One of crypto’s strangest crime stories is back in the headlines. More than a year after an Italian crypto investor allegedly escaped from a Manhattan townhouse where he had been held and tortured for his wallet credentials, the Bitcoin kidnapping case has unexpectedly collided with reality television.
So what exactly happened inside the “crypto torture house,” and why is the story suddenly back?
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The Bitcoin kidnapping case began publicly on May 23, 2025, when 28-year-old Italian crypto investor Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan escaped from a luxury townhouse at 38 Prince Street in Manhattan.
Prosecutors say Carturan had been held there for approximately 17 days by crypto investors John Woeltz and William Duplessie.
The alleged objective was brutally simple: obtain access to Carturan’s Bitcoin.
According to prosecutors, Carturan was beaten, shocked with electrical wires, threatened with firearms and cut with a chainsaw. He was allegedly forced to take drugs, urinated on and at one point held over a staircase while his captors demanded his crypto credentials.
Carturan eventually told Woeltz that he needed his laptop to provide the password. When Woeltz went to retrieve it, Carturan escaped barefoot and approached a traffic officer.
Police searched the townhouse and discovered weapons, ammunition, body armor, night-vision equipment, drugs and blood. Investigators also recovered photographs showing Carturan with a gun pointed at his head and a chainsaw near his leg.
Woeltz and Duplessie were subsequently indicted on charges including kidnapping, assault and coercion. Both pleaded not guilty.
Their attorneys have presented a radically different account of events. The defense has argued that Carturan participated voluntarily in a prolonged party environment and has pointed to photos and videos showing him outside the house, laughing and socializing.
That dispute — kidnapping and torture versus voluntary hazing and partying — remains at the heart of the Bitcoin kidnapping case.
Because somehow this story also became reality television.
Charlie Zakkour, a crypto trader and cast member of Bravo’s Next Gen NYC, was seen outside 38 Prince Street during Woeltz’s arrest in May 2025.
Zakkour has not been charged with a crime in connection with the case, and authorities have not publicly accused him of participating in Carturan’s alleged kidnapping or torture.
But his relationship with the townhouse was apparently more substantial than simply walking past it at an unfortunate moment.
A lengthy New York Magazine investigation reported that Zakkour had been brought into Woeltz and Duplessie’s social circle and helped find women to attend parties at the townhouse. The house had effectively become an extravagant private nightclub, complete with bartenders, security personnel, a coat check and frequent late-night parties.
That connection became part of Next Gen NYC — and exploded again during the Season 2 reunion aired in September 2026.
Cast member Brooks Marks confronted Zakkour directly about being “caught outside the crypto torture house.” The remark turned an already notorious crypto crime story into reality-TV drama and pushed the Bitcoin kidnapping case back into public view.
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The distinction matters.
Zakkour is connected socially to people and events surrounding the townhouse. He is not a defendant in the Bitcoin kidnapping case.
According to New York Magazine, Zakkour and Morgan O’Connor helped bring guests, including young women from New York’s nightlife scene, to parties hosted by Woeltz and Duplessie.
The magazine also reported that Zakkour was called by a frightened woman during Woeltz’s birthday celebrations shortly before Carturan escaped. She reportedly told him that Woeltz was behaving erratically.
Zakkour arrived outside the townhouse as police were taking Woeltz away in handcuffs.
That creates a much more complicated picture than an unrelated reality star accidentally appearing in the background of an arrest video. Zakkour apparently knew the people living there and had spent time around their social circle.
But there is still a large gap between knowing the defendants and participating in their alleged crimes. No public criminal charge currently bridges that gap.
The Bitcoin Kidnapping Case Has Another Legal Twist
While Bravo viewers are arguing about Zakkour, lawyers are fighting over something considerably more important: evidence.
In January 2026, a Manhattan judge rejected an attempt by Woeltz and Duplessie to dismiss the indictment, allowing the prosecution to continue.
