on charges of kidnapping and false imprisonment.
The 32-year-old is the second crypto investor arrested in the case, along with 37-year-old John Woeltz.
Both surrendered to police in the alleged torture of an Italian businessman inside Woeltz's Manhattan apartment. They're accused of beating the victim, plying him with drugs and more demanding access to his crypto passwords.
Also under investigation are two NYPD detectives who reportedly provided private security for one of the suspects.
Sources say one of the off-duty detectives, who works as part of the mayor's advanced security team, actually drove the victim from the airport to his townhouse on Prince Street earlier this month.
"Their story, according to someone I spoke to last night who had a conversation with them, was -- we worked for a private security company. they said, this guy is a big CEO, he needs a driver and security, be available with a car," former NYC Police Commissioner John Miller said.
An Internal Affairs investigation is underway into how long the two were employed by the suspect and whether the employment had been approved internally.
NYPD members are not permitted to work for private security without going through a strict series of approvals.
Officials said the two detectives had no knowledge of illegal or inappropriate behavior at the townhome and that the mayor also had no knowledge or connection to the two crypto suspects.
"Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty. We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty," a statement from the mayor's office said.
Robert Boyce, the former NYPD Chief of Detectives, expects that there will be a reasonable explanation.
"This thing is going to be, should be, a minor blip right now," Boyce said. "If they came forward and they were acting in good faith and this was what a reasonable person would do."
The detectives' union issued a statement, which said in part:
"There is absolutely no indication that any officer witnessed any of the alleged illegal activity at that location or by any of the people involved."
Police are continuing to investigate the kidnapping. Authorities have said Woeltz and Duplessie knew the victim personally.
On May 6, they are accused of luring the man, whose name has not been released by officials, to a posh townhouse in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood, one of the city's most expensive, by threatening to kill his family.
The man said he was then held captive for 17 days, as the two investors allegedly tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high.
He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device. The victim made it onto the street, bloodied and shoeless, according to police.
A search of the townhouse turned up cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, body armor, night vision goggles, ammunition and Polaroid photos of the victim with a gun pointed to his head, according to prosecutors.
Police are also looking into the role of two women who were in and out of the house and allegedly may have tried to persuade the victim into giving up his crypto password.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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