Lifestyle
NYC Crypto Torture Suspects' Kentucky Home Raided by Feds
NYC Crypto Torture Suspects
Feds Raid Their Kentucky Estate
Published
Feds are poking around a home owned by the two suspects charged with kidnapping and torturing an Italian man for weeks inside a swanky multimillion-dollar New York City townhouse in an alleged scheme to obtain a Bitcoin password.
Cryptocurrency investor John Woeltz and his alleged accomplice, Swiss businessman William Duplessie, own an estate in Kentucky … and the property is currently crawling with law enforcement.
Federal agents from the ATF and officers from the Kentucky State Police and the New York Police Department are currently executing two warrants at the property … sources with knowledge have confirmed to TMZ.
The ATF tells us the operation is part of an “ongoing violent crime investigation in conjunction with the New York Police Department. Kentucky State Police provided tactical assistance that involved the service of two court-authorized warrants. As this is an active and ongoing investigation, we are not able to comment further.”
As we reported … Woeltz, also known as the “Crypto King of Kentucky,” and Duplessie were arrested last month in NYC and charged in a sealed indictment with kidnapping and torture.
Prosecutors say Woeltz and Duplessie lured Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan from Italy to New York, where they kidnapped him and tortured him inside their Manhattan townhouse over the course of 17 days in an attempt to get him to give up the password to his Bitcoin wallet.
TMZ.com
Carturan told authorities, Woeltz and Duplessie cut his leg with a saw, peed on him and forced him to smoke crack cocaine from a pipe they held to his mouth. He says he managed to escape, running barefoot out of the townhouse and flagging down a traffic cop.
We obtained exclusive video of Carturan running down the street after the traffic cop, and then heading back towards the townhouse with the same traffic agent.
TMZ.com
TMZ also published other footage calling into question whether Carturan was held against his will at certain points, as is alleged.
Photos show Carturan shirtless and smiling inside the townhouse, with a neck collar attached to a leash that a woman is pulling … simulating an S&M scene.
Other videos capture Carturan apparently cooking crack cocaine in an air fryer while tied to a wheelchair with his hands free and a big grin on his face … and partying and having sex.
An underwater view shows US’ Lilly King competing in a heat of the women’s 200m breaststroke swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 31, 2024. (Photo by François-Xavier MARIT / AFP) (Photo by FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT/AFP via Getty Images)
François-Xavier Marit/Getty Images
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François-Xavier Marit/Getty Images
This week’s show was recorded in Bloomington, Indiana with host Peter Sagal, judge and scorekeeper Bill Kurtis, Not My Job guest Lilly King and panelists Alonzo Bodden, Josh Gondelman, and Faith Salie. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.
Who’s Bill This Time
State of the Union is Hot; The Tribal Council Convenes Again; A Glow Up In the Doll Aisle
Panel Questions
The Toot Tracker
Bluff The Listener
Our panelists tell three stories about a travel hack in the news, only one of which is true.
Not My Job: Olympic Swimmer Lilly King answers our questions about Lil’ Kings
Olympic Swimmer Lilly King plays our game called, “Lilly King meet these Lil’ Kings” Three questions about short kings.
Panel Questions
Cleaning Out The Cabinet; Bedtime Stacking
Limericks
Bill Kurtis reads three news-related limericks: Getting Cozy With Cross Country Skiing; Pickleball’s New Competition; Bees Get Freaky
Lightning Fill In The Blank
All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else
Predictions
Our panelists predict, after American Girls, what’ll be the next toy to get an update.
Law Roach
Zendaya and Tom’s Wedding Already Happened …
Y’all Missed It!!!
Published
Zendaya and Tom Holland are married … so claims her longtime stylist, Law Roach.
Here’s the deal … the celebrity stylist — who started styling Zendaya way back in 2011 — spoke to Access Hollywood on the Actors Awards red carpet where he sang out “The wedding has already happened, you missed it.”
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
The AH reporter asks in shock if that’s true … and, Law responds by saying it’s “very true” before walking off.
This isn’t the first time Tom and Zendaya’s relationship status has made headlines on a red carpet … remember at the Golden Globes in 2025, Zendaya had a ring on that finger — and, the next day, we found out the two were engaged.
TMZ.com
Zendaya and Tom met on the set of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” in 2016, started dating a couple years later and went public with their relationship in 2021.
We’ve reached out to Tom and Zendaya’s teams … so far, no word back.
Online prediction market platforms allow people to place bets on wide-ranging subjects such as sports, finance, politics and currents events.
Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/Getty Images
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Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/Getty Images
The rise of prediction markets means you can now bet on just about anything, right from your phone. Apps like Kalshi and Polymarket have grown exponentially in President Trump’s second term, as his administration has rolled back regulations designed to keep the industry in check. Billions of dollars have flooded in, and users are placing bets on everything from whether it will rain in Seattle today to whether the US will take over control of Greenland. Who’s winning big on these apps? And who is losing? NPR correspondent Bobby Allyn joins The Sunday Story to explain how these markets came to be and where they are going.
This episode was produced by Andrew Mambo. It was edited by Liana Simstrom and Brett Neely. Fact-checking by Barclay Walsh and Susie Cummings. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez.
We’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at TheSundayStory@npr.org.
Listen to Up First on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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