Crypto Investor Charged with Kidnapping and Torturing Tourist in NYC

Bizarre Kidnapping in Manhattan

• 🚨 A crypto investor is accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist for weeks in his New York City apartment.
• 🤕 The 28-year-old victim escaped on Friday morning, bloody and bruised, seeking help from a traffic officer.
• 🗓️ The victim reportedly arrived in New York on May 6th and went to a home rented by crypto entrepreneur John Waltz.

Gruesome Torture and Extortion Plot

• ⛓️ Once inside, the victim was allegedly tied up with electrical cords and subjected to severe torture.
• 💊 Torture methods included being forced to take drugs, receiving shock treatments, and pistol-whipping.
• 🔪 Threats were made to cut off his limbs with an electric chainsaw.
• 💰 The apparent motive was to extort millions in crypto from the victim.
• 📸 Police reportedly found polaroids of the torture, including one of the victim bound with a gun to his head.

Arrests and Ongoing Investigation

• 👨‍⚖️ The 37-year-old suspect, John Waltz, was arrested in his bathrobe.
• ⚖️ Waltz faces charges including assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a firearm.
• 👩‍⚖️ A second suspect, a woman, has also been arrested and charged.
• 🏃‍♂️ Police are still searching for a third suspect, a man, who remains at large.