2 crypto investors in charge of the kidnapping man so that his bitcoin says that the video shows the victim “ laughing and smiling ” when he moves freely on Manhattan

A man who says he was kidnapped by two cryptographic investors for his bitcoin was seen in photos and videos “laugh and smiling” and move freely to Manhattan during the days he said that he had been tortured in captivity, lawyers said the two suspects in court on Wednesday.

William Duplessie, 32, and John Woeltz, 37, pleaded not guilty and were ordered in detention until their next hearing date on July 15. Prosecutors argue that the man was clearly in distress because he ran barefoot and bloody to the nearest policeman after escaping 17 days in captivity.

However, Duplessie’s lawyer said on Wednesday that videos showed the accuser participating in the group’s gender and smoking crack by “laughing and smiling all the time”. In other photos, said Sam Talkin, the accuser is seen visiting a glasses store with one of the accused and could have escaped or ask for help at any time.

“The story he sells does not make sense,” said Talkin before the Manhattan Criminal Tribunal, because the defendants were officially translated.

Woeltz’s lawyer Wayne Gosnell added that witnesses told him that the accuser came and came when he wanted from the high -end town house where he said he was detained – to the church, clubs and dinners.

The accuser, a 28 -year -old Italian national, was not appointed by officials. Prosecutors say that the accused know him personally for years.

On Wednesday before the court, the assistant district prosecutor Sarah Khan argued that someone who supports the defendants made videos selectively to present a counter-barrage of the events.

In reality, she said, the accuser was constantly monitored, was not allowed to leave the house without being kept and was subjected to violence, in particular to whip the pistol and cut with a small chain saw.

The accused also took photos of man in various poses and act to create the impression that he was not detained against his will, said Khan.

Police searching the townhouse found evidence corroborating its history, including a loaded pistol, a chain saw and other instruments allegedly used to torture it.

They also located photographs, including one where the defendants point to a pistol towards the accuser’s head, another where the accuser is attached to a wheelchair, and another showing the burnting accuser.

When he was pushed by the judge, Khan explained that the man had not suffered any burn injuries because the defendants quickly stifled the flames, sometimes urging him.

In addition, she said, prosecutors believe that this is not the first time that the accused have tend a person against their will. They are aware of two other potential victims in two other places, according to Khan.

The lawyers of the two men, on the other hand, asked for their release on bail of a million dollars and at home with their parents. They rejected the suggestions of prosecutors that their customers could flee from the country.

“He is so far from a risk of theft here. He is ready to fight this affair. He’s not going anywhere,” said Talkin about Duplessie.

The two appeared handcuffed in prison uniforms and did not speak to court other than to officially seize their pleas. They are accused of kidnapping, aggression, illegal imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon and to face the life of life in the event of a conviction.

The prosecutors say that on May 6, the two men attracted the victim of a town house in the chic district of Manhattan Soho by threatening to kill his family.

The man said that the two investors tormented him with electric wires, forced him to smoke a crack hose and swing him at one point from a five -story staircase.

The man said that he had finally agreed to put the password from his computer, then managed to flee while his captors were going to recover the device.

Khan said Wednesday that the kidnapping last month was at least the third case when the two had convinced the man to meet them in person, only to threaten him and take his electronic devices to obtain his cryptocurrency.

To date, Khan said, he has not received his money or his electronic devices.

This story was initially presented on Fortune.com