A terrifying new video has surfaced showing the moment Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan — the alleged victim in a chilling NYC crypto kidnapping case — escaped from what prosecutors are calling a “house of horrors.”
Captured by surveillance cameras, the footage shows Carturan sprinting barefoot out of a Manhattan townhouse basement, desperately fleeing down the sidewalk. According to authorities, he’d been held captive and tortured for weeks in a violent attempt to extract access to his Bitcoin wallet, reportedly worth millions.
The Shocking Escape
The exclusive video, released by CNN, shows Carturan frantically running from the building, his body language clearly signaling panic and urgency. Just days earlier, NBC New York aired footage showing him flagging down a traffic officer for help after his daring escape.
Business Deal Turned Nightmare
Police say John Woeltz and William Duplessie, former business partners of Carturan in a crypto venture, lured him to the townhouse on May 6. Their goal: to force him to surrender his digital wallet credentials.
When Carturan refused, the pair allegedly tortured him for weeks, using electric shocks, threatening him with a firearm, and dangling him over a staircase. The ordeal reportedly lasted for over two weeks before Carturan managed to escape last Friday.
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Suspects in Custody
Following the escape, police arrested Woeltz — still in his bathrobe — and Duplessie. Both have been charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a weapon, and are being held without bail.
Authorities are continuing to investigate how the kidnapping went undetected for so long — and whether others may have been involved.
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