Crypto Torture House Is Back: The Bitcoin Kidnapping Case Just Got a New Twist

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?

Related: How Crypto Torture Cases Work: Inside the Dark World of Bitcoin Kidnappings and Forced Wallet Access

What Happened in the Bitcoin Kidnapping Case?

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.