Then the case developed into a dispute over protective orders covering discovery material.
In February, a New York appellate judge vacated one such protective order and sent the matter back to the lower court for a hearing. But the battle did not end there.
On August 6, 2026, New York’s Appellate Division rejected another defense application seeking to overturn or modify a protective order issued in July. The underlying papers remain sealed.
That means some of the evidence and arguments surrounding the Bitcoin kidnapping case are still shielded from public view.
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Why the Defense Strategy Matters
The case is unusual because prosecutors apparently have disturbing physical and photographic evidence, yet the defense also claims to possess extensive footage showing Carturan apparently participating in the townhouse lifestyle.
That creates an evidentiary problem that will probably become central if the Bitcoin kidnapping case reaches trial.
A person under coercion does not necessarily behave like a stereotypical hostage every minute of every day. Prosecutors argue that Carturan attempted to fit in because he feared what would happen if he resisted.
Defense attorneys argue that his apparently voluntary movements and participation undermine the kidnapping allegation.
The jury may therefore have to reconstruct not merely what happened inside 38 Prince Street, but why Carturan behaved the way he did while it happened.
Why Crypto Kidnappings Keep Happening
Behind the spectacle is a serious security problem.
Traditional financial wealth normally sits behind institutions. A criminal cannot force a millionaire to reveal one password and instantly transfer ownership of an entire brokerage account.
Self-custodied crypto can work differently.
If someone controls the private keys or seed phrase to a Bitcoin wallet, they control the Bitcoin. Transactions cannot simply be reversed by calling a bank fraud department.
That creates what crypto security researchers commonly call a “$5 wrench attack”: instead of defeating cryptography, an attacker targets the person who knows the password.
Physical attacks against crypto owners have become increasingly common internationally. Victims and their relatives have been assaulted, kidnapped or threatened in attempts to force crypto transfers.
The alleged Manhattan scheme represents an extreme version of the same vulnerability. The cryptography protecting Bitcoin may be extraordinarily difficult to break. The person holding the keys is not.
What Happens Next?
The return of the “crypto torture house” story to television does not change the criminal charges. It does, however, expose just how many people appear to have moved through the townhouse while the alleged abuse was taking place.
That could become increasingly important as the case proceeds.
For now, Woeltz and Duplessie deny kidnapping Carturan, prosecutors maintain that he endured weeks of coercion and torture, and Charlie Zakkour has not been charged in connection with the alleged crimes.
The Bitcoin kidnapping case therefore remains two stories running in parallel.
One is increasingly absurd: crypto millionaires, Manhattan nightlife, reality-TV personalities and a luxury townhouse that became a Bravo reunion punchline.
The other is much darker: an unresolved criminal case about what can happen when digital wealth worth millions of dollars is protected by credentials stored inside a human being’s head.
FAQ
What is the Manhattan Bitcoin kidnapping case?
Prosecutors allege that crypto investors John Woeltz and William Duplessie held Italian crypto investor Michael Carturan inside a Manhattan townhouse for approximately 17 days in 2025 and tortured him in an attempt to obtain access to his cryptocurrency.
Were John Woeltz and William Duplessie convicted?
No. Both men pleaded not guilty, and the criminal case remains unresolved.
Was Charlie Zakkour charged in the crypto torture house case?
No. Zakkour has not been charged in connection with Carturan’s alleged kidnapping or torture. Reporting has linked him socially to Woeltz, Duplessie and parties held at the Prince Street townhouse.
Why did the case return to the news in September 2026?
Zakkour’s connection to the townhouse became a major topic during the Next Gen NYC Season 2 reunion, where cast member Brooks Marks confronted him about being seen outside the property during Woeltz’s arrest.
Why are Bitcoin owners targets for physical attacks?
Attackers may target people rather than attempting to break wallet cryptography. If criminals can force someone to reveal private keys, seed phrases or account credentials, they may be able to transfer crypto without needing to compromise the underlying blockchain.